The privilege of time.

This week I visited Nakivale HOPE Nursery and Primary School like I often do. When I say often I mean once every couple of months for the last few years (give or take a few months when I've been in Australia or travelling). I was there specifically to get some photos of the buildings that have recently been finished (rendering inside and out, cement floors, aprons, ramps to doorways and last,and probably the most, paint inside and out) thanks to an Australian Government grant through the Australian High Commission in Nairobi, Kenya.

I first visited Nakivale almost 6 years ago with a team of people from home. It was part of a four week trip visiting many of Australia HOPE International's partner projects and the whole experience was an overwhelming and transformative time in my life. Visiting the school six years ago though, I had no idea, no inkling that I would ever visit again, let alone live in Africa and have the privilege of getting to know those people a little better. While all of the staff have changed since that first trip, some of the kids are still in the school - now in the upper primary years. Some of those kids I saw sitting in dusty classrooms on bricks covered in pieces of plastic, some of those kids sitting on the ground under a tree with a reading chart tacked to it, some of those kids who alternatively hung back wary of us or swarmed around wanting to touch our skin, some of those kids are still with us in the school and in the past week have seen their school become a vision of orange around them.

      

By living here in Uganda I've been given the privilege of seeing firsthand the changes that have happened in the school, where others on the team only get to see progress through photos. It is such a blessing to go to the school and for the kids to know my name where other names have been forgotten (Bron and Pastor Bill are the names that have been retained in the schools memory) I'm not more important or better or more memorable. I've just been given the privilege of being here over time.

		Nakivale 2008-2014 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

However as much as the community doesn't know the names of those 'others' out there, they are thankful. They know that someone, many people, from 'outside' care about them enough to build a school. Whether the donations come through government grants, fundraising events, individuals, sponsorship, whatever, it doesn’t matter. Someone, somewhere thought of them and they are thankful.

It is a blessing to me to be able to see the delight and joy on their faces at the 'new school' and it is a blessing to also be able to pass on their thanks to 'Australia'. If you would like to support the work of AHI check out the website via the links. Also about to happen is a bike ride across Australia from west to east in support of the work being done in DR Congo called HOPE Across Australia. Check out their nifty website too.

After a long absence it's great to be back

Blessings

bron

FUNDRAISER!

Looking forward to having a fundraiser for Australia HOPE International next Wednesday January 22nd 2014. There will be a Ugandan meal, a HOPE stall with gifts and cards and the opportunity to hear about the work being done by our project partners in Uganda and DR Congo.

The moment.

To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life.

So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our own imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God molds us according to God's love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in an world preoccupied with control.

Excerpt from the essay, Waiting for God by Henry Nouwen in WATCH FOR THE LIGHT

It's been a while since I've been able to bring myself to write and finish my thoughts here. Oh I've started, but nothing has formed well enough to put out there. And to be brutally honest this is now an exercise in discipline rather than a desire to share. But whatever the motivation, here are my thoughts:

I went to a gathering the other day where we were looking at the above quote and it's making me ponder. On Tuesday I'm heading into the great blue beyond, winging my way back to Australia for the first time in eighteen months. And I wonder what changes I will find. I know the government has changed but what of my friends and family whose daily lives I know little of? What news have I missed out on? Being present to life here in Uganda means sacrificing being present in the lives of those whom I've grown up with, those whose lives have sharpened my own and those I love.

These words have struck me deeply. Because while on the surface my life can literally be summed up by open-ended waiting (a year to indefinite) there has to be intentional living to truly, fully live this way. And I'm not sure I always live intentionally in the moment. How often do I look ahead to something coming and focus on it so much that I miss what is happening now? Do I live fully present to the moment without being consumed by fear for the future rather than a real sense of hope?

As I ponder all this, I'm reminded again of God's great love and mercy that exist to draw me closer to Him. So this Christmas season I'm thankful for Emmanuel - God with Us, who calls me to live present with His presence and that I get to be present with some of my most favourite people in the world even if for the briefest of moments.

This photo in no way represents all of my most favourite people but is a fantastic sampling.

Blessings

bron

A day to be thankful

I'm sitting here in a café drinking my double shot espresso and contemplating the annoyance that is slow internet. So far there have been several things that have made my day not go the way I was thinking it would. At the moment I am missing a pre-planned Skype date with a friend. The internet is so slow I can't even access my emails. I left my wallet at home with my spare airtime. It's just started really raining and it's my washing day. The power has gone out. Because of the rain I'm now stuck at the café until it stops.

With all these possible complaints about to burst into my consciousness I have to stop myself and be thankful. Recently I've been reminded again and again of the power of thankfulness and the relative ease and speed with which I can slip into a negative frame of mind.

