the goings on...

• The ward is full. Busy but not terribly intensive care-ish. Friday was one of those 3:30pm days…long and busy but not terrible…but left me completely exhausted. I realized again the reality that some days the sheer volume of need (most of which I cannot meet) that exists is exhausting. Yesterday was one of them.
• The night jasmine bushes are in full bloom these days. Aaahhhh.
• The duplex patio is still a most delightful place to enjoy an evening. Friday night there was eggplant parmesan, breadsticks and Greek olive oil, green beans, and red wine served in candlelight…a most ro-tic dinner (which for those of you who have been married for too long means “romantic” without the “man”) for Anna the intern’s last “ladies night” with us. Thanks again to Nathan and John Elwood for their design/direction/supervision on my behalf!
• Somehow nighttime in rural African can be way louder than nighttime in any American city I’ve ever been in. I think it’s because there’s absolutely no such thing as a right to quiet, and therefore no such thing as a “noise violation”… blaring music ALL NIGHT LONG is the right of the celebrant individuals…you’ve just gotta laugh! I actually woke up several times throughout the night on friday, and managed (due to my keen ability to sleep through just about anything) to fall right back to sleep. Thanks mom for that gene!
• The guys in the boda park in Nyahuka are still obnoxious.
• I’ve decided that the market is a much more enjoyable place when it’s really busy…there’s far less attention paid to us bajungu as we wander around. Yesterday was not one of those days.
• I love it when God smiles on me, or anyone for that matter, in really specific ways. Friday night I was reminded of my kitenge-envy for this beautiful piece of kitenge Pat often uses as a table runner, and telling Amy yesterday morning that I dream of finding something like it – in the same color scheme – but doubting I would since it seems to be of an old kitenge generation. Lo and behold as I passed through the outside of the market, where all the “pre-made” outfits are sold, there it was…a whole 3 pieces of a beautiful aqua/brown kitenge with this smallish print that’s just gorgeous. Speechless.
• Last night it was the goats making a racket instead of the mobile disco…I don’t think I’ve ever before Bundibugyo gone to sleep to the bleating of goats…
• We wandered to Bundikiyora today to worship with our brothers and sisters “in the village”. What a walk (1.5 hours each way). Bee-u-ti-ful! What an encouraging service with singing, dancing, and the truth. What more does a church service need?!

I miss...vol 2

(for posterity's sake: not sure exactly how old this picture is, but this is what I knew of the myhre's 3 years ago, a photo I stole from their blog for use while fundraising). Needless to say, the height of the family has changed rather significantly since then!)

Jennifer – her wise and respected presence on the ward, her tendency to count anything remotely repetitive, our chats about “the state of the union” in the store room before heading home after rounds, her eye for color/pattern combinations I would never think of…

Scott – his rolling of the eyes when learning there was yet one more patient in the kitubi, but his patient dealings with them time after time, his enjoyment of 80’s music, his ability to stir a crowd with a few dance moves when they least expect it, his eye with a camera…

Luke – his plopping down at the kitchen table during “internet time” while home on school breaks to discuss the goings on in the world, his latest thoughts on college (Go Ivy’s!), and occasionally leaving the end of his Bitter Lemon for me to finish ☺ (ok, so that only happened once, but man did it taste good!)…

Caleb – his guitar playing drifting in from the front room while he was home on school breaks while we sat at the kitchen table during “internet time,” his witty one liners at the dinner table, his ability to sleep for LONG periods of time that I appreciate very well ☺, his appreciation of time alone as balanced with time with family and friends…

Jack – his sms’s begging me to come and play Family Soccer on Sunday afternoons (one of which I have saved in my phone for rainy(or frustrating) days, his appreciation of a good molasses crinkle, his ability to appreciate Anne Shirley and her antics even though he’d have rather been watching just about anything else ☺…

Julia – her occasional requests for a hug (that usually put words to something I could use very much as well ☺), her smile and “Hi Miss Heidi” whenever I saw her, her love for and devotion to Girls Soccer at CSB and her community there on the team, and her affinity for bandanas of all colors…

I miss...

