Coming to a Close

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I have been doing a lot of thinking during these last few weeks of my stay here in Uganda. I been trying to come up with answers to the expected questions that I know will be asked upon my return. You know how when you return from somewhere unique, you are asked “How was it?” a thousand different times and in a thousand different ways. Well, this is what I have been contemplating for the last little while. So far, I do not have an answer to that question. Frankly, I am not sure that I will be able to come up with a succinct answer to something so extraordinary. How do I condense three months into one sentence? It would be the same as condensing a lifetime into a minute. There have been moments that have brought me to my knees, both figuritevely and literally. I profess to be a strong person, both physically and emotionally, but even I have felt the pressure. I knew going in that I would come back home a different person, I just did not realize how much of a change would occur. I admit, to being worried about how I will view Canada upon my return, having witnessed starvation, illness, poverty, and third world conditions. Though, please do not get the impression that I have been living in a mud hut, I have lived in a very comfortable home with running hot water and electricity. But, my station here is far and above what the average Ugandan (Mbale) person has to live with day in and day out. I fear how I will feel about a child complaining to his or her parents about not having the latest gadget. I fear how I will feel about petty, minor arguments. HELLO!!! You could be worried where your next meal with come from and if you will be able to survive your next bout of illness. I have traveled all around Mbale, to the smallest village to the largest district. I have seen countless numbers of child sized tomb stones littering the country side. I have even stumbled across my fair share of them. And you want me to return to a country where people constantly bicker about which fancy restaurant they want to go to. For the first time, I am actually unsure of my own footing. I cannot lie and say that I have seen or experienced anything horribly traumatic, for I have not. But every little thing that I have seen or experienced has been life altering. Just being here and absorbing the culture and way of life has been worth it. In has truly taught me the value of taking things for granted. We all know that we do this, and are aware of it; we are just not as aware of it as well as we should be. It is one thing to say that you take something for granted but to actually understand what that means, that is an entirely different issue. All I know is that it will take time to re-orientate myself to the way the westernized world works again. Three months is not a lifetime, but it has felt like one. But I know that I am coming to home to an amazing family and a large supportive network of friends and advisors.

I would like to thank everyone who has taken time out of their days to read my blogs. It is nice to know that people are interested in what I have been doing for the past three months.

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