So after a loooong journey, running through Heathrow airport for a 15 minute layover in my karamojong skirt and all my beads, getting funny looks from observers upon arrival in JFK with one of my three suitcases. After figuring out the machine that makes you spend $5 to borrow a cart for 10 minutes (do people steal those things or something?!) and waiting for the suitcases that weren’t coming, I gave up and walked through the doors toward the cold NY outside. There standing down the hall were my mom, dad and Cesar! I ran towards their HUGE smiles and gave them the biggest hugs I could muster. They enjoyed the Karamojong attire and, I was glad, were not too embarrassed to walk through the airport with me and my plaid/striped skirt and colorful tribal-looking beads. Each of them were also wearing some of Karamoja that had been sent for Christmas - Dad and Cesar each had beaded bangles and Mom had a necklace made of bone. Very appropriate :-) After figuring out the baggage that ended up arriving at my house before I woke up the next morning (makes transport a lot easier - losing baggage isn’t so bad!) we walked into the frigid NY air. Fortunately Cesar was there to warm my hands during the car ride... we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some things on the way to my aunt and uncle’s house on Long Island. I went inside to see what was there... the size of that place was incredible. First thing I walk into is the produce section... in front of me are piles and piles of fruits. Outside it appears to be dead winter and yet the oranges and apples are piled high, pineapples and watermelons are numerous... you can get anything you want. I never used to find this so funny, but what a strange concept! The fruits even coincided with their stereotypical colors... oranges were orange, apples were red, bananas were yellow, lemons were yellow small and smooth. (All oranges in Uganda are green unless they’re rotten... apples are nonexistent but the few I saw in the Indian supermarkets were green... bananas are a huge variety of shapes, sizes and colors... and lemons were green huge and ridiculously lumpy - if you get the yellow ones they are quite over-ripe... oops :-P) So that was the start of the surprises... there have been many more in the meantime. My first meal was at my aunt’s house... homemade chicken soup. I could easily identify EVERY piece of meat that was in it and there was hardly any starch :-D Everything was chewable and it tasted amazing. I was quite happy :-)
Since my arrival I have been enjoying a new outlook on life. I’m still in the excitement phase of all the ‘new’ (again) things around here, but I know that I see the world differently after having spent so much time in a completely different culture, seeing the immense needs of others in this world. I’m learning more and more to appreciate what I have and to seek God, asking how He wants me to serve Him and help others see His love and what He has for them. I appreciate any prayers on guidance for the future... I feel Him calling me and that’s awesome... just have to work out the details :-)
I want to thank all of you once again for the support you’ve been to me. Whether it has been financial or in prayer, I could not have done it without you. God gave me the strength to get through the tough times while I was out there and He will continue to be with me now that I’m home and determining what to do with this new outlook on life and the plans He’s laying before me. Please continue to pray - especially about vet school. I’m still waiting to hear the final decision... April 15th at the latest. It’s definitely on my mind a lot so please be praying for peace and for me to trust God in the plans He has for me. I know that they are best but of course if they don’t go the way we expect that can be hard to really get! But I’m trying my best, and praying that our plans line up in this respect!
THANKS AGAIN! I love you guys... it’s great to be back with friends and family :-) I’ll be doing some touring with pictures and stories now that I’m back. Did a family slideshow a couple days ago but I’ll have one for churches and for schools and other things so 1. please pray that those go well and that they can really tell the story of what God is doing as well as inspire people to support ministries reaching people like those of Karamoja and 2. if you (your church, etc...) would like to hear about the ministry and what it was like out there feel free to talk to me... I’d love to share with as many as I can!
About Me
- Heidi
- I just graduated from undergrad with an Animal Science degree from Cornell University in May 2010. I decided to commit a year before vet school to do veterinary missions work in Africa through Christian Veterinary Mission. I am working with Dr. Val Shean for about 8 months with the Karamojong tribe of NE Uganda. I am currently applying to vet schools and praying to start next Fall!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Small recap and the final weeks...
Every time I take my Leatherman out of my bag, I try to think back to the last thing I did with it. That way I can know whether I need bleach, soap, or just water. Not that my determination really makes a difference because it’s not like I ever have bleach with me, but still… the thought is intriguing anyway. And who wouldn’t want some leftover rat guts on their cheese sandwich?!