Asalah - her laugh, her macaroni and cheese, her ability to remind me of the truth when I've lost sight of it, her enjoyment of NCIS, her tolerance of me and my crap as my prayer partner, the way she twirls her hair when she's thinking about something or nervous, her endearing tendency to switch syllables of various words she strings together in absolute hilarity...
Nathani- his "bachelor garden feet," his tugging on the shoulders of his tshirts when he's concentrating in the kitchen, his knack for making me laugh, his bat removal - rat and ant killing expertise, his african english, and priceless gems such as "how much does a matutu cost?" and "but how am I going to hold my headlamp?"
Salah - her big strong hugs, her stopping by after school to chat about the news of the day, her uncanny ability to remember little random tidbits of information, her enjoyment of calculus, her vast knowledge of the chickens and goats of BGO from her favorite end of the month meetings, her cravings for take out chinese, her LOVE of spiders, her always wearing socks to wednesday morning prayer...
Scotti - his ability to produce AND consume large quantities of baked goods and to convince others to do the same (ahem...anna linhart...), his singing as he comes into the ward in the morning, his great clinical judgement, his example and reminders to me of how to love people well, his ability to get Agnes to do air guitar in her pink nurses uniform...

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So they say that when you're trying to grieve well, one of the ways to do that is to name the things you're grieving. So, this is a cursory attempt for me at starting that process...so yep, I miss these guys. not the functions they served here in Bundibugyo so much, but their persons (hear "pah-sons"), their quirks and endearments...and the lists could go on...and on...and on...

light blue crocs

…they’re big shoes to fill! What you see documented above is pretty much the only way I feel capable of filling them.

You see, 2 years ago, when I came back to Bundibugyo from spending 2 months in Kampala, Jennifer had these light blue crocs she was wearing to the health center everyday. She told me that Grammy Aylestock (her mom) left them for her when she came to visit while I was away. Jennifer proceeded to wear these shoes to the health center everyday for the next 2 years, they’re comfy, cool, easy to clean and protective of the toes from whatever grossness is going on on any given day. Now she’s gone, but she left her shoes behind (both literally and figuratively). The last couple of days I’ve been wearing the light blue crocs to the health center. That I can do. It’s kind of a reminder to me when I am missing her presence on the ward and look down and see them, that she’s with us in spirit and prayer! Now, the figurative filling of Jennifer’s shoes? I cannot.

But today I couldn’t help but think there might be one more way I can reasonably try to fill a role that Jennifer held while she was here. And that’s the Bundibugyo status blog updates…what is the state of things here and rallying prayer and action from the ends of the earth. Articulate I am not, but honest I am, so here’s the first installment of Bundibugyo today.

Nyahuka Health Center:

• In the biggest news of the day, I walked into OPD and found our Clinical Officer who had gone off to medical school seeing patients. After greeting him and thanking him for the work, Biguye took escorted me over to the hospital store and along the way I asked if medical schools were on break/holiday right now (in Uganda grade schools and colleges and medical schools are all on different schedules it seems to me…). Biguye (senior in charge Clinical Officer – NP/PA level clinician) informed me that the school had “pushed him out.” So, it seems he’s back for good (or at least until the next educational opportunity presents itself). Biguye said, in true African fashion, that “for me I am clapping, but for others maybe they are crying” (translation: this is good news for me but maybe not for others).
• I mentioned Biguye was walking me over to the hospital store. There’s not usually much to be done at the hospital store because there’s not usually much of a supply of medicine or supplies there, but he walked me over to show me the contents of the recent National Medical Store delivery! Talk about big news! It’s so much easier to provide medical care with medicine! Imagine that. So, we reviewed the supply, delivered in July, ordered in April (2 delivery cycles behind) and not actually what we ordered, but I guess they expect that we should be happy with whatever we get. We are thankful but not exactly happy.
• It’s also a lot easier to provide medical care when you can do lab testing to determine the actually status of diseases in a patient instead of just having to guess based on their clinical appearance. Well, currently there are no HIV patients in Bundibugyo getting CD4 testing done. There used to be NGO funding for this test which helps clinicians determine the stage of the virus in a given patient based on their ability to fight infection. Ie. There is currently no way to tell objectively whether an HIV patient has moved from HIV into AIDS and therefore in need of Anti RetroViral (ARV) therapy, leaving it up to the clinical judgement of the clinician. There used to be NGO funded support for this testing (done at a private laboratory center), but it has ended. The Ministry of Health funds PCR testing (testing for the presence of the virus in a person based on virus DNA), but not CD4 testing. A Ministry of Health team came to Nyahuka this week to evaluate the Early Infant Dianosis process provided to patients and what could be done to improve the process. Staff from a Baylor University program in Kampala was part of this group. Assusi presented the current CD4 issue and they made no promises but said they would report the issue and get back to us with recommendations. They evidently indicated that it could be that CD4 testing could be made possible within the district instead of having to send all of the testing to Fort Portal for processing. We’ll see what comes of it all, but it’s encouraging to me that all of this is going on despite our transition and lack of involvement in such details. God is moving! Thank and pray for real follow through in improving care for HIV patients in Bundibugyo.

