TIA…This is Africa

There are so many ways to describe Uganda, but I think the best way is definitely “different.”

I have been out of the states for a month now. I spent my first week here at Uganda Christian University with just the 38 of us students. We had several meetings with our Uganda Studies Program leaders talking about our expectations and how we can best fit in while being here.

Then we were whisked away to Rwanda for 10 days where we were immersed in Rwandan culture and visited various genocide museums and sites, as well as met survivors and those aiding in the relief effort. A word about Rwanda: intense. I could probably fill up the entire newspaper with what we saw and learned while there.

After Rwanda we came back and immediately started classes, which are conducted in the British Tutorial style. This means two-hour lectures with a one-hour discussion twice a week. Aside from the worldview-warping life experiences, my classes are also changing the way I view culture. I am taking a class called faith in action, an African literature class, African traditional religions, understanding worldviews and a course on reading the New Testament in Africa.

After a week of classes, we began our Mukono homestays, which are now finishing up. We were each assigned to a family living in the surrounding town of Mukono for two weeks, and we get to walk to school.

Daily life here is vastly different from life in the U.S. If you thought Southerners were hospitable, try coming to Africa. Everyone is ultra-friendly and ready to welcome us into their homes or churches.

White people here are called “mzungus,” so while walking down the street we constantly hear that word. When little children yell to us, we wave at them. Wherever we go, though, people stare at the mzungus. They stare as if they have never seen white people, and we stare as if we have never been here before. I guess it is justifiable.

While not living at my homestay for these two weeks, I live in a dorm with a cement floor smaller than the dorm rooms at Milligan, and there are four of us residing there. We have community bathrooms with “squatty potties.” I think that is self explanatory. And the showers in the bathroom do not even have a knob for hot water, so it is cold all the time.

There are students here from all over the U.S., so the girls with whom I share this tiny space are from Maryland, Denver, and Seattle. It is cozy but comfortable as long as we keep it clean. Cockroaches seem to really enjoy my closet, though, so the bug spray is getting good use.

The main problem with keeping our room, and everything else, clean, however, is the mud. Remember Jesus washing his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper? That story has taken on a whole new meaning. All of the roads through campus are dirt, so our feet are constantly covered in a reddish dust, unless it rains. Then they are covered in red mud.

Since we are still in rainy season, the mud is pretty frequent. It usually rains once a day, and if it goes a few days without raining, expect a harsh downpour which sometimes imitates what I have seen of hurricane rain on the Weather Channel.

In a society where much of life takes place outside, rain can be quite a hindrance to daily activities. I love the rain, though. It is something I get to smile at while everyone else runs for cover.

The bad part about the rain, though, is getting laundry done. It is a tricky system trying to wash clothes by hand in the first place. Ugandan women just have this strength in their hands which the mzungus do not have, so if something of mine gets really muddy, it will probably get thrown away.

Having to hang-dry everything also presents a problem when the rain comes suddenly and violently. I finally just hung up some twine in our dorm room to give us an alternative to the outdoor clotheslines.

In addition to all those joys, Uganda does not have the best system for power supply, so we experience a power outage at least once a week, if not more often. My flashlight has become a much more valuable resource since the sun goes down at 7 p.m. every night on the equator, and the moon cannot always be trusted to provide good light.

So between the cold showers and power outages, comfort is definitely not high on the priority list for the semester, but I am getting used to it. I have found that when I am stripped of my comforts, God can reveal Himself in so many ways.

He is very much at work in Africa. I do not think I have ever met people so excited to worship and pray and go to church. Chapel here is not required, but the entire campus shuts down for it, and it is “standing room only” every Monday and Thursday.

I have to admit my trust and dependence on Him has spiked, because there is no way I could get through this alone. It has been a tough adjustment for sure, but one very well worth it.