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Sitting down to write this blog post wondering what to write, and some of my fellow team members ask me, “what stood out to you today?”
So, what stood out to me? Where to start. There is a lot... But what I think I’ll focus on is a short interaction we had with a man named Godfrey. He came up to us, and with the help of a translator, expressed his gratitude to us for showing care to him, the groups and his “lower” people. He then proceeded to give us a large bag filled with his homegrown oranges, which are smaller than ours at home and the peel is actually the same colour as a lime. They were so delicious.
Anyway, we shared with him that we do not consider them lower people at all. We emphasized that we view all of us as equals, and that we were there to share knowledge and encouragement and also, that they have been teaching us things as well.
It was only about a 5 minute interaction, but it resonated with me. Some may say that short term missions aren’t worth it, that you can’t make a difference in just a couple weeks. This conversation was so affirming, that we have spent two days with this group of people, and have been told that they feel our care for them. Many have said that EVE training has changed their lives. The work that they are doing in their groups and their communities is outstanding and inspiring. I remember thinking to myself, “this room is shattering many stigmas that our 1st world country has towards them.”
Angela also said, “I have never felt so affirmed in short term missions.” She also gave an hour lesson on pig farming this afternoon, which was awesome!
I said to Patty, “did you ever think EVE training would include animal husbandry?” We’re not too sure how it fits in with ending violence training, but you had to be there”. 😛
Thanks for taking the time to read this, every moment I feel blessed to be here, and look forward to what the rest of the time in Uganda will bring.
& of course we got some baby snuggles in.
-Ashley
