Nkwagala nyo

Homesickness is a term I am starting to understand. Lately I have just been missing home and all the comforts of it. It’s been an easy adjustment to living here in Uganda, to be honest, but I am starting to miss “home.” Although, whenever I begin to feel homesick, I just think of when I will have to say goodbye to everyone here in Uganda. And that just tears my heart apart and reminds me of why I am here and helps me to be happy with where I am.

On Sunday we were playing “futbol” when one of the girls hurt her foot and started to cry. The boys drug her to the side of the field where she continued to cry. It was in that moment that it hit me, that when I was that age, all I would have wanted was a hug from my mom or dad. But she didn’t have a mom or a dad here; no one to comfort her. It was then when my heart started to break for what breaks God’s. I found myself sitting with her, rubbing her back until she felt better and wanted to go back into the game.

Today at school, Taylor and I had a student who was just not at all paying attention and was messing around more than usual. We gave him several chances before Taylor went to the office to see if someone there could talk to him. The boy went to the office and Taylor and I waited outside talking with some other teachers. About 15 minutes later we went into the office to sit in there for a break, wondering where the boy had ever gone. We started to hear knocking and joked that maybe they had locked the boy in the closet. We continued on with singing a song we would later teach in class when we heard more knocking. Finally Taylor went to the closet and opened the door, and sure enough, the boy had been locked in there. I don’t know the expressions that were on our faces, but I know they were not good ones. The boy had tears running down his face and asked if he could go for a “short call” (pee). We said yes. While he was gone, Taylor and I sat there, not believing what had just happened. A boy, locked in the closet for not paying attention in class? The door was locked! When he came back he went back in the room…but we asked him to come out and talk to us. We ended up making a plan for behavior in class, but still had no idea what to do about the fact that someone had put him in the closet. We later talked to someone about the situation and found out that it was not okay to lock a child in a room like that…they could put them in a corner, but they had to be somewhere where they were visible. My heart began to break again.

I don’t really know what to think about all that’s been going on recently. It’s all just really sad. But I guess I just need to remember why I am here and focus on helping and serving the Lord.

Tomorrow after school Taylor and I are going to go with George, Mama Sarah’s fiancé to go buy tickets to the Uganda Cranes futbol game that is Saturday. We are also going to buy some jerseys. But here’s the thing, we are talking all the boys who live in the New Creation Family Home, but they have no idea and are not going to find out until right before. We are going to ask them on Friday if they want to watch the game on Saturday, to make them think we want to watch it on TV. So that is our excitement at the moment.

There is a girl who is serving on some of the short term missions teams, here early, who is staying with Taylor and I. Her name is Claire, she speaks French, and she is from Canada. She is super sweet, but our room is crazy crowded now.

Also, tonight one of the girls was teaching me some Uganda. Of course I had to have her teach me, “that makes my heart happy. “ Which is, “Ekyo kisanyusa omutima gwange.”

And you wonder how to say it? Here is how I wrote it out: “A-cho chi-sa-nyu-sa O-mootea-ma gwan-gay.”

I don’t really have much to say otherwise, so I shall leave you with this: Nkwagala nyo, which means I love you so much.