“When you are not the parent, you love the sound of a baby crying. When you are the parent, it is hard to see that having a crying baby is a blessing from God”. This is the wisdom I received from a Ugandan friend, after
life in karamoja
They were singing so softly I couldn’t discern the words. The sound seeped into the late morning, the fields around us and now abides sweetly in the memory. Carmel peered back at me over the shoulders of Loupe Vicky who insisted on carrying the obviously
Monday we left Karamoja. Monday, I was 39 weeks along. Monday, we had one of the first muddy, go-off-roading-around-stuck-trucks drive of the year thus far. Despite the excitement, I did not go into labor and we are now installed in a small home in Kampala.
There is a chill in Karamoja that creeps up the sheets from your toes to your nose. It tingles and delights in the surprise of its mere existence. It makes me smile every time, and then, almost without fail, I wonder if I put enough
You may be tempted to think that by our recent silence there is simply nothing to tell. That is far from the truth! We’re in the midst of many transitions which has resulted in the proliferation of a tower of different hats, steadfast denial and
The news of livestock in one of the mission’s planted fields always rouses a certain excitement. The thrill of the chase. This thrill quickly gives way to tall grass raking the legs and burrs falling into the boots and finally descends into a series of
Carmel has fully recovered from malaria. I figured, all you praying saints deserve an update! She is now back to her toddling, laughing, stubborn ways. And what a delight it is! In the midst of her illness, I shared my struggle and feelings of guilt
The fevers started Saturday night with a whimper. It took three days, two trips to the clinic, a remission, a relapse, countless second guesses, two sleepless nights and one negative test to finally confirm that Carmel has malaria. Although my fears imagined other cases, this
The rains have come. With them, a myriad of changes. The temperature dropped forty degrees in one week, the river separating our compounds from the main road and clinic is no longer dry, porch decoration is now damp laundry, toads and frogs are croaking happily,
A few weeks ago, I had the honor of accompanying some of our health teachers while they taught in Nakaale village. One of our missionary associates, Leah Hopp, is presently on furlough in Canada, but during her absence she has hired and trained local women
One of the questions we are most often asked is how far are we from Mbale. The standard answer that I give is two to six hours, depending on the condition of the road. Saturday, we set a new personal record. We left Mbale around
As often as I’ve attended funerals in Karamoja, last week was my first time to witness the process in its entirety. I’m sure variations exist, but I am told that most of what happened on Monday is typical of the Karamojong funeral practice. When a