Last Full Day In Uganda

Today was a bittersweet day. We woke up and had devotions and then spent some time praying and talking in small groups. I cried in my group when I told them about my sadness about leaving. It was the first of many tears.

After devotions, we went to the squatter’s neighborhood near Kambago to clean out their water hole. It was really dirty and gross, and we got really dirty and gross, but it looked so good afterwards! It felt really good to work my butt off for a few hours and then get such great results. We really made a difference in the lives of the people in that neighborhood.

After cleaning up, we came home and hung out at the house for a while. I took a shower and started working on getting things taken care of before I left. We also had some AIDS training, which basically consisted of learning the basics of AIDS, which I’ve gone over about 50 million times at school it seems like.

After our AIDS training, we went back to the squatter’s house to talk to people about AIDS. My group consisted of me, Brett, and David, a Ugandan. We went to two different houses and talked to people about the importance of getting tested for HIV/AIDS, and basic healthy practices that would help to prevent them from getting sick. We also prayed with them. We had to talk to them really quickly, because we didn’t have much time, but it was still nice to get to talk with them.

After the squatter’s neighborhood, a few of us went to the craft market so that I could get some last minute things before I headed home. I finally covered everyone on my list!

After the craft market I came home and hung out with everyone at the house for a while. I played Sorry, spoons, and speed with Jovan and Latisha, and then I had to tell them bye, which was really difficult. I really love those kids. I also spent some time talking with Helen, Tara, and Heath. Just hanging out at the house with everyone is something that I am going to really miss.

Towards the end of the night came the moment that I have been dreading for quite a while, my “goodbye circle”. Whenever someone leaves, everyone gets in a circle and says nice and encouraging things to the person, and then they pray for them.

Listening to people say nice things about you without saying anything back is extremely awkward, but it was still nice to listen to what everyone had to say. There were several times that I had to work really hard not to cry. Everyone talked about my sense of humor, and how cool it was that I did my therapy work on the kids, but some people also mentioned my leadership abilities, and my ability to motivate them, and how I made them feel welcome and was motherly towards them. Those last 3 were things that I didn’t expect at all. I loved finding out that you have an effect on people that you didn’t even realize was happening. It makes me want to be more conscious of the way I treat people all the time.

At the end of the goodbye circle, we always pray and then sing a song “We are family”. It’s not the song you’re thinking of, but it’s just as cheesy. I started crying during the prayer, kept going through the song, and was pretty much sobbing during a lot of the goodbye hugs. It was so embarrassing. I hate public crying.

I spent the rest of the night hanging out the Andrew, Heath, Diana, Jayan, and Rita. I spent most of it packing. There is no scale at the house, so poor Heath had to keep lifting my bags and guessing if my bags were under 50 pounds or not. Heath, if you read this, both were less than 50 pounds. Thanks for your help!

Tomorrow is the day I have been dreading for a while. I really don’t want to leave Africa, but I am excited to spend some time in London with my mom and Ally and to see everyone back home again. It’s really just a bittersweet moment with so many mixed emotions.

Confused and not looking forward to tomorrow,
Jenna