Team:

• The Clarks are coming, the Clarks are coming! The Clark family has been in the US making an addition to their family and as of email check yesterday it seems will be returning to Bundibugyo next week with a new little dude in tow: David August Clark. Can't wait to meet him, and have the rest of the Clarks back!
• We will make our second attempt at post-Myhre pizza tonight. Last week's attempt was most successfull if I do say so myself. Travis was pretty proud of himself, and rightly so! Several rounds of "go Travis, go Travis!" rang out throughout the evening (which also included a showing of a movie on the big screen with the projector!).
• I think 5 new missionaries were approved for future service in Bundibugyo yesterday at the WHM "sending center" in Philadelphia. You're most welcome Pamela, Ann, Josh, Michael and Leslie!
  
• Pat Abbott made some kick-butt bagels for us for dinner the other night. Hot sesame bagels, in Bundibugyo?! "go Pahti, go Pahti!"
• isn't it interesting how much of life here revolves around food?! I love it.
  

So, I’m sure there’s a lot more going on that I’m not privy to, but here’s the news from my little slice of life.

A study in rain

It has slowed to a drizzle, but it has now been raining for the last 12 hours. I like the rain, and especially the quiet it brings, the slow-to-a-standstill halt it brings to the hustle and bustle of life here. In Bundibugyo everything stops when it rains. No one goes to their garden to dig, no one comes to knock on the door to ask for anything, no one brings their sick kids to the health center, no one comes to nutrition programs or goat trainings scheduled…expectations cease during the rain. I like that. Even our 6:30am prayer meeting scheduled for this morning ☺ It was raining torrentially, and I was up, dressed, and about to press the button on the electric tea kettle (webaleh grid electricity!) to get tea/coffee ready, when I heard the “beep beep, beep beep” of a text message delivery on my phone. Prayer meeting called off. “Ok, I’m going back to bed then” I responded. As the bedroom doors began to open down the hall I instructed the Anna’s to do the same. “You don’t have to tell me twice” Anna #2 said as she started to close her door. Anna #1 pumping her hands in the air with weary eyed excitement as she went back in to her room.

Pat wandered over around breakfast time and we talked for a while about the phenomenon of rain…I was sitting at the dining room table with my steaming cup of Good Earth tea, wearing pants (er, I mean trousers!) and 2 longed sleeved items of clothing due to the chill brought by the rain. We talked about the fact that nothing stops for the rain in the US; expectations remain. Everyone moves around with their umbrellas and boots, or in their car from covered garage to covered garage, jobs go on, school students still late if arriving after the bell, meetings scheduled still starting on time, buses/trains/subways still moving on schedule…

The sticky thing is that not everything in Uganda stops for the rain. International flights, for example. Uganda is connected to the rest of the world, and it’s in circles of influence like the airline industry that cultures collide. The Warfields have a flight to catch tomorrow I believe. I think the plan was for them to get to Fort Portal today in order to get to KLA tomorrow in time for their flight. Well, it’s raining here, and has been for 12 hours, the dirt roads will be a disaster! Will their travel plan work out in the end? Somehow they have to get to Kampala. They will have to move despite the rain…their Emirates flight will not be postponed, their money will not be refunded because it was raining in Bundibugyo for 12 hours…some things do not come to a halt for the rain. But these are things that most people in Bundibugyo know nothing of, airplanes and time schedules and such. They do know that if it rains torrentially for 12 hours the river will be flooded, and since it has no bridge, it will not be crossable today. Whatever business they had on the other side of the river will have to wait.

