April 10, 2002

Dear Friends,

Last time I wrote comparing America and Uganda, and in my hurry, I didn't mention the things I am thankful for. There are a lot of them.

Prayers from the mosque—Muslim faithfulness in prayer is a model for me. Wherever you are, whatever the time, contact with God is number one.

Walking up the big hill every morning—the exercise is great (really!)—and talking to the neighbors are highlights of my day.

Bargaining for my taxi fare—I am thankful for Henry, Carol, and Gertrude who taught me well. It's also fun to see the other passengers laugh when they see that the Mzungu (foreigner) is not letting the conductor take advantage of her.

Boy pounding hubcap to signal class change—it's a very melodious hubcap.

Lack of student and teacher school supplies—they accomplish so much with the few things they have.

Physical education—It's a beautiful thing. I wish you could see it. We have a boy named Steven in fourth grade. At the interschool competition, he came in second behind this huge seventh grader who was a foot taller. The spectacular thing was seeing this tiny Steven run with such determination. He doesn't have shoes, but he's got tremendous heart.

School lunch—beans and posho days aren't so good, but it makes you appreciate beans and rice days. (Posho is a big lump of warm cornmeal. You can pick up the whole portion with your fork.)

Replacing dirt floors with concrete—two weeks ago, one of the boys had a 15 jiggers (a parasite I've never seen before) on the bottoms of his feet. They breed in dirt and infect feet that aren't washed daily. Jiggers are removed by opening the skin with a razor blade and pulling it out with a needle. Very painful. We are thankful for our new concrete floors. I am healthy and happy and blessed. They say the first couple months are a "honeymoon period," and from my experience, it's true so far. It is a blessing indeed to sit under the trees with the children on Friday afternoons while they chat with each other and try to teach me basket weaving and Luganda.

Heaven is probably a little like this.

I'm blessed to have people writing to ask if I need anything, but I really can't think of much. In my first weeks here, I found that I needed a bobby pin, but after many attempts, it appeared that they didn't exist in Uganda. I kept thinking to myself, "My kingdom for a bobby pin!" then one day five of them appeared on my bathroom sink. A friend who had spent the night left them there, not knowing that I wanted one. I had to laugh, but I was taken aback that God, the Creator of heaven and earth, cared enough about me to attend to small details like bobby pins. We are His beloved, and He's out to prove it.

More later,

Peace in Christ's name,

Ruth