I love living out in Maya! It's so beautiful and peaceful. Coming back to Kampala has actually been quite a shock - experiencing traffic, noise and busyness again. I am much more suited to living rurally I think. It has been so lovely seeing Sophie and Patience again. Patience gave me the most beautiful welcoming yesterday, running out and squealing when she saw me. She's never done that before and it was very humbling that she remembered me, didn't cry and was happy to see me!
Every day (except for Sunday) I have been at the clinic. I leave Joy's around 8ish each morning and get home between 5.30 and 6pm, so the days are pretty long. Patient numbers are slowly increasing as word gets around that we're open, but most of last week was pretty quiet. It meant I could record all our stock though and get things organised, which my perfectionist self found much satisfaction in! I afraid I don't actually have a photo of the clinic, which I will rectify soon, but this is the view from my 'office'.
We are having a few teething problems with finding committed staff though which is quite hard. Our doctor stopped after just four days of working, so now we are frantically trying to find people to fill in. But the medical system here is seriously messed up so greed is a huge issue we are having to tackle in recruiting for the humble, rural clinic. Doctors can have several 'full-time' jobs at various government hospitals and so get several salaries by going to each place of work for a couple of hours but signing for the whole day. Likewise dentists are 'full-time' lecturers and yet teach for two hours early in the morning and then sneak off to a practise and get paid for both. It's crazy! Finding dedicated, passionate and selfless people is very tricky. But John is so resilient and determined! He's done the clinic very cleverly - by building on already brought land, using solar panels for electricity and rainwater storage to provide all the water, at least monthly bills aren't a problem! Please do pray for the clinic and John as he continues to bring his vision into a reality.
My favourite part of the day is the walk to and from the clinic. It is a beautiful walk which takes between 30 and 40 minutes depending on the amount of mud and if I am joined by any of the villagers. Everyone is super friendly! They all smile and wave when I pass. The kids are too cute- they run out to the road shouting 'muzungu' and 'see you' or 'bye' everything they see me. They're all starting to trust me which is so lovely! I've had several bizarre experiences of intimidating looking men with huge machete blades in hand giving me the brightest smile when I say good morning. And an old man is calling me his wife - makes the proposal I got yesterday seem practically normal in comparison, at least that guy gave me the choice.
Last week was pretty rainy and so walking on the dirt roads was a messy business and I often reached the clinic or home a couple of inches taller thanks to the cloy-ey mud collecting on my shoes. Thankfully I haven't had any slips yet; that's one experience I will happily skip!
I love staying at Joy's orphanage. It is taking a while to get to know the kids there because they all stay in their houses and I am in a different one and being out all day means I don't see much of them. It's a lovely compound and they are all very polite and friendly when we do see each other briefly. Joy (the Korean lady who started the home) has been in Uganda for almost nine years and is full of insights into the culture, as well as into everything else. She is very chatty and so we have spent a lot of time sharing our faith, our experiences and our encouragements. It's really lovely to have someone so likeminded and open in their faith - we have really good conversations about God, which I have missed since leaving India. And she's a great cook! I am getting spoilt by having food from three different cultures most days - Korean breakfast, Ugandan lunch and either Korean dinner or European (depending on who cooks). It's just as well I'm walking twice a day or I would gain even more weight due to the food here!
Every Wednesday night and Friday night Joy's family have a service together. It's a wonderful atmosphere of community and despite having actually talked it many of them, being together in Christ makes you feel so united. On Sunday, we had church which was all youth and children, and after they had a sports day. Apparently this happens monthly, and it was a lot of fun. Some games were really bizarre and thankfully I didn't have to take part in many! I taught I game we learnt in Cambodia on outreach to them which eventually was understood and enjoyed, and I was coerced into playing netball with the girls too (not the proper version as we lacked goals and positions, but it was a lot more violent than I remembered it when I was in school). Having a day off from the clinic meant to got to hang out with the kids (most of whom are teenagers so kids is the wrong collective to use) which was so lovely! They are mostly shy, as am I, so it is pretty awkward with most of them, but the couple of guys who came and spoke to me made me feel very at home. It's a wonderful place, and being away for these two days has made me appreciate it all so much more, and miss it.
As of tomorrow I will be back out in Maya with no trips to Kampala for the foreseeable future, which suits me just fine! I will probably start tutoring the three youngest boys (about 10 or 11) tomorrow in English and maths which should be fine - I'm just grateful I'm not having to teach the 18 year olds! So that's what's ahead - days at the clinic, evenings at Joy's, lots of walking and only God knows what else!
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