"House help" is common here. People hire others to clean their house and do their laundry. I was really adamant about not having house help, but once I saw there was no washing machine, I knew I was out of my league. Cleaning is essential here. At home, I would usually clean my house once a week and do the laundry (well, okay Joe would clean and I would do laundry), but here it is a daily job. You must keep all of the dishes washed or you will get ants - everywhere!
This is a picture of the ants surrounding a knife that I used to put jelly on my toast. I used it in the morning and came back and it was surrounded by ants. Yes, I learned my lesson. This morning, Sarah, my saving grace, came to my house. My friend Judy recommended her and we made an appointment for her to come this morning. Sarah came in and we talked about what I needed. She said she would clean my floors, dishes, dust, and do laundry. I asked her how much she wanted each week and she said sh25,000 which is equivalent to almost $10. $10! Are you kidding me? I told her that I would need to give her more today because I had a lot of laundry. My understanding is she will spend 4-5 hours here. Holy cow. How can I justify paying her so little? I was talking with one of my friends and she said that I must pay her the going rate because if I pay her more, it could cause problems on campus. I know that I am helping her family, but it is difficult to justify paying her so little. I feel like I am paying for slave labor. I am going to have to somehow make this right. Maybe I can get her gifts or make food for her family. I am not sure yet, but somehow I will pay her what she is worth! Do you have any suggestions?
After Sarah left, the clothes were still drying on the line and I heard thunder. I ran to get my clothes...in the rain. I do feel like a real Ugandan because my clothes actually got rained on and I have them all over my house drying. Hopefully there will be less laundry next week!
I also opened a card from my dear friend, Jennifer Singleton. She gave me a card to open each month for the duration of my time here. So, I opened the first one today and cried. I did not cry because I miss home, but I cried because I know this is the adventure of a lifetime and I am so thankful for people who are praying for me and thinking of me. Jenn included the following verse: "Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge" Psalm 16:1. I can't help but pray this prayer with all of the amazing blessings I have here and the inspiring worship we have on campus. God reveals Himself every minute of every day here.
This is my dear friend Ben. He is an athlete here on campus and one of the guys I met at the gym when I first arrived. Ben is older than most traditional students and it has been a long road to find the financial resources to pay for school. He is actually on scholarship and spends many hours practicing with the volleyball and football (soccer) teams. In fact, they have a big tournament in Mbale this weekend. Ben is graduating in December with a B.A. in child development. He has a heart for children and is working on an NGO which will help support children in poverty even though he comes from poverty himself. He is working on the development and has a board in place. I will try to let you know more about his organization as it develops. I am convicted with the way Ugandans take care of each other even when they have very little themselves. At home, we give money at Christmas to the red kettles, donate clothes or canned goods, but I wonder how many of us have given what we have sacrificially without knowing where the next dollar will come from? I can honestly say I never have. I have always had a savings account with a small "nest egg" to take care of me just in case I need it.
I attempted to take pictures of monkeys today, but didn't see any during
my walk. I always seem them whenever I don't have my camera handy. I
still captured some cool shots today.
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| This is a view of Mukono from the top of the mountain. See the plume of smoke? That is burning trash and you can smell it everywhere! |
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| My friend told me these are guavas, but they don't really look like the guavas I know. |
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| This is an ant hill. Yes, I know...I had the same reaction. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture, but it is 3' tall. |
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| This has no significance, just thought it was a cool tree. |
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| This gives you a good idea of the color of the dirt here. It gets on EVERYTHING including shoes! |
