This is the last row of tukels on the Medair Abim base - only about 150 km from Kaabong, yet SO different, can you tell? Like a mountainous resort...
can't completely tell, but our ill-looking faces are covered in face masks - girly sunday afternoon
Karina & I on a walk into the hillsA few weeks ago I got a chance to head out with our field team - this doesn't happen often for me as I'm in the office all day. I was very excited because this area is quite off the beaten track and supposed to be very beautiful. Plus its great to see what the teams are up to. This day Simon, our new Watsan Manager, was sizing up some boreholes to see if they were ready for a cattletrough. The cattletrough is just like it sounds, a wide trench connected to a long channel from the borehole to collect the extra water that is pumped out. If there is no cattletrough, the animals will come right up to the borehole, which presents a number of problems including animal dung that contaminates the water & spreads disease as well as broken concret around the handpump that can lead to contamination as well. I have learned a few things since I've been here!
Mainly, I like having a cat, specifically our cat Tony, because he is cute & loves to cuddle - doesn't seem like an African cat as I always figured they would be scrawny & mangey. Tony is definitely not mangey... But, another very important reason we have Tony is for this:
Trace is a master practical joker...and I am easily drawn into her evil ways. While Jakob was on break last week, we decided to make good use of the red & white paint we have lying around our base. The result is below, with a few added accents to really make Jakob's princess tukel (do you see the barbie sheets?), or as I affectionately call it the 'pinkel', ready for his return. The smile you see below is slightly forced. Pink suits him, don't you think?
Yes, this is Jacob & I doing a Tim Tam Slam…and I am now officially out of tim tams!
My hope upon moving here to Kaabong was to be able to help those who are in need, to serve some of the most vulnerable by using my skills and through which to honor God. I expected in this journey to meet people of various backgrounds and diversity. I expected to enjoy living here, getting to know the culture, interacting with the Karamojong people. I expected to learn a ton about relief & development work, to draw more conclusions as to my opinions for or against humanitarian aid. I expected to miss home and friends, but love being here even in the midst.
Right before leaving for
So far, I’ve had a couple glimpses of this investment and loss. This month we have 5 staff leaving our team in Kaabong. Below is a picture of 4 of these staff.
Jacob, also known as
Anna Stella is one of our Community Trainers & her contract is over this month due to the end of her part of our project, which involved mobilizing the community and training Hygiene Promoters to encourage more healthy hygienic habits within
Sarah is going to work for the District as their HR official. She has been a Community Trainer for us as well & has shown us how amazing she is at mobilizing the Water User Commitees around the district. She is highly respected and loved in this community – let alone within Medair – I will truly miss her laugh, smile, and strong will!
Benson is working with the District as Town Agent. He has also been a Community Trainer with us for the last 3 months and has proved himself to be honest, trustworthy, and very hardworking. We are sad to see him go!
Charles (not pictured) is working as the District Water Officer & therefore will be still very involved in Medair’s work as we work alongside to create better access to clean water throughout the district. Charles has been working with us for 4 months & has proved to be one of the most intelligent and motivated Karamojong I’ve ever met. He has the best smile & laugh, yet the strictest loyalty to truth! He is determined to not get caught up in the corruption associated with a high position & I’m praying God gives him the strength to see that through and be the change within this town/district!
They are talented, educated, incredible people who we have prayed, worked, laughed and cried alongside for the past 4-9 months. We had a goodbye party last week for 2 of them & the tears were very near as I thought of days going by without seeing them. The good news is that 4 of the 5 have jobs within town, so I will still see them around! But I did get a glimpse of what leaving Kaabong may bring…
The other glimpse came in the form of a very unexpected blessing upon living in Kaabong – Jacob & Georgia Reed. I’ve mentioned these folks many times before, but now they have officially left Kaabong and I already miss them dearly! I never expected to meet people here that I could connect with so quickly but also that I could hope to see again upon returning to the states! Their friendship was a blessing from God to me.
The Reeds have finished their time here in Kaabong, definitely in God’s timing, and are headed home to
On my way back to base today from a walk, I had a few friends join me. They kept saying this word I didn't know in ngkarimojong, so I asked our guard, Charles, what they wanted. He said they were asking for empties - these are containers from food we have that we'll be throwing out. We used to just put them in our rubbish pit, but after finding children rooting through the pit a few times for these 'gems', we decided to keep them aside & every once in awhile have a giveaway day when all the children around our base could get some empties. These containers range from tin cans to olive bottles - junk/trash from our point of view, but treasures to them! I asked our friend, Kristine, today if we should even give them the tin cans & she said of course! The children love to play that they are cooking with them! Aren't children the same everywhere? (that is, they like to play house & pretend - not that they play with dirty old containers!)
