My time in Africa

I have had a hard time sitting down to write.  So many thoughts are always flooding my mind.  So I thought forget it, here goes

It was amazing to be back in Africa.  I LOVED it.  I totally forgot about this adventurous side of me that loves to travel.  The side of me that loves new places and new faces.  I am a homebody to be sure BUT I would travel the world if I could.  

The moment we got off the plane I took a deep breath and smelled "the smell"....  Smokey, trashy, almost spicy.  I don't know what it is about that smell but I like it.  I felt more at home and at peace than I thought I would.  It was familiar to me.  My mother also smelled the smell, she didn't have the same thoughts I did:)  It is funny how that smell is so distinct to me, how it is such a piece of Africa to me.  

We made it to the car with our driver at about 1am or a little after.  I was reminded just a few short minutes after getting in the car how crazy African driving is.  Even in the middle of the night there were pedestrians and animals all along the side of the road.  Boda bodas (scooter/motorcycles) everywhere, weaving in and out of traffic.  Some with good headlights, some not so much.  Adventure right?

We stayed in a guesthouse the first night.  We drove through the red-light district.  So many clubs and bars and people everywhere.  We drove straight up a hill.  By hill I mean really steep hill with such huge deep ruts that I thought our 4wheel drive Land Rover might not make it up.  It was very clean and secure though.  The power went out about an hour after we got there.  Talk about dark.....I was able to text and Skype a little with Kenny when we got there and that was great.  I also got to text my buddy Kelsey, she had hooked me up with a great app called WhatsApp.  Fantastic b/c its free and all you need is wifi.  Probably most people know about it though...

I was so excited to actually be in Africa.  I love the crowds, the smells, the sights, I don't mind filthy dirty feet.  I am fascinated to be there and see everything I can.  We were in the capitol the first night and drove on out to Jinja the next day.  

We spent a week in Jinja which is where our girls live.  We stayed in a guesthouse run by Sole Hope and it was great.  Clean with running water and flushing toilets.  No air condition but fans.  It was really, really hot the first four or five days and then it started raining in the afternoons and cooled off quite a bit.  The guesthouse was so great though.  The organization Sole Hope is doing some amazing things with jiggers and the effect they have on children.  They are a flea that buries itself in feet and then lays eggs.  They are painful and can cause serious problems including infection and gangrene,  Dru and Asher Collie run the program, they are from Asheville, NC.  Asher saw a you tube video and they decided to do something about it.  They moved their whole family out to Uganda.  They clean feet and remove  jiggers in the areas affected.  Then they give the kids shoes to protect them from more jiggers.  They hire Ugandans to make the shoes out of local materials and material that people send over.  A lot of the shoes are made out of old pairs of jeans with rubber tire soles.  So inspiring to see people see a need and then meet the need.  So glad we could support them in some way.

We spent the last 4 days in Kampala.  I really loved Jinja the most though.  It is technically a resort town and situated right on the Nile.  There is a good size town with lots of shops and a surprising number of places to eat.  We got around there mostly by boda which is like a scooter/motorcycle thing.  I loved it of course.  Maybe my mom liked it by the end?  She told them to go slow, she was a jaja after all, (i.e. grandmother) and they obliged.  It cost around $1-$5 for both of us each way depending on where we went.  Very cost effective.  We used a car sometimes, Ugandans don't do anything in the rain.

I was amazed at the technology over there.  I bought a phone at the airport and loaded minutes as I needed them.  Our boda drivers and car drivers all had phones, as did everyone else.  When I would call to set up a ride they would say, "Hello Madam Jenn, do you need a ride?"  It made it super easy to get around.  Even when we had to drive into Kampala with an hours notice I got a few phone numbers and had it set up in 5minutes.  Having the staff at Sole Hope and the family staying with us at the guesthouse was such a blessing.  We had names for everything.

I really couldn't believe all that we got accomplished.  We were able to meet with a new lawyer which I think will really help speed things along.  She is fantastic and has an amazing reputation.  Once we met with the first lawyer I just felt like we needed to make a change.  We STILL have some hurdles to leap but I really feel like if anyone can this done it would be her.  People that work with her cannot speak highly enough of her.  

We got to spend amazing time with the girls which is a whole other post.  As is the time we spent meeting with the girls birth family.  That was such a sacred and special time for me.  So surreal to be sitting in the home that the girls grew up in before the orphanage.  Humbling to say the very least.  Amazing.....

I can't wait to go back.  I am ready to go back whenever I can.  I told our lawyer that I could get on the plane anytime she needed me to:)

We have definitely made progress but still have a ways to go.  Switching lawyers involves significant cost and our trip made me realize how expensive the travel portion of our trip was going to be.  Trusting that God will provide and I know He will.  

We will need to redo some paperwork and get whatever our new lawyer needs.  She is a woman of faith and a strong woman, it radiates from her.  She is very thorough.  We had a two hour meeting with her.  I was hoping to leave with definite answers but the answers aren't completely clear until she  does her own investigative work.  She told me not to worry that we would get this done.  She estimated around 3-5 months to file for a court date which would give us a date in the spring.  

So hard to be back without the girls.  I don't regret a minute of the trip and I was blown away by what we did get accomplished.  Being able to see the girls and meet with everyone we met with was such a huge blessing.  

It solidified again for me too how important it will be to put some form of roots down in Africa.  To figure out a way to get back and see the girl's country, to see their first family when we can.  Africa is a wonderful country.  So different from what we are used to.

One of the hardest things for us was seeing the unending need spread out in front of you, in so many places.  It is overwhelming when you see the need.  BUT it is amazing to meet people and hear about people that are meeting needs one day at a time, one step at a time.

Africans are a very giving people.  They will give you the shirt off their back, even if that means they will go without.  They love their children and they love their country.  We found some neat organizations that we could partner with.  People of so many different backgrounds that are doing something about what they see.

I am looking forward to going back and trying to solidify some of those connections and see how we can help as a family.  To see how we can incorporate Africa into our family.  I don't want the girls to lose that connection, it is too important.