Week of Walking

Nearly one year ago I was sitting in a weekly Resident Advisor staff meeting. We were having a rather heated discussion, or argument, about new rules that were being put into place for our Resource Room. One of the rules included, was that the door would be locked at 10pm each night and from that hour on we would have to walk to the front desk to check out a key that would let us into the room. After about an hour, which seemed more like four to me, of everyone arguing/debating over how ridiculous it was for us to have to walk all the way to the front desk, I became quite fed up with it for numerous reasons, but I won't get too deep into that.

At this point in time I knew I would be traveling across the globe to teach in Ugandan in a few short months. I also knew that many of the students who attended the school I would be teaching at walked miles to and from school each day. Let's not get too deep into that either, because many people in Africa walk long distances each day. We all know that. There are also starving kids in Africa and that's why you should eat all of your food. 

After everyone shared their two cents, I finally spoke my mind. It went something on the lines of, "My students in Uganda walk miles to and from school each day and you're going to complain about walking one minute further to the front desk for a key..." I went on but that's the main point I wanted to get to here. 

And that was that. The rule stayed in place and people got over it. 

Now let us fast forward to present day, where I am here in Uganda serving as a teacher. And yes, my students do walk miles to and from school each day. I have walked home with my students every once in a while, but never have I truly experienced what it's like to walk that far each and every day. And after walking home with them this past Friday, and a good chunk of time spent in prayer on Saturday, I recalled those words I said to my staff members a year back. 

What is it like to walk that distance every day? It's exciting walking with the kids when I do walk with them, but how would it be to walk every single day? I'm sure it would get boring and tiring after a few. I began to feel convicted and that's when I made the decision to walk home with the students every day for a week. 

I knew it was something God was challenging me to do and something He would teach me through. So the decision was made. Although once at school this morning, I didn't really feel like walking anymore. I wanted to just jump on the Boda and head back home to the comfort of my room. But of course Simon Peter had to ask if I was going to walk with them (God reminding me of the commitment I made). I told him yes and the day went on. As I waited for the kids to finish school, I read a book out in the sunshine. The sky was as clear as could be and it was the perfect temperature. Just the right weather for walking home in. 

Let me also take a moment to state that I was not planning on blogging about this commitment until the week was over. I was sure God would teach me a thing or two that I could share, but I didn't think He would teach me so much, so soon. But here I am, sopping wet, sitting on a church floor with ten other soaking wet students from school writing the beginnings of this in my also wet notebook.

I had used my students walking home in Uganda to show my staff members how great we have it in America. But did I truly know what it was like to walk the distance to and from school each day? My mom's "I walked up hill both ways to and from school in the snow" story has nothing on my walk home from school today. (By the way, my mom is from Sacramento...so bull-hookey on the snow part). 

As I previously stated, the weather was just spectacular as we headed on our way up the road; Anna and I holding hands. All was good and dandy until we were about a third of the way into our walk when one of my students, Issac says loudly, "TEACHERRRR!" Pointing behind us toward the sky. Clouds darker than I have ever seen in my entire life. We continued to walk, but again stopped when another student pointed out that the clouds were "running." And oh were they! 

We made it about halfway when wind stronger than ever picked up. People scrambled as their tents were rumbling and goods went flying. We passed an alley way and that's when the dust storm hit. Anna had my sunglasses on to protect her eyes, I think I just opened mine as little as I could to drag her to safety. My lips were covered in dirt and my eyes had the entire Sahara Dessert worth of sand in them. Simon peter was even crying his eyes hurt so bad. There was a moment when myself and five other students were stuck on a center divider being pounded by wind and dirt. Once the cars slowed we all booked it across the road, trying to get away from the wind and dirt. And that's when it began to rain. 

It has not rained in days and it rains on the day I start my week of walking home with the students. The kids wondered what was going on and I told them that God is a funny fellow. So there we were after being pounded by wind and dirt, now being slammed by a huge rainstorm. And when I say huge, I mean huge. We were soaking wet within two minutes of the rain starting. 

My freshly washed shoes muddy and wet, and pretty much every other part of me wet as well. My students reminded me that my hair was wet as we ran as fast as we possibly could to the church we all attend on Sundays. We knew we would have a place to wait for the rain to pass inside the church. 

I wonder what people though as they watched a white girl with a group of school children, running down the road in the pouring rain. Even dragging one behind her to make sure she kept up. I would have laughed if I'd seen it. 

We made it to the church where we removed our shoes and waited out the rain before walking the rest of the way home. I relaxed with a few of the students in one if their homes before my boda driver picked me up and drove me home. Of course I was not thinking and left my jacket in my backpack and got to endure the freezing air blasting against my wet body the entire journey home. 

God truly is a funny fellow. I surrendered and committed to experiencing walking home in Uganda. And boy did he give me an experience. I was reminded that this is the life of people here. Back home I was able to walk to the front desk in dry clothes, in a heated building, and it only took an extra minute to get there. It took us an two hours to get home today and it included dirt, wind, rain, mud, wet soggy clothes and much more. 

I have been so blessed to be able to jump in my car or even on the boda here and quickly return home. I can arrive home and put on some fresh warm clothes and not worry about it. Here, my students are worried about having to wear wet shoes to school the next day since they only own one pair. They would wash their uniforms as soon as they arrived home to make sure they were ready for the following day at school. 

I have another pair of shoes for tomorrow, more than another even, and a whole suitcase of clean clothes to choose from. Do I need all of this clothes? Probably not. Do I need to drive everywhere I go? Surely not. God has blessed me with these things, but I think I needed a good reminder of how blessed I truly am. 

So I will continue to walk home with the kids each day this week as God reveals more and more to me. May these extra hours spent with the kids on our trek home be hours that glorify Him. Will we be reminded that God leads us through the dirt, wind, rain and sogginess of life. And that sometimes, we are left with some of the sweetest, yet dirtiest memories. 

Today was a slammer from God, reminding me of the greatness of the blessings he has provided me with and also the joy that's found place in my heart. I once would have been frustrated and annoyed with today's situation, but here and now I find joy in it. We laughed and made the best out of a sticky situation. And I'm thankful for that. And I am happy to be experiencing what it's like to walk in the shoes of a Ugandan child. To an extent. I still have clean and dry clothes to wear tomorrow. 

We will deal with that at another time. For now, let's keep on walking. 

"God is good all the time and that's His nature, wow!"