Alright, I'm back. I'm alive.
I survived
I'm going to depart from my usual structure of posting, mainly because I wasn't thinking much about it. Jet lag is always an adventure, (usually involving excessive sleep), and then there were parties and all-day film shoots at obscure castles. You'd think my life would simplify, but no, it hasn't. As such, this overwhelming whirlpool of busyness broadsided me by surprise and thus, postponed most opportunities to write something.
I do, however, intend to get a grip on this unwieldy life of mine and make it follow what I want it to do. We'll see how it goes. Anyways, let's get started.
Basically, going to Africa was one of the greatest experiences of my life, to put it simply. In Uganda, there was change, challenge, and choice. Things happened there, big things. Every day was packed with adventures, challenges, and lessons. More happened in a day, than I usually experience in a week. And frankly, I miss the difficulties each day provided. I need them. In Africa, there were absolutes. Concrete, maybe even harsh realities that presented me with two choices.
Either close my eyes or take an honest look at myself and change.
It was not a comfortable experience, but I loved it that way. It was not easy and honestly, how could I have believed it would be otherwise? Now that I'm home, that feeling of being stretched, of being challenged, has lessened somewhat. And I don't know if that's a good thing. I'm scared of losing all that I learned there, of backtracking. The problem is not being too uncomfortable, but rather being too comfortable.
Since I'm already very late in posting this, I'll try and summarize the trip as coherently as possible. If you want to ask me questions about it in the comments, I can probably answer in a more in-depth manner.
After hopping off the plane in Entebbe, we visited the only zoo in Uganda and boated across Lake Victoria. Then, we headed to St. Kizito's High School where we stayed for the rest of the trip. From there, we constructed a playground for a school of some 550 young students and dedicated it in honor of my uncle, who passed away many years ago. We also helped with the construction of a Science Lab by transporting material for the builders by hand. At the same school, we dedicated a soccer field that four members of our group had raised $10,000 to construct. Once it is fully completed, it will be one of the nicest soccer fields in Uganda and several professional teams there have already asked for permission to play on it. Other than that, we built relationships with the students of the nearby schools and handed out many supplies for the villagers close by. In addition, we visited the site of the Uganda Martyrs, Namugongo and the National Mall of Uganda in Kampala.
Of course, that's a very brief summary of what happened. There were many personal, individual events that occurred throughout the trip, but that would be hard to fit all into one post. I'll most likely be sharing more about what I learned from it over the next few weeks, but until then,
Either close my eyes or take an honest look at myself and change.
It was not a comfortable experience, but I loved it that way. It was not easy and honestly, how could I have believed it would be otherwise? Now that I'm home, that feeling of being stretched, of being challenged, has lessened somewhat. And I don't know if that's a good thing. I'm scared of losing all that I learned there, of backtracking. The problem is not being too uncomfortable, but rather being too comfortable.
Since I'm already very late in posting this, I'll try and summarize the trip as coherently as possible. If you want to ask me questions about it in the comments, I can probably answer in a more in-depth manner.
After hopping off the plane in Entebbe, we visited the only zoo in Uganda and boated across Lake Victoria. Then, we headed to St. Kizito's High School where we stayed for the rest of the trip. From there, we constructed a playground for a school of some 550 young students and dedicated it in honor of my uncle, who passed away many years ago. We also helped with the construction of a Science Lab by transporting material for the builders by hand. At the same school, we dedicated a soccer field that four members of our group had raised $10,000 to construct. Once it is fully completed, it will be one of the nicest soccer fields in Uganda and several professional teams there have already asked for permission to play on it. Other than that, we built relationships with the students of the nearby schools and handed out many supplies for the villagers close by. In addition, we visited the site of the Uganda Martyrs, Namugongo and the National Mall of Uganda in Kampala.
Of course, that's a very brief summary of what happened. There were many personal, individual events that occurred throughout the trip, but that would be hard to fit all into one post. I'll most likely be sharing more about what I learned from it over the next few weeks, but until then,
I'm going to bed.
(And before you ask "Where are all the pictures?!?!?" Have no fear, I'll be posting them on Google Plus soon.)
WHERE ARE ALL THE PICTURES oh wait ok I see. XD I'll be stalking your Google Plus. :D Glad you had fun though!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was probably one of the best experiences of my life! Oh and the pictures are up, so ENJOY! :D
DeleteWow. Your trip sounds awesome!
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes, jet lag. Totally understand that. Especially if the other place is 12 hours ahead. It’s like sleeping in the day time and waking at night. . . not fun. The film shoots sounds interesting! What were they for?
That’s great that you got to experience so many things, and learn from them too. What are some of the challenges that you met in Uganda? What differences did you see between the lifestyle there and your lifestyle at home?
Was the zoo like an African safari? What kinds of animals were there? (sorry for the rather large amount of questions. But you did say we could ask questions in the comments, and I may or may not be taking advantage of that ;))
Wow, you did a lot of work there! How did it feel finishing the projects? :) Oh, and if I may ask, what or where is Namugongo? (and how do you pronounce it? Nah-moo-gong-go?!)
Thanks for sharing, Thomas, and can’t wait to read more about your trip! :D
Oh, man, that jet lag is fun. I've always been curious as to what it's like and now I know. All things considered, it actually wasn't that bad.
DeleteThe film shoot was for an adaptation of G.K Chesterton's "Ballad of the White Horse." (Now you understand why I'm such a big fan! :P) I can tell you more about it if you're interested. It's really a fascinating project for me to be a part of.
Overall, the entire trip was pretty challenging, emotionally, mentally, and physically. There was a lot of hard work, combined with little sleep. (The latter part was mostly my fault, though.) Adapting to Uganda wasn't too hard with things like washing clothes by hand, the money, avoiding all tap water, etc. It was hard, though, for me to interact with the people there at times. Though most people spoke English, it can still be very difficult to understand them.
One of the greatest differences from my regular lifestyle was that this trip was a pilgrimage. There was a heavy focus on faith, which was awesome for me. There were so many good conversations and I made some great friends with the rest of the group.
The zoo was an actual zoo, with animals in pens and stuff. They do have safaris, but we didn't go on one for this trip. They had lions, giraffes, elephants, leopards, alligators, rhinos, monkeys, snakes, boars, and a large collection of enormous spiders in every tree...
The projects were pretty fun to work on, just because you're always doing it with friends. Many hands make light work. My favorite moment was when we surprised my grandma by dedicating the playground in memory of her son, (my uncle Matt), who passed away in a car accident twenty some years ago. Needless to say, it was a pretty emotional moment for all of us, even though I've never had the chance to meet him.
Namugongo is the site of the Ugandan Martyrs that we visited. It was a pretty amazing and beautiful place to celebrate Mass at.I'm pretty sure that's how you pronounce it. Their words seem to be written and pronounced pretty phonetically.
Glad you enjoyed reading about it! :)
~Thomas