So today I am thankful that I'm warm and dry and have a place to be so until the rain decides to stop. I'm thankful for the stash of money I found in my bag as it means if I'm rained in for the day I can get some food. I'm thankful for the fact that the storm and the rain are reminders of God's provision and that the farmers who were concerned about the slow start to the wet season at least for today have their fears allayed. I'm thankful for the sound of rain. I'm thankful for the things I managed to get done yesterday so that I don't have to worry about them today. I'm thankful for the enforced moment of rest when I may have otherwise felt that I should be somewhere else doing something else. I'm thankful that I don't have email and facebook to distract me from writing this. I'm thankful that I have a laptop that has an hour or so on the battery in which time the power may come on again. I'm thankful that I was already here at the café when the rain started and not halfway between. I'm thankful that the trip Anne had planned to one of our Australia HOPE International schools today was cancelled and therefore there is no chance that I will have to risk a bogged car.

I'm also thankful for so many other constants in my life. From the resources I have access to, to friends, both those in Uganda and all around the world. I'm thankful for material things and those that are less tangible. I'm thankful for my health and ability to reason and experience emotion. I'm thankful for the beauty that I see in the world around me and I'm also thankful that in the face of everything that is awful in this world I can respond with love because I have been loved.

If I sit here thinking instead of thanking I'm a person I don't want to be.

So I'll sit here and wait it out being thankful for the time to write this blog, one of which I feel is woefully overdue, hoping that the rain will stop in time for my language lesson and music practice tonight and that internet will manage to send this out there into cyber space.

Have a blessed week

bron

ps – I’m very thankful that despite slow internet I managed to have a typed Skype date with my friend, managed to check some emails and the power came back on (whether generator or mains I’m not sure but as long as my computer has not died I’m so happy).

Animal sacrifice

I love eating meat. Like a LOT. If you know me, you know this to be true. And really any kind will do, although a thick juicy medium rare Scotch Fillet would go down a treat. Or grilled lamb chops. Or chicken kiev with lots of garlic and butter. Or bacon. Mmmmm bacon.

So it might come as somewhat of a shock to find that currently I am a virtual vegetarian. Now I know that there are many reasons for becoming a vegetarian, many of which I find confounding (I know that there are foods I don't like but how can anyone not like meat?!) but I can't say that I've stopped eating meat for such altruistic reasons as saving the cute little goats that I see on the side of the road, or to stop the slaughter of innocent cows. I'm not for inhumane treatment of animals but I guess I like meat more than I like them (and if there is a piece of meat on a foam tray covered in plastic wrap how I am to know how it died - the ignorance plea). However in the almost nine months since I've been living in this apartment (and therefore buying my own food) I've bought meat products maybe four times. Mince that went into a spaghetti bolognaise, one packet of bacon and chorizo a couple of times. And come to think of it the first three months when I didn't have a fridge I didn't buy any meat.

An unsuspecting cow. Kibogo village, 2008

Really my lack of meat consumption is all about lack of convenience. Laziness and tight purse strings on my part really. The only place I know that I can buy single person proportioned cuts of meat sells that meat at a premium price and I'm not willing to pay that much.

Butchery Ugandan style

That's not to say when I eat out that I don't try and always order something meaty. And when that meal costs somewhere between eighty cents and two dollars it's much more affordable than the nicely packaged alternative. Of course it's still not a steak…

The classic street food ‘meat on a stick’ and the grandest roast chicken ever!

Meat consumption is a privilege of the rich. For most Australians who are vegetarian it is a lifestyle choice. But here around me I see people who are vegetarians by circumstance. Who wish to be habitual rather than occasional omnivores. And as a meat lover I can't blame them.

I have started to see some articles (maybe they were always there and now I've started looking for them) about the growing middle class in China and India and how the growing economic stability of these rather large groups of people is starting to change their meat consumption habits. Most of the articles i read were looking at the long term (and not so long term) global effects, as the land once used for cereal crops (that feeds the majority of the worlds population) is sought after for pastureland and as a food source for livestock. This has caused me to think about my own meat consumption habits (pre Uganda) and whether my privilege entitles me to dismiss these concerns.

Does thinking about the effect that my meat consumption has on the world make me consider not eating meat. Not really. It seems I'm not that noble. But if a healthier, more globally sustainable diet is a by product of sacrificing my eating of animals then I'm also okay with that.

On the other hand, if you would like to support families here in Uganda and DR Congo by supplying them with breeding goats, chickens, pigs or cows (thus giving them an opportunity to raise their family income and eat meat if they would like to), check out Jambo Sana and buy an Australia HOPE International gift card.

Blessings

bron

On acquiring a cat, an oven and turning 32.

