Reminiscence at Midnight

Aghandi [greetings] all!

So I’m sitting in our lounge room [on a quite comfy couch mind you] at midnight, listening to the blaring sounds of the White horse inn [the dwelling place for dinner functions], as they loudly play unrecognizable tunes, to slightly blown speakers, as loud as they possibly can! And I can’t help thinking how much I am going to miss Kabale and all of its quirky joy’s. There’s no noise restrictions here, so I’m sure to hear this quirky joy till around 4am, but being up this late, and being the only one awake, gives me a good time to reminisce over the last 9 weeks I’ve had in Africa; and what an amazing time I’ve had. I feel as if I’ve lived here a lot longer than 2 months, yet, I also feel as if the time has just flown by! The people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had- they’ve changed me so much.

Today I said goodbye to Audrey. She is leaving to go back to school in Kampala. She was the first Kabalian I met in Africa- she bravely picked me up from the airport all that time ago back in December- quite a feat I must say, as it was her first time venturing out alone, to a place she’d never been, with an unknown taxi driver, to find a strange Muzungu she’d never met! She is such an amazing girl. The best way I can think of describing her is to call her a ‘gentle flower’. Her heart is so kind, and her smile so warm- I’m going to miss her terribly! We’ve had a lot of fun times together! The other day we went out with her man friend Rogers, to a village about 5 km from the end of town, to visit some of her friends. It was great. We ended up walking some of the distance, and Audrey said that I was probably the first white person these people had seen in their village in a LONG time… some go past in car’s, but it is a rare sight to see one walking around! I sure did get a lot of attention, but it was great, as it gave me an opportunity to get lots of good photos! We met Audrey’s friends, and I ended up teaching them all how to play poker! We played with maize corn as our objects of bartering and a lot of fun was had by all! Typical Liv.. corrupting the Africans with card games! I blame it on my mother- she taught me to play with sugar peanuts!

On the way back we came across this old lady- she was the typical African ‘farm girl’. Bare feet, worn hands, hoe in hand and basket on head. She was wearing the most beautiful shawl and head scarf though- I’m so glad I asked for her photo- I’ll post it on face book- she held her hoe so proudly and the character in her face- It was great. I’m finding that every day I see people that have faces to tell a million stories. I wish I had the time and ability to interview them all, just to hear their stories, and capture a glimpse of their lives on film- particularly in the aged here- its like each line on their face represents a chapter of their life- all of which have heartbreak and joy.

One benefit of being a Muzungu here is the ability to make others smile- I think it must have a lot to do with the people of Uganda- but one look in a passerby’s eyes, and a show of my teeth, and I am rewarded with such broad gleaming grins! I love it. Especially when super serious faces stare at me, I love to break them into grinners! It also helps when I call myself a Mukiga [the main tribes people here] as it proves to be a good tool for a laugh or two. Surprisingly I think I’ll miss being stared and pointed at when I come back home- almost makes you feel a little famous! No one will be shouting my name when I return- except perhaps Andrew when he sees his slightly tanned, sleep deprived girlfriend [I’ll be travelling for 30 hours to get home] for the first time in almost 3 months, who resembles what he thinks may be an Albino African, due to the mass of braids in her hair.. but is confused as they are fuzzy and gone ‘poof’ due to altitude drop.. but other than that.. no more feeling famous! sigh! Hehe.

Today I spent my last day with the kids as their ‘madam teacher’. We looked at a verse in the bible about how God answer’s prayers when we trust him, and followed it by the story of Daniel and the Lions den-and they loved it. I’ll never get over how much these kids LOVE God. Even at 4 they put most of us adults to shame, and worship God with such honesty, tenacity, passion and joy. And that description does not even begin to capture the wonder of when they pray! A little 4 year old boy named Dismus [aka ‘The boss’] particularly sticks in my mind- he prays to God with such a belly full of fire and love- his little face screws up so tight and he has so much concentration! These kids have such a real relationship with God- it is not corrupted and it is so honest and pure- nothing distracts them- they are not worried or burdened, and just bring their love to God so freely. No wonder God said the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven are the little children- I think for the first time I truly understand it! Their passion for God is something that has challenged me deeply- and something I will take back with me to Australia. I managed to film it today, so I can’t wait to show it to you all back home! I also had my last class with the [as of Monday] P2 kids! It went well, and now they can speak and read the words cat, mat, fat, vat, rat, bat, sat and hat! As of course they are very important words! But the good thing is they are starting grasp the concept of blending sounds… lets hope it sticks! Its been such a wonderful opportunity for me to teach them- its helped me learn a lot! And hopefully they have as well. Also the above picture is me with the kids… obviously… even though I’ve changed and ‘matured’ a lot this summer- its good to know some things don’t change.. hence my wonderful example of face pulling! Hehe.

Tuesday is my last day with the kids- and I’ll be spoiling them rotten! Well.. sort of! I’m spending Monday baking cakes, biscuits and slices- of which I’ll be bringing down on the Tuesday. The plan is for them to stuff themselves after lunch with the treats, then we’ll go down to the playground and let them run riot for a while, [also a prime opportunity for me to get photo’s of them, and with them, as John and Judith will also be coming]. Then we’ll spend the afternoon watching ‘Curious George’ on a few laptops. I don’t think they’ve watched a lot of movies before, so I think it will be an afternoon for them to remember! These kiddies and the Matrons have had a huge impact on me- I can’t wait to come back in a few years and see how much all the kids have grown and changed!

Tomorrow is my last church service in Kabale- I’ll be saying goodbye to a lot of people. I don’t really like goodbyes, however I am holding on to the fact that it is not goodbye forever- its just temporary- as I have a feeling this will not be the last time I step foot in Kabale!

Well I suppose I better be getting to bed. This will probably be my last blog till I reach Kampala, so cheerio, and see you all soon!

Bye for now, but not for too much longer,
The little Muzungu.