The Life of a Leatherman Knife (not including other instruments, which have ALL been used):
1. Cut an orange
2. Gut a rat
3. Cut cheese for a nice cheese and grasshopper sandwich
4. Cut tire treads to fit firestone sandals
5. Strip wires to make a converter to charge devices
6. Slaughter a cow
7. Cut garden hose to make substitute fuel line
8. Cut ropes to save drowning cows
9. Spread Nutella on piece of bread
10. Cut nails
11. Assist with eating of sugar cane (and thereby close-removal of fingertip)
12. Cow necropsy
13. Remove Africa-calluses from feet (sorry… that’s tmi I think :-P)
14. Be at-the-ready to protect against creepy guy in hotel room next door
15. Many many more uses but for now, I think this shows enough contrast :-P
As for an update of the current situation…
I am getting ready to leave Kampala for a journey to KENYA today!!! Val and I are going to meet up with Jennifer in Mbale and then take an overnight bus across the border and to Nairobi, where we will find NIELLYYYYY!!!! Then we’ll hop on the train all together tomorrow night and travel overnight to Mombasa. We have some fun plans for the train ride already, so it should be a good time. I’m SO excited for Val and Jennifer to meet Nielly because I talk about her ALL the time, so it will be good :-) We’ll spend a few days in Mombasa hanging on the beach and maybe doing some snorkeling and such. My transition out of bush life is nearly coming to a completion. After Mombasa, I’ll be heading back to Entebbe for my flight home! I’m going to miss it here a LOT, but I’m also really really excited to come home, see people and report on all the crazy things that have gone on here. Also… I have become quite the mess technologically in the past few weeks. My American phone was stolen at some point recently which is very unfortunate because I have to get all my contacts back and I lost pictures and things like that… so I’ll be requesting some of your numbers once I get home :-P Also, my computer underwent a slow death by dust invasion. First the screen wouldn’t work and then after using a projector for a while to see my emails, the bottom row of my keyboard decided to stop working. So I’ve been using Val’s when I get the chance (THANK YOU VAL!) but it has complicated communication a bit! So I’m working on getting a new one of those for when I get home (and by that I mean Daddy and Cesar are working on it :-P)… but it’s not very helpful to be without because I would like to be putting slideshows together and things but I can’t do that without my computer, so sorry if they’re not as organized as they would be when I get home! The past few days I’ve been living it up at a resort where Val is attending a conference. I was not able to get in, but instead I’ve been spending my days swimming in the Olympic size pool that’s here, so I’m happy :-)
I’ve also had plenty of time to be reading and praying and things, so I’m all caught up on God’s plan (HA :-P). But I have had some good time just getting ready for the transition back to the states and praying about the future. Some interesting and scary new thoughts, so we’ll see how it all plays out. I’m really excited about serving God wherever He takes me! But I’ve got some years to figure that all out, given vet school is next on the agenda. Continued prayers for admission would be appreciated… I would LOVE to get in this year… but I know that God’s plan is best – I’m just praying that includes vet school this year!
Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers… I can’t wait to see you again!! I’ll be back in just over a WEEK! Not sure how blogging will go from here… I will try to post again before I go, but if not, you should get a real update even with pictures when I get back to the states with REAL internet and a functioning computer!
The Life of a Leatherman Knife (not including other instruments, which have ALL been used):
1. Cut an orange
2. Gut a rat
3. Cut cheese for a nice cheese and grasshopper sandwich
4. Cut tire treads to fit firestone sandals
5. Strip wires to make a converter to charge devices
6. Slaughter a cow
7. Cut garden hose to make substitute fuel line
8. Cut ropes to save drowning cows
9. Spread Nutella on piece of bread
10. Cut nails
11. Assist with eating of sugar cane (and thereby close-removal of fingertip)
12. Cow necropsy
13. Remove Africa-calluses from feet (sorry… that’s tmi I think :-P)
14. Be at-the-ready to protect against creepy guy in hotel room next door
15. Many many more uses but for now, I think this shows enough contrast :-P
As for an update of the current situation…
I am getting ready to leave Kampala for a journey to KENYA today!!! Val and I are going to meet up with Jennifer in Mbale and then take an overnight bus across the border and to Nairobi, where we will find NIELLYYYYY!!!! Then we’ll hop on the train all together tomorrow night and travel overnight to Mombasa. We have some fun plans for the train ride already, so it should be a good time. I’m SO excited for Val and Jennifer to meet Nielly because I talk about her ALL the time, so it will be good :-) We’ll spend a few days in Mombasa hanging on the beach and maybe doing some snorkeling and such. My transition out of bush life is nearly coming to a completion. After Mombasa, I’ll be heading back to Entebbe for my flight home! I’m going to miss it here a LOT, but I’m also really really excited to come home, see people and report on all the crazy things that have gone on here. Also… I have become quite the mess technologically in the past few weeks. My American phone was stolen at some point recently which is very unfortunate because I have to get all my contacts back and I lost pictures and things like that… so I’ll be requesting some of your numbers once I get home :-P Also, my computer underwent a slow death by dust invasion. First the screen wouldn’t work and then after using a projector for a while to see my emails, the bottom row of my keyboard decided to stop working. So I’ve been using Val’s when I get the chance (THANK YOU VAL!) but it has complicated communication a bit! So I’m working on getting a new one of those for when I get home (and by that I mean Daddy and Cesar are working on it :-P)… but it’s not very helpful to be without because I would like to be putting slideshows together and things but I can’t do that without my computer, so sorry if they’re not as organized as they would be when I get home! The past few days I’ve been living it up at a resort where Val is attending a conference. I was not able to get in, but instead I’ve been spending my days swimming in the Olympic size pool that’s here, so I’m happy :-)
I’ve also had plenty of time to be reading and praying and things, so I’m all caught up on God’s plan (HA :-P). But I have had some good time just getting ready for the transition back to the states and praying about the future. Some interesting and scary new thoughts, so we’ll see how it all plays out. I’m really excited about serving God wherever He takes me! But I’ve got some years to figure that all out, given vet school is next on the agenda. Continued prayers for admission would be appreciated… I would LOVE to get in this year… but I know that God’s plan is best – I’m just praying that includes vet school this year!
Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers… I can’t wait to see you again!! I’ll be back in just over a WEEK! Not sure how blogging will go from here… I will try to post again before I go, but if not, you should get a real update even with pictures when I get back to the states with REAL internet and a functioning computer!
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