Patience

I’m having a difficult time being patient as I count down the weeks until I leave for Rwanda. I’m ready to smell the smells and see the sights. I remember what it was like driving in Uganda from Entebbe (where the airport is) to Kampala. Although it was different, it wasn’t as shocking as I thought it would be. People were on their way to work or school, walking or riding a bike. Women were carrying fabric or food on their head. Children were walking without shoes, dressed in their school uniform.

Maybe I didn’t find it quite as surprising as I expected because God planted Africa on my heart many many years ago. Deep down a part of me was prepared and ready to experience all that Africa had to offer. I feel like I am putty being molded into the person I was born to be.

In a strange way, I miss the smell of burning garbage. It’s not a smell I am excited to return to but it’s a part of Africa that’s just there. I’m ready to see beautiful brown faces who “ohhh” and “ahhh” at the sight of a Mzungu, especially one with blond hair who will let them play with it. They are so innocent but have experienced so much more in their short life than most Americans will ever see. I’m ready to shake hands with people and make life-long friends. I miss the layer of dirt that was left of my skin after a long day outside. I’m ready for things to be difficult and out of my comfort zone. Only then will I rely solely on God.

This spring in Oklahoma has made me think of the rains we experienced in northern Uganda. Purongo Hills school was on a hill and we could look out over the African plain and see the clouds rolling towards us about 3:00 every day. By 3:30 we were drenched and looking for cover. By 4:15 it was over and the sun was back. Children were playing. Women were beginning to prepare dinner before the sun went down. It’s just a part of the rainy season.

I’m very eager to be in the school. The students are the future. One of them might find the cure for cancer or AIDS. I’m fortunate to be going to a country where education is important. I’m excited to teach the kids anything and everything to prepare them for the world.

I’m ready to walk with God and grow in my faith and I’m ready to fall back in love with the continent I hold so dear to my heart.

Family Ties

Last weekend at the Bead Party in Ft. Smith, my Great Aunt Anita stopped by. I had the most wonderful time visiting with her. She and I share a deep love of books (and going to movies!). She has been a Librarian in Ft. Smith for years. Lauren tells me I devour books, well my Aunt Anita demolishes them! We were talking about Uganda, Rwanda and Africa in general and the book I just finished came to mind. It is called Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I was wondering through Borders a few weeks ago searching for a good read and I kept seeing Little Bee everywhere. So I opened up to the first page and it read, "Sometimes I would rather be a British pound coin than an African woman. " SOLD! It was the best book I had read in a while. I gave Anita the book and told her a little bit about it. She writes an article for Ft. Smith's online newspaper, The City Wire, and she said that she wanted Little Bee to be her next book review. She likes to connect her books in someway to the real world so it would be perfect for her to connect this book to me since I'm moving to Rwanda. Here is her article...it's great! I am so honored she wanted to write this review about me. I'm pretty spoiled to have such an amazing and supportive family. Please check out her review and pick up a copy of Little Bee!

Paddocks Picks: Little Bee

Beads, beads, beads!

Mom, Lee and I had a bead party at the house this past weekend. We sold over $4,000 of beads and the money goes straight to the beaders in Uganda. It was amazing!! So many of our friends and family from Ft. Smith came to support BeadforLife. It's incredible to see the fire in someones eyes light up when you tell them first hand stories about the women in Africa. One of the most exciting parts of the day was meeting a new friend, Jessi. Jessi is good friends with Blayne and traveled with him to Musanze and Sonrise. I had heard so much about her and had no idea she was planning on coming to the bead party. It was great to talk to her since she has been to the school where I will be working and stayed in the house I will be living in. It's such a small world.

Still thinking about Uganda...last week the Kasubi tombs where caught on fire and burned down. When I was in Kampala, we visited the tombs and learned the unique history of the Buganda tribe. Here is a picture of the tombs.

www.kasubitombs.org

Buried at the tombs are 4 Kings of the Buganda tribe. George was our tour guide. I hope he is alright and unhurt throughout all of this.

YAY!!

