Because Ugandan Women are Awesome...

I happened across this video today (while working incredibly hard on something very important, of course) and thought it was too awesome not to share. A little glimpse of this place that I am living right now...

Dreams

Four years ago I sat with my friend Tamara and told her my dreams of opening a birth center here. A place where women could come and safely deliver their babies. Where medicine is practiced well and doctors and nurses know what's safe. Where sick newborns would be cared for in something other than a metal basket.

But sometimes dreams feel really big. Like they could never be accomplished because they would require too much money or the help of too many people or there are just so many pieces that would have to fit together in order for that dream to be a reality that it could never be done.

A few days ago I met with Vanessa, a labor and delivery nurse that I met 2 1/2 years ago when I came here for Karis' birth. It turns out Vanessa has the same dream, only she has way more of the pieces in place. She's dreaming of a place much the same... with delivery beds, and an OR, and a nursery, and nurses that know what they're doing. And fetal monitoring and baby warmers and IV pumps. It turns out that a place like this may only be a couple years away from being up and running in Jinja. All that's needed right now is the funding to buy the land and build the building (And I use the word "ALL" loosely, because what that roughly translates to is $250,000).

I'm not quite ready to up and move myself to Jinja, but if this place really happens, it just might be the boost I need to make the move over here for a couple years. But for now it means going home and dreaming and talking to hospitals and doctors and nurses.... helping to raise the money for this place. It means getting to be a part of this amazing dream.

And for all of my amazing OB nurse/doctor/midwife friends... now is the time to start thinking about how you'd like to help bring better care to Uganda. Because we would love your knowledge and your skills and your connections to people with lots of money who want to give it away. :)

Old Folks

I love old folks. Just wanted to share these little gems...

Time to live

One of the things that I love about being in Uganda is the pace of life and the unique and authentic relationships that happen here. There is a depth to friendships here that I seldom experience at home. Friendships that are formed here stick, even after you're gone, because of that depth.

All the girls for Kate's birthday

There's something here called "African time." It basically means that nothing every happens at the time you decide. If you say 10am, it generally means sometime between 11 and 2. While this aspect of life here often makes me want to scream, it also creates a culture of relationship. There isn't always something to run off to do. There's just more time. Time to sit and talk. Time to listen. Time to welcome people into your home and invite them to stay for lunch, and maybe even dinner too.

One of my favorite things about being back here is the time I'm getting with my dear friend Tamara and her family. I've spend hours sitting and laughing with her. I've sat on her couch and read an insane number of books to her kids. And it isn't scheduled. It just happens. Because when you live here (whether you are Ugandan or you're an American in Uganda), life takes on a slower pace and isn't so overbooked that you don't have time for the people around you. And when you stop looking at your watch or wondering if there's something better you could be doing, you will find yourself immersed in conversations and relationships that are so much deeper and richer than you could have ever imagined.

Sweet Karis

Honestly though, I don't know that life will even happen like this in the states. Not because it isn't possible, but because both parties have to take off their watches and just live a life of community... And it doesn't seem likely that many people would be willing to do that. And that makes going back to America seem like a pretty hard thing to do, because right now, this place and these people... they seem a whole lot more like home.

Home in Jinja

My awesome roommate, Kate

I've finally settled into life here in Jinja. I'm working on developing a website for the pregnancy center and will possibly be doing a half day class on pregnancy/birth (assuming I can develop such a curriculum). It's been such a blessing to spend time with my dear friends here and get to know their kids again... and to meet lots of new friends. Already I am anticipating how hard it will be to leave, just as it always is. I love my life when I'm here. I love the person I am here. And I love the people here.

 

Much of my life is similar to home, though life in Uganda is it's own breed of crazy I bake delicious treats for my friends.... only here you have to pick the ants out of your cake batter. I watch movies with my friends.... though the power may go out in the middle. I go to the market.... only the floors are made of mud. I go to a cafe to get work done... only the internet may go out in the middle of my blog and the person with the login code has wandered away. I hang out with awesome kids... only we sit in the chicken coop for fun. Life is just different here, but it's still life. It's still full of laughter and fun and friends.

But then there are parts of my days that are so different from home.... Like when I sit in the small one room house of a 16 year old girl who is pregnant. Or when I use the microphone on my phone to try and hear the heart beat of her baby. When I measure her belly with a scrap of paper to see how many weeks pregnant she might be. When I photograph plump little babies who would have died without the help of some amazing women here. Things here are both incredibly simple and infinitely more complicated than life in the US.

And I love it.