the time has come.

why does leaving feel like a taylor swift song?

& since when is there anything good about saying goodbye?

i haven't got on the plane just yet but...

change is well on its way.

the dread is no more.

our last public health class is today, followed by the community gathering to say 'farewell'

tomorrow I, along with 25,000 other people are running the MTN Marathon.

the children's christmas party is just before i leave on Tuesday. Then i hop on a plane, back into a world that i haven't thought about in 7 months.

i can't imagine not being here, i can't imagine not being apart of this anymore.

& i am not sure when i will blog again. But for now thank you people of Uganda for teaching me what it means to love.

google it.

i am known for YouTube-ing my name but google takes the cake.

& as much as i wish i could take credit for these photos, unfortunately none of these are of me or any of my relatives.

google yourself i promise you won't regret it.

photography

thank you: erica brandich & friends.

my life is so disposable

i decided not bring a camera to uganda with me.

a friend left me a disposable camera.(tracy bindel, best gift ever)

i used it to take random shots through out the last few months of my life.

turns out it is a great way to get a general picture of what i am up to.

here are a few samples:

our village friends

beautiful prossie and i at the clinic

taking care of baby ben's wounds

giving jonah a ride on the medical clinic bike

the kiddos at the kids house

click here to see more photos

Pakalast!

I have our brief visit back to Namugongo Village to thank for getting this scrambled mess of emotion to point where i could start to share...

I am so guilty. Guilty of not giving enough insight into what is going on in my life here in Uganda. Without making too many excuses. Quite simply it is because I am still struggling to put all the pieces together.

a glimpse:

God gave me the beautiful task of opening a medical here in Uganda, just outside Kampala. Everyday since setting out on this great endeavor has been beautiful, complicated, challenging, and frustrating. Everyday since the start I have spent a lot of time asking God "Why me". I have less than a month left here and unfortunately I still don't have the answer to that. But I will say it's been the craziest and scariest, most soul searching, knee praying, head spinning, sleepless nights, and hair falling out time of my life, so far anyway. So much so that I couldn't for a minute bare to muster up the worlds to convey to all my friends back home that it probably wasn't going to happen. I mean the clinic opening before I leave.

There are a lot of boring reasons why. Mostly related to not having money. But also, as I am realizing that seeing it open wasn't the gift god had given me. At least not yet. I am not entirely disappointed. This season of my life is teaching me to accept that we won't always get to see the fruits of our labor and besides before being to discouraged I am first pretty thankful that I have made it this far. That I got to be apart of this in the first place. That I have left all the groundwork finished to get this thing started. That in the process of the struggle I got to know some amazing people & I will say I feel blessed to know I saw Jesus’ feet at least once or twice, shook his hand more times than I can count, and that his smile is forever embedded in my memory.

Anyway, while I am still figuring out how to tell this story but I wanted all of you to know that I am thankful to be here; in awe of god's handhold over my life and all the people I am meeting. That I am satisfied with what he has allowed me to see, know, and be apart of while I am here. The story is still very much unfinished but it's beginning to make sense(at least i think so). We have a saying we use here "pakalast" it means forever. And I am pretty sure I am going to love Uganda pakalast! But meanwhile I am still here and in my inability to share with you my heart, I hope this small piece will do until I am home having coffee with each of you (wow that’s a lot of coffee!).

love.

from the ug.

oh and i spent all of last week and will spend the majority of my time left here working at Wakiso Health Center. Unfortunately I can't post any photos but let's just say the experience has been enough to assure me that this is exactly where I am supposed to be...

yucky.

it always amazing to me when i get sick while working on a project that is meant to be helping people to be stay healthy.

long story short... i got sick. this was my bodies response to fighting off the infection.

This was my idea of a home remedy...

Toothpaste and Aloe-Vera to cool down the swelling and Cipro to get rid of the bacteria.

well, unfortunately for me it didn't work. so on Sunday i ended up having to have the three swollen lumps under my arm cut open and drained.

WARNING! viewer discretion is advised for the viewing of this clip.

playlist

so.... in case you were wondering if all we do all day is hang out with African babies.

we mostly do.

btw...Happy 2nd Birthday Jonah!

dededededadora. laugh u monkey.

but, we also spare some time for much needed report writing. like my still not yet finished Needs Assessment of the Wakiso area, for purposes of opening the medical clinic....

& in the mist of writing all day, i have had an ongoing celebration in my ears.

for your hearing pleasure... my playlist:

1. Wildflowers- Tom Petty

2. Waiting- City and Colour

3. Color of Your Heart- La Vie

4. Vindicated- Dashboard Confessional

5. The Night Will Goes As Follows- The Spill Canvas

6. Talkin' Bout a Revolution- Tracy Chapman

7. Undecided- Justin McRoberts

8. Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight- Amos Lee

9.T here Is So Much More- Brett Dennen

10.One Step Behind- Ian Beert

Bonus Track:Love The Way You Lie-Eminem ft Rihanna(which be-tee-dubs, i'm pretty sure i am the last person on the planet to have heard this song)

good night world.

this little talking train is all tuckered out.

-t

good morning

I decided to get up early this morning{6:45} to see the sunrise.

play some music for all our neighbors

& drink some red bull [out of a mug, so steeze].

love from the ug.

Sam

This is my friend who's name no one really seems to know. So, I call him Sam.

He loves ice cream, hanging out at Patrick's House, and falling asleep on the drum.

These are Sam's feet.

I love Sam's feet.

francis

This is my friend Francis. He is in P3, his hobbies include: dancing, running around pretending to be a dinosaur and now painting all the boys nails with glittered nail polish.

a fresh start

with summer ended. :(

some of my fav's from the summer

back from beautiful Zanzibar.

outside our front door-zanzibar

& the new team here till december.(josh,tiff,morg,ian)

it wasn't long before many meetings, planning, and praying was underway.

Prosie and I officially launch our GIGANTIC job of the beginning stages of research and preparations for the medical clinic(still unnamed)

on monday.

new clinic

lots of work ahead of us but so looking forward to all that is to come. <3

dancin barefoot in the rain

I can't believe it is already July 16th? Where has time gone? We just got back from Ben's village in Kaliro. Where we spent 6 days loving the happiest, gentlest, simplest people in the world.

It was an amazing week of meeting people, building a long drop(bathroom), encouraging, empowering and doing life with members of the community.

The trip ended with singing, dancing barefoot in the pouring rain, and busting out the shampoo to shower in it.

a lil glimpse at the love bugs we already miss dearly.

i am convinced that the village is really where my ♥ is.