To be honest the cat and the oven have affected my life in a far greater way than turning 32.

This is now my fourth 'international' birthday, having spent the past four birthdays in Redding CA, Mbarara, Bunia DRC and again this past week my most recent birthday here again in Mbarara. After a lifetime of birthday presents, it perhaps reflects my lifestyle and change of perspective that I was ecstatic about the birthday present I received of a small block of cheese from a friend.

Although the day was lovely, going out to lunch with a friend and later some other friends bringing me a cake, it did pass quietly and without fanfare, which I quite enjoyed.

On the other hand my new (old) oven has revolutionised my life.

From cakes to roasted vegies, it excites me with it's endless possibilities and I'm already making the most of it, including yesterday a chocolate cake that I shared with some friends in the evening with icecream (my mum's boiled chocolate cake recipe with my fake ganache icing) and a lemon syrup cake that looks terribly ugly but I have a feeling is going to taste amazing when I take it to an afternoon tea on Saturday.

The cat? I'm not sure he's revolutionised my life but he is quite possibly the most neurotic cat I have known. I think he has abandonment issues and whines fairly constantly. As those who know me well would tell you, it is a bit of a shock that I have a cat. I'm not known for my love of animals and cats are well up there in the rankings. However Suki (who I often refer to as 'cat' or 'it') belonged to a friend of mine who was leaving Uganda and, being the softie I am, I offered to provide a home for him.

So all in all, a week of blessing.

Be blessed

bron

ps – this won’t turn into a food blog I promise!

All by myself

It's been a while now since I've had significant chunks of time without Aussie visitors and I'm realising now how much this has spoilt me and how much my perspective changes depending on who I spend my time with. It has honestly been amazing having so many people stay with me or cross my path here in Uganda. I've made new friends, strengthened relationships and shared experiences that have challenged and changed me.

But at the end of the day, when I wave goodbye, I go back home and so do they.

This means that the frustrations I share with my Aussie friends, while they might understand and sympathise, fade into the back of their consciousness becoming a memory of their time in Africa, an amusing anecdote to share with friends who want to know what it's like in this culture. But for me these frustrations remain part of my daily life.

I've noticed it most recently when I've found something funny but can't laugh with my Ugandan friends because it's not funny to a Ugandan. And I think of my Australian friends who have visited here and who would be cracking up with me and I wish that for that moment I could share it.

I realised the other day that this never used to happen. Before I had the opportunity of shared frustrations, they were just mine and I dealt with them. I've discovered a side of me that now craves to share those frustrations all the time. Like I can't go back to those innocent days where it was all in my head and I could convince myself that I was making a big deal out of nothing.

This is one side affect that I had not foreseen.

It's come as a bit of a shock, this discontent, this desire that things be different. After all I am well aware that I am in a different culture and that I will not find everything as it is at home in Australia. I'm just surprised that my African 'culture shock' is happening more than two years into my time here.

I'm not sure that I had realised I felt like this until just now. Self revelation through blogging! No doubt in a couple of weeks I’ll adjust back to life as normal and in the meantime I’ll try to remember to rejoice and be thankful in all things.

Thanks for being a listening ear.

Blessings

bron

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Okay so there aren't any bears or tigers in Africa but we were definitely on the hunt for lions a few weeks ago when Rob was visiting. We took two days out of a busy three week trip to go and visit Queen Elizabeth National Park and once again despite promising myself that I already have enough photos I managed to get a few more snaps and Rob enjoyed himself with his video camera.

Elephant kisses

Maybe no bears or tigers but there were elephants, hippos and crocodiles!

River cruise on the Kazinga Channel with Rob and Pastor Willy

It’s dry season and wherever you go you leave a cloud of dust. It’s worth being the car in front of the others.

The early birds catch the lions. A beautiful sunrise and a far off glimpse of a pride.

Beautiful Crested Cranes with their chicks and a Uganda Cobb. You can find both these guys gracing the Uganda Crest. The Crane even makes it to the national flag.

Far off mountains hidden by cloud. These mountains are part of the Rwenzori’s, snow capped mountains bordering Uganda and DR Congo.

Rob! Rob! Out the window! In front of us! Right there!

Just chilling by the side of the road

Beautiful regal creatures, even without their manes grown in

Handsome Water Buck and a family of elephants. Their may have been a few bars of Baby Elephant Walk to go along with this moment.

Despite not needing to go and see animals for a while there is something infinitely cool about seeing these creatures and wondering at the amazing God I believe in. The diversity and interdependence we all have as we cohabit this planet. God! You are Great!

Blessings

bron

p.s. I had the most amazing time with Rob. It was such a blessing to spend time with him, have him speak into my life and encourage me in my journey. Thanks Rob for everything!