Soroti, Uganda & a series of FIRSTS :)

How many Americans can say they lived in an African village for a week?

Not very many :) But I can!

And it was a great week! At around 11am the coaster dropped me off in the middle of nowhere- literally. I had my backpack with 2 skirts, 2 shirts, a sleeping bag, mosquito net, jerry can, and a letter for my new family. And that was it for the next 8 days. I looked around and no joke this is what a saw; miles of weeds, 5 huts, chicken, cattle, turkey, a dog, a cat, a whole lot of dirt, some random bricks, a mango tree, and more weeds. And it was 90 degrees with the sun blazing on me- no shade to be found. Then a woman came out of one of the huts and walked towards me to greet me in her language, Ateso. She was mama for the week. Luckily, I had learned enough Ateso to introduce myself and follow her into the hut to put my stuff down. Hello Soroti, Uganda :)

My mama- which I actually called toto since that’s what it is in Ateso- was WONDERFUL! She spoke very little English and understood none; so needless to say, I spoke very little the entire week. I had a papa that spoke broken English and also understood very little English. I had a niece (Esther), two nephews (Aaron and Immanuel), one sister (Gladdis), one grandmother, and a few random men who were huntsmen that lived in my village. My toto and papa were the only ones who spoke English, so I was forced to learn Ateso as much as I could during that week. Luckily, Ateso is a very easy language to learn :) To say hello you say, “Yoga.” Funny, right? It was fun to be like “Yoga! Yoga Noi.” Multiple times a day. I got used to it tho :)

So those 8 days I lived like none other. There are no such things as mirrors in the bush- so I never saw myself for 8 days. They don’t have utensils, like forks, so I ate with my hands for every single meal. They consider our hands a “natural fork.” It was awesome haha. They also don’t believe in clocks. So I NEVER knew the time. Ever. It doesn’t sound so bad, but you begin to lose track of days and a sense of ANYTHING and feel like you do when you imagine being stranded on an island with nothing- I was lost half the time. I learned pretty quickly the patterns of the sun tho :) Which was cool. I bathed 3 times a day, at night when I’d bathe it’d be PITCH black with nothing shining on us but the moon and the stars and it was possibly one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. Who would have guessed there were SOOOOO many stars in the sky? It was like the Lion King or something- it was gorgeous. I actually felt like I was in Africa. I loooved it. I also learned to milk cows, slaughter chickens (yep, I chopped the head off of a chicken and even after I’d cut the head off I’d watch the body squirm for about 1 minute, it was sick), shell groundnuts, and cook EVERYTHING by fire. It was very enlightening. Oh & literally NO electricity or technology. At all. It was beautiful :)

I typically woke up at 7am, the last of everyone in the village to wake up. I’d bathe right away, then help sweep, which sweeping was moving around the dirt on the ground, weird concept but it did make the dirt look nicer so whatever haha. Then we’d make tea and roast groundnuts and eat them with HARD bread for breakfast. After breakfast I would spend the afternoon playing with my little nephew, Immanuel. He’s 2 years old and has all the energy in the world haha. He’s the most precious little boy ever and I looooved playing with him every day. Then toto would come get me and we’d make tea and roast some more groundnuts for “afternoon teatime” then I’d go play with Imma some more. Then lunch would be ready, which was ALWAYS millet bread (google this stuff, it’s sick), some sort of meat, and rice. I struggled, I’m not gonna lie. Eating was the hardest thing ever that week. I never eat meat, and that week I ate pork, beef, liver, chicken, and three types of fish. Needless to say, I have had enough meat for a lifetime. And when they serve you food, they give you A LOT. and they watch you eat it- so you gotta eat it all. Which is rough haha. After lunch I’d bathe Imma and put him to bed for a nap and then bathe as well. Then I’d go shell groundnuts with my toto for hours. Then eventually my papa would come home from work and listen to him talk while my toto did soooooo much work. Ester and Aaron would also come home from school and begin working right away as well. They’d serve us tea for “evening teatime” along with more groundnuts and bread. Then they’d cook us supper while my papa and I just SAT THERE IN SILENCE. Then eventually- when it was pitch black out already, we’d eat supper. Then I’d go and bathe and head to bed. There were spiders and all sorts of sick bugs all over my walls. And rats squealing all night long. No exaggeration.

And that happened every single day. Same routine every day- besides when we went to church on Sunday- which took TWO HOURS to walk to. Yep- closest church to us. We were literally in the middle of nowhere :)

But I LOVED it. I really did. I learned so much about Ugandans those 8 days and I felt so close to my toto, niece and nephews. I learned a lot in those silent moments, there were a lot of them. I was so blessed with free time each day to just journal, read the Bible and take in everything I was experiencing. There was one day that was really tough, I hated that my toto and the kids were always doing so much work while my papa was just served. It was like discrimination against women and child labor. I really hated it and struggled to really accept it. But then I was reading the book of Ezekiel- everyone should read it :) But it talks a lot about catastrophe and trying to make meaning of it- but at the end Ezekiel renames the city “Yahweh-Shammah” which means “God is there.” And when I read that- I felt this overwhelming peace from God. It was like He was telling me that despite the suffering and corruption that I sometimes notice in Uganda- “God is there.” and I really just need to trust that He knows what He’s doing and know that He’s in control. And that reaaaallly helped me the rest of the week. Sometimes it’s easy to think we’re the ones who fix things and really make a difference in the world, but that’s soooo wrong to think. It’s humbling to realize that God is there, God has always been there, and He’s not gonna leave us. He’s going to take care of us and everyone around us so it’s senseless for us to take credit for any good thing that happens here. So, as much as I wanted to try to help my toto and the children always working, God showed me that regardless, He would take care of them and never leave their sides :) And same goes for everyone- God could never overlook a single soul.

So my week in “the bush” was awesome. But I was soooo excited to be reunited with everyone from USP and my Ugandan friends after that week. We went to Kapchorwa and stayed on Mt. Elgon at Sipi Falls and did some hiking and went to the falls and also literally picked coffee beans and made our own coffee :) It was a great end to rural home stays. But nothing I’ve written really gives justice to my week. It truly was an incredible experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world and I LOOOOVE my Soroti family so much :)

And now we’re back at school :) And time is going way too fast and we have sooo little time left here that we’re all realizing how essential it is that we really embrace every single second that we’re here, cuz it’s all going to be over before we know it :(

But here are some really good scriptures that I journaled about while living in Soroti :)

Deuteronomy 7:9- “Know this- God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations.” ß This was the verse we all really focused on before rural home stays since we were all really nervous about going!

John 14:18-20- “I will not leave you orphaned. I’m coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I’m in my Father and you’re in me, and I’m in you.”

Deuteronomy 31:6- “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; He won’t leave you.” :)

Ezekiel 48:35- “’Yahweh-Shammah’, meaning ‘God-is-there.’”

1 Corinthians 14:1- “Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it- because it does.”

1 Corinthians 13- “Love never gives up, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end. Love never dies.”

1 Peter 3:14-15- “Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are.”

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” Proverbs <3

Love you all! :) xoxoxo, Bethany

This is little Immanuel :) "reading my Bible" while I journaled. This happened every morning :) He's precious! I promise to upload pics on facebook eventually :)