Holidays in Uganda

First, we traveled on a bus (Kampala Coach) for 12 hours to Jinja,Uganda.  First we spent the day in the little town that is home to the source of the Nile River.  The next morning, we started our two day trip and I rafted down the Nile River, and even boogie boarded through some of the rapids. Imagine being on a huge river in the middle of Africa with only a raft protecting you from the rough waters.  It was an awesome experience, going through grade 5 rapids and getting the chance to do some river boarding (boogie boarding) as well. 

Next we went to Sipi Falls and hiked to three waterfalls. . .

I spent nearly four hours on Christmas day in a rural African village church where there were about 4 sermons, a dance party, balloons, visitors from Kenya, and songs in three languages.  They also had us get up in front of the congregation and introduce ourselves.  Quite the Christmas!  

From there we went to Kampala, the capital, where not only did they have skittles, hair conditioner, and cereal (They have cereal here, but it is honestly about $15/box!  It was only about $5 there), but also BOWLING.  I got a great score of 68 and we got stared at for being the only white people in the alley.  They also had motos that fit two people and monkeys running around the outside of the place we stayed.  It felt weird coming from Sipi Falls (we stayed at a lodge with no electricity) to a city that felt nearly like America.  It felt awkward and kind of unsettling, but fun to stay there for a night.

Next, we went to Queen Elizabeth game park where we went on a driving safari and one on a boat too!  I saw elephants, hippos, water buck, alligators, awesome birds and a pride of lions.  We also saw hedgehogs, buffalo, and mongoose (mongeese?) in the our hostel area!  Nothing like starting the morning walking out the door to be greeted by hedgehogs and then have little mongoose friends run by your feet while eating breakfast.  Although we stayed at a cheap hostel, there was a beautiful lodge just a short walk away where we spent most of our time.  We learned that you are not supposed to drive through game parks at night (the man told us he was risking his life by letting us in) and that they don't like if you leave 45 minutes after your 48 hours is up.   The gate people didn't like us much, but we really enjoyed ourselves.

Finally, we ended our trip at Lake Binyonyi, where we stayed one night in tents on stilts on the mainland, then another on Bushara Island.  It was here where we stayed in dorms and in our room, there also lived a family of birds in their nest.  They flew in under the door when we were sleeping.  I guess when it’s $10/night you get what you pay for. 

I will try to load more pictures soon... the internet has just been SO slow lately!


As usual, thanks for the love and support!

I'm back!

Well, I just returned from an incredible trip to Uganda where I backpacked across the beautiful country for two weeks!  Before I share about that, I realize that you are all in need of a pre-break update!

I think it was November when I was meeting with my Bible Study (young adults who all attend CCR—my church here) and we were talking about learning God’s Word, doing something about it, and then receiving joy.  We are reading through the book of John and discussing the way Jesus treated people and then we moved on to how we could apply this to our lives.  We live in a place where there are countless opportunities to serve.  We decided to throw a Christmas party for a boys’ home called Hope for the Future.  A few weeks later our group met after church and drove out of Kigali to a little house where 25 boys shared one room for studying/eating, and two bedrooms for sleeping (6 bunk beds in each room, with no space in between, two boys sharing each mattress).  

The boys were ages 12-18 and all were attending school and learning English.  They were so polite and appreciative of everything!  It was awesome how God was working in that home.  The man who was the overseer of the home was obviously a good Christian influence who cared so much about all of those boys, and obviously gave them his heart!  After they showed us around we shared a meal together, and then sang Christmas songs in English and Kinyarwanda in the hot African sun.  This was quite the musical experience because they didn’t really know the tune, and we couldn’t read the words so well, but I’m sure somehow God found some glory in it!  Next, we taught them some games and they helped us learn some of their favorites.  We all had such a great time running and laughing with some healthy competition. 

Old Soccer Ball

New soccer ball

The last big event was giving the boys Christmas gifts that we had gotten for them.  They were completely thrilled with notebooks, school supplies, toys, and soccer balls.  Their joy was genuine and touching.  If you gave these gifts to many children their response would be, “Okay, what’s next? “ or “Can I trade?” or “This is it?”  But these boys were full of so much love and appreciation!  To end our beautiful afternoon together one of the boys prayed, and one of the Rwandans in our Bible Study group translated for us.  He said that although they could not something like we did for them, he prayed that God would bless us in return. 