The health center is another circle of influence with colliding cultures of rain…there is the culture of treatment/diagnosis and provision of care without interruption that is for sure inbred in me, and is expected on at least a theoretical at the governmental level from the Ministry of Health, but if you are a nurse and live on the other side of the river and it’s raining, you’re not going to come to work. If you’re a nurse and don’t have an umbrella or gum boots and it’s raining, you’re not going to walk to work. Then there are the patients on the ward who have varying degrees of expectations for care despite the rain…if you are a Mubwis and your child is critically ill, you don’t so much care that it’s raining, or that the river is too high to cross or that the nurse couldn’t find his/her umbrella, you want a nurse there to treat your child…value’s collide. It’s the story of my life!

Never Alone

As I sit at my desk next to the window, to the right of my computer screen is a black picture frame. Inside the frame are a series of black words on a white background. Every now and again, I glance in it’s direction when I pause to think of what I will write/do next. Usually I’m not really looking at anything in particular, but simply in the frame’s direction with a blank stare. But this morning the word “sin” caught my eye as I paused in thought. How depressing, you say. Well, maybe, but I didn’t recall ever seeing anything about sin there before.

The words in the frame are of a song that the choir at my church in St. Louis sang on my last Sunday before moving to Uganda, and snuck into my luggage by Leslie (Fisher) now Bley. The words are as follows:

I’ve heard the lightning flashing, and heard the thunder roll.
I’ve felt sin’s breakers dashing, try’n to conquer my soul.
I’ve heard the voice of Jesus telling me to fight on.

He promised never to leave me, no, never alone.
Never alone, oh, never alone, never alone,
He’ll never leave you alone.

The world’s fierce winds are blowing, temptations sharp and keen.
I’ve felt a peace in knowing my Savior stands between.
He stands to shield me from danger when earthly friends are gone.

In affliction’s valley, I’m treading the road of care.
My Savior helps me to carry my cross when heavy to bear.
My feet, entangled with briars, ready to cast me down.

The word “sin” caught my eye because the song is about the struggle of loss and loneliness, and I not before recently had I ever thought about my own sin in regards to response to loss. The line reads: I’ve felt sin’s breakers dashing, try’n to conquer my soul. And the chorus repeats: He promised never to leave me, no, never alone.

Turns out I’ve been feeling alone. I wasn’t really aware of it, but that line about sin’s breakers dashing and trying to conquer my soul couldn’t have been more true last week. I was full of anger/bitterness/resentment. Quite the trio, let me tell ya! Oooooh boy, it was bad. Watch out world. I didn’t feel like myself, but I had no earthly idea what was going on inside of me. Turns out it was grief. Who woulda thunk it?! There has been a lot of loss in my life in the last several months, and I think it all came to an ugly head last week. Turns out that grief is sneaky, and not only pops up when we don’t expect it, but it shows it’s face in ways we never would expect. Fear, sadness, anger/bitterness/resentment, everybody has their patterns.

Who wants to be around an angry/bitter/resentful person? I thought to myself. No one. But the song is true, I did hear the voice of Jesus telling me to fight on, because of His promise never to leave me alone.

So, the take home lesson of the day: take a moment to look around your computer screen every now and again, you never know what you might find.

The New Semuliki Presbytery

members of the new Presbytery
leadership: Kisembo, Jofrey, Charles, Bazara
Travis
Bishop Hannington
and last, but definitely NOT least, FOOD!


Last Sunday, church was packed, surpassing even the crowd that showed the week before to say goodbye to the Myhres. Sprigs of various bushes and trees decorating the windows, pink yarn strung across the sanctuary with toilet paper, pastel colored balloons, and pink ribbon tied to the yarn added quite the air of festivity to the room.

And festivities there were. Those gathered had the pleasure of hearing the Bubandi choir - decked out in matching yellow shirts, the Bundikiyora choir - decked out in their blue collared shirts (who managed to get the church leaders and the congregation on their feet and dancing, hip gyrations and all!) and the Bundimulinga children’s choir. Kisembo Vincent lead worship, Charles Musinguzi thankfully kept the preaching brief from Romans.

