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.