The last few weeks of school were pretty busy!  We had a Christmas Chapel led by the sixth graders where each class sang a Christmas carol.  I had great conversations with my first graders throughout the week and I loved hearing their insights on the birth of our Savior, Jesus.  We were talking about Mary having Jesus and one of my little girls asked, “How come only women lay babies?”  Holding back my laughter at the idea of women, like chickens, laying babies, I simply responded with “That’s how God made women!”  and she was satisfied with my answer.  We also had a special morning where the Kindergarteners through third graders rotated through each class to partake in a Christmas activity.  I taught each class the song “Children, Go Where I Send Thee” and they acted it out as a play.  They really enjoyed it! 

Check back soon for more updates on my trip to Uganda.

Love&hugs,

Kerry :) 

Holiday!

Dear family and friends,
I'm off to Uganda for two weeks!  I'll return late on January 2, 2011.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Take some time to celebrate the best Gift of all this Christmas!
Love, hugs, and winter vacation,
Kerry :)

Pictures from the last month...

The beautiful sunset from our neighborhood, overlooking Kigali

Getting ready to learn to salsa dance with our friends!

One of my precious children at Fall Fest at KICS!

My adorable students as we were preparing for our Chapel
about Creation!

My favorite people with me at Fall Festival!
Micki, Douglas, and Hannah

The cake they earned made by a wonderful parent!

My class enjoying the ice cream cake!

With a thankful heart...

Imagine waking up inside a mosquito net, getting ready, walking to school (work) in the early morning sun (probably nearly 70 degrees by 6:30am) and looking out over the hills onto the city.  Then picture walking into school and seeing people who were born in 4 different countries before seeing an American. Next find yourself teaching at a Christian school with children from 8 nations in the class, none of whom will be eating a turkey dinner that day.  This was the beginning to my Thanksgiving!  In the afternoon I gave up the chance to bask in the African sun (it was 80 by then) so that I could finish the preparation of my delicious mashed potatoes (completed only with the assistance of dear Uncle John, all the way from Plymouth). 

After a glorious and needed nap we headed down the hill to a fellow teacher’s house.  She is Canadian, but her husband is American (although he’s spend the fewest years of his life actually in the States).  I think we had people from 5 different places around the world, and at least 8 individuals were celebrating their first Thanksgiving.  We had all of the traditional foods, including turkey which is expensive and hard to come by in these parts.  It was definitely difficult and emotional to be away from my amazing family at this time, but it helped to be surrounded by the people I love most in this country!  God has truly surrounded me with more than I could ever deserve or imagine.  My evening ended by skyping with two Thanksgiving parties: one at the Rogne’s in Ann Arbor and one at the Moote’s in Plymouth.  Technology is such a blessing and it was overwhelmingly wonderful to see the smiling faces of my family whom I’ve been missing in pretty intense ways! 

To go back a bit, I actually loved teaching on Thanksgiving and soaking up everything that we are thankful for.  I began the morning just singing praises to God for all that He has graciously given to us and had the remainder of the school hours themed around thanks.  One of many amazing parts about teaching in a Christian school is that I can chat with my students about the things that matter the most, without hesitation or dancing around talking about Jesus because of separation of church and state.  It is inspiring to witness my little ones proclaiming that they are grateful that God sent his son to die for our sins, not because they think it is the right answer, but because it is because what they believe in their hearts. Be sure to check out their answers in my blog entry from yesterday! I learn so much from them every single day.

Overall, although vastly different than any other Thanksgiving, it was an incredible day! 

On another note, this week I was teaching Bible and our story mentioned something about suffering.  One of the children asked about it, and so I gave the others an opportunity to enlighten us.  A boy said, “Suffering is when people are begging for money and they’re crying in their hearts.”  Crying in the hearts. Wow.  Ah!  It just blows me away how God is working in these kids and how they can offer such insight!  It is unlikely that this six-year-old’s parents sat him down and said, “Now son, this is what suffering is…”  But through the Holy Spirit working in his life, he GETS it!  I am in constant amazement.

So, if anyone was questioning why I am so in love with my life here, I hope I have provided a small illustration.  There are frustrations and sad times, but mostly I’m just one happy girl!