Monday morning was a typical morning...breakfast in the classroom, calendar work, snotty noses...thanks flu season! But then I got the most REMARKABLE email from Dale....BISHOP JOHN HAS APPROVED LEE AND I TO WORK AT SONRISE! (Yes, that is how excited I was!) I read the email and started jumping up and down and grabbed Vanessa and gave her a big hug. My kids thought I was nuts. I am so honored and blessed to be working at the Sonrise School starting in August. God is working great things in my life and I can't wait to get to Rwanda.

Another connection...

Yesterday, I drove to OKC to meet with Dave and Jana Jenkins. Dave is a pastor in Kigali and he and Jana helped start the Kigali International Community School (KICS). The church he is a pastor at is on the same grounds as the school. The church is Christ's Church Rwanda. They have five children, two are adopted from Uganda. They lived in Kampala for 11 years(another connection). I am so glad I had the chance to meet them before they return to Kigali. They are due back soon but don't have a set departure date yet. Their kids go to KICS and since they live there and helped start it, I was able to pick their brains! KICS sounds wonderful. It is in Kigali. Jana made a good point from a moms perspective: "If you think Africa is a long term deal, you should start out in your bubble." Meaning that if I see myself working in Africa for a long time, which I do, then maybe starting at KICS in the capitol might be a good place to start. I would be surrounded by more Americans and people my age. The students at KICS are from all over the world. Their parents are there doing missionary work or working for an NGO. Without an American school like KICS, they wouldn't be able to work in Rwanda because there is no good school for their children. But nothing is set yet and I'm working on being patient. 5 months to go...

Here is the website of the Rwandan Outreach Community Foundation. It has a lot of info about KICS.

www.rocfoundation.org

What I'm returning to...

Here are some pictures of my two weeks in Uganda. I'm super pumped to go back!

It's a beautiful life.

Beautiful beaders.

Murchison Falls:the source of the Nile

my friend!

Did you know that the darker the spots on a giraffe, the older it is?

Yes, we were that close to her...

My favorite animal!

The infamous edible cane rat...yum!

Goat Roast!

My dear, sweet friends from Purongo Hills.

Duck Duck Duck GOOSE! This was the Fairway Childcare Vocational School in Mukono. Dan and I attempted to start a game of Duck Duck Duck Goose with these Kindergarten age kids. I started the game and tagged Dan who jumped up to start chasing me. Well, this frightened the kids and they all jumped up and ran away screaming. It was so cute and fun!

This curious little guy followed us through Namuwongo for about 45 minutes. So precious! He is a testament to the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." He was cared for wherever we went.

We were walking through Pakwach, a village in northern Uganda, and me being the Early Childhood teacher that I am started playing with the kids. I would make an animal sound, name the animal and act like that animal and they would repeat and tell me the animals name in their language. We were frogs in this picture...ribbit!

New Friends at Fellowship

Melissa and Blayne invited Lee and I to Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock on Sunday. First of all, the church is massive!! It's like a mall or an airport in there! We got there a little early to meet Jessica Brogdon and her husband Todd. They lived in Rwanda for a while and are two amazing individuals! We talked a little about their time there and we told them our plans. I am so excited to be meeting all these passionate and wonderful people.

We attended the Worship Service at church. FBC has three services: Worship (devoted to a lot of worship songs), The Edge (for the younger crowd), and another one that is more traditional. There are about 15 or so Rwandan students that go to schools in the Little Rock area. They all go to the Worship Service so I got to meet them. They are all in school studying Math, Chemistry, Engineering, etc... Very bright kids! I met William, who is 36 years old from Rwanda. Melissa told me he was a soldier in the RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) during the genocide. He was the driver on their trip when they went to Rwanda and now he is in the states on a scholarship at Arkansas Baptist College. He is amazing. I also had a nice chat with Alex. He is in school at Philander Smith College in Little Rock. He is planning to go to Rwanda for a visit at the end of July/early August and that's when I hope to leave for Rwanda. It's comforting to know that I will already have some friendships including Rwandans and Americans when I arrive.

Also, if you don't know much about the genocide that happened in Rwanda in 1994, I recommend you look it up. Here are some websites with information.

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide

www.rwanda-genocide.org