After the church service, a brief intermission followed and then the Installation service commenced. Is Installation the right word? I’m not sure…my medical speak, along with my PCA church piety speak have gone to the dogs since moving here…There was singing and then there was prayer. 4 chairs were set up in the middle and the names of 4 men were called to fill them as the leadership of the new Presbytery: Charles Musinguzi (Moderator), Bazara (vice moderator), Jofrey (clerk) and the biggest chair of all and interestingly enough announced as the biggest of the big men, Kisembo Akleo (Treasurer). It’s interesting to me that here the Treasurer is a “bigger man” than the Moderator (I’m just a mere pastor’s daughter with very little expertise in the matter but it’s my understanding that in the US the Moderator is the “bigger man”…).

Then of course, to fulfill all protocols, there were speeches. The LC1 was unable to come, but Vincent Kawa spoke briefly on his behalf (I think I understood Vincent to say he’s the Secretary of Education for Nyahuka Town Council??? I’m never sure if I’m catching all of the details correctly…). Noteable quote: “We are very happy about this new Presbytery because no matter what happens, God knows better.”

Then the LC3 spoke well, with 2 main points: Patience and Cooperation. What he said in regards to the first point seemed particularly poignant for us as a team. He spoke of patience describing the work World Harvest Mission did to start the New Life churches and said something like “and back then we never thought we would have Bishops of our own from Bundibugyo” and used this Installation of a New Presbytery to illustrate the necessity for having patience and perseverance in the work God has given us. Amen. And how encouraging for me (and hopefully for all of you reading who have invested in the church in Bundibugyo) to hear the community testifying to the encouragement it is to them that they now have leadership of their own, that it takes time, but God has been faithful. So, Rick Gray, Dan Herron, Paul Leary, Alan Lee, and many others that I am forgetting, be encouraged. Unfortunately you’re not here to hear all of this with your own ears, and see all of it with your own eyes, but God is good! There was not a single muzungu sitting up front where the “big men” sit…there were Ugandan church leaders from all kinds of churches/denominations gathered and testifying to God’s work.

And as for cooperation, also poignant come to think of it for our little team at this juncture in our lives, he also spoke well. He called for cooperation between all parties, that the church, World Harvest, the government leaders, all of us need to literally co-operate in order to do good work (or from our perspective, to do God’s work, to further His kingdom here). Too true. Might God bless us with cultural agility, a cup overflowing with love and grace, and courage to stand with and against and the wisdom to tell the difference as we feebly attempt to work together with various parts of the community.

Travis was called on to represent “the Mission” and he did well. It was his first “solo performance” as team leader representing the team at a community function. And what he had to say was the core of what we believe to be true, the core of why we are here, and why the church exists. The core = the good news. “Beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” There was truth and feet stomping involved, what could make for a better speech?! What is this truth, this good news? It’s that Jesus loves us…He loves us black and white, doctors and church leaders, Ugandans and Americans. That this new presbytery is a demonstration of that, somehow the departure of most of the “old guard” missionaries is a demonstration of that…we can look forward to the leadership of the Presbytery and the cooperation of the Mission and the community, and be confident because of God’s love for us. Plain and simple.

Bishop Hannington brought the speeches to a close, representing the Charasmatic Episcopals. He called the crowd’s attention to the diversity of Christians represented, the Anglicans, the Charasmatic Episcopals, the Baptists, the Church of God, the Roman Catholics. I’m not quite sure what else he said because in my memory it wasn’t translated so was totally lost on my ears for the most part, but the body of Christ rejoicing together seemed poignant as well.

Then of course there was food. Piping hot food, it was 5pm and everyone was hungry. The food preparation started before the church service did, but somehow it was the hottest Ugandan food I’ve ever eaten. Yum!

So, there you have it. The new Semuliki Presbytery in the Presbyterian Church of Uganda. Pray with us that this new entity will first and foremost glorify God.

Today is Sunday, a week later, and we’re playing hookey from church. The all night rain that extended through most of the morning contributed to wanting to stay in, for sure, and the truth is that we’ve spent about 14 cumulative hours in church/celebration services in the last 2 weeks, so today, Anna L. and I worshipped virtually at Redeemer NY via ipod from our couch. Scott Sauls quote of the day: “Stop trying to be like Jesus and start doing what you can to be with Him.” Note to self.