Thanks again for the prayers and financial support.  I couldn’t do this without all of you!

With love, hugs, and many thanks,

Kerry 

Happy Thanksgiving!

My first grader's responses to "What are you thankful for?"

I’m thankful for God, that He made the world. I’m thankful for my grandfather… he died and now is in heaven. I’m thankful that God made countries and continents.  I’m thankful for the whole world… and the class! I’m thankful that in December I’m going to get to see my Grandma.

I’m thankful for Jesus.  I’m thankful for Christmas, that Jesus got born, of course. I’m thankful for Jesus and God.

I’ve got a lot of things… I’m thankful for food, water, a family, friends, and Jesus. I want to pray for my uncle because he died and now is in heaven. I’m thankful for God and Jesus.

I’m thankful that God gave us this time to praise him.

I’m thankful that my Mom comes back soon from America and that she will bring me gifts.  I’m thankful for friends and my teacher.

I’m thankful for a lot of things… I’m thankful for land and Jesus dying on the cross, and a family and food and friends.  I’m thankful that all the teachers are teaching well and I’m thankful that the students listen to the teachers.  I’m thankful for God and Jesus.

I’m thankful for my mom.  I’m thankful for friends and family.

I’m thankful for my family and I’m thankful that no one in my family is dead.

I’m thankful for my family and my teacher.  I’m thankful for our school and a book.

I’m thankful for my brother and my cousin.  I’m thankful that God gave us shelter.

I’m thankful for my friends and my teacher.

I’m thankful that it’s nearly December.

I’m thankful that my mom came back.

I’m thankful that my mom’s back is better.

My amazing kids

My students are the sweetest.  I mean, they drive me crazy on a daily basis, but their love and their hearts for God constantly overwhelm me with joy.  For the past few weeks I've had this silly cold/cough and my students are always concerned about me, requesting prayers for me each morning and showing compassion.  This morning one of my students came up to me and gently said, "Miss Dembowski, my mom said she can take you to the doctor so that they can help your cough and you can feel better."  Precious.  

On Wednesday it is the first graders' turn to do the program for chapel.  We are talking about Creation so today my kids were in groups around the classroom doing some art projects to prepare.  Four of my children were sitting on the floor in a circle cutting out flowers from construction paper (very hard to come by in Rwanda, but my roommate came very prepared) and they just started singing Jesus Loves Me.  I melted.


This weekend KICS had their fall festival which is kind of like a carnival/Halloween party (but no mention of Halloween).  Everyone dressed up and came to a beautifully decorated school and there was food, games, bake sale, etc., etc.  It was so fun to see my kids dressed up in their adorable costumes. It was funny to be calling it "fall" festival when, apart from the 20 minute downpour in the middle, it was sunny and 80 degrees.  No seasons here, except for rain.


Friday we celebrated Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Day which is a holiday from the U.K.  Lucky for us, we have 2 female British teachers and another British family so it gave us a great reason to have a party!  One of my friends had gotten marshmallows in a package, so we had make-shift s'mores.  We couldn't find plain chocolate, so we had to use the crispy kind!  Also, graham crackers are no where to be found in this country, so we used biscuits.  Anyway, they were delicious!


Yesterday was a great day at the orphanage, mainly because I got to feed mashed up banana to one of the tiny babies!  It is strange and perhaps pointless to try to describe my weekly experiences when I go to House of Hope.  I'm so joyful when I arrive because instantly I have children running into my arms craving love.  When we leave, they cry.  They cry because although the people there are wonderful, there is no way they could get the attention they need. Ah.  This Sunday was "Orphan Sunday" at church.  They showed this video and I encourage you to watch it, even though it isn't a "feel good" video by any means.http://vimeo.com/13888620

Well, that's all for now!  If you have questions, comments, news, or anything to share I encourage you to e-mail me.  I'm much better at responding to e-mails than I am at updating my blog.  Also, a lot happens that I don't necessarily choose to share with the entire world!


If you could be praying for my class's chapel performance on Wednesday that would be amazing!  We've been practicing a lot and so they're beginning to get a little bit bored.  
I can't stop praising God for the amazing friendships that have developed here!  The people in my life are just so incredible.


Well, friends, keep in touch!


Love, hugs, and dreams of fall,
Kerry :)