Surprised by friendship

My hope upon moving here to Kaabong was to be able to help those who are in need, to serve some of the most vulnerable by using my skills and through which to honor God. I expected in this journey to meet people of various backgrounds and diversity. I expected to enjoy living here, getting to know the culture, interacting with the Karamojong people. I expected to learn a ton about relief & development work, to draw more conclusions as to my opinions for or against humanitarian aid. I expected to miss home and friends, but love being here even in the midst.

Right before leaving for Uganda last August, I wrote the post called Feeling Life. I talked about feeling the loss of amazing community and the hope that when I leave Uganda in a year or so, I would feel the same way then – that my investments here would be just as deep and life-changing.

So far, I’ve had a couple glimpses of this investment and loss. This month we have 5 staff leaving our team in Kaabong. Below is a picture of 4 of these staff.

Jacob, also known as Coco, has accepted the position of Chairperson of the Dodoth Hand Pump Mechanic Association. Because of the nature of this position/association, he cannot be the chairperson and work for Medair at the same time – unfortunately it is a conflict of interest. He’s a pump mechanic, a water technician, a trainer, and overall a really great guy!

Anna Stella is one of our Community Trainers & her contract is over this month due to the end of her part of our project, which involved mobilizing the community and training Hygiene Promoters to encourage more healthy hygienic habits within Kaabong Town.

Sarah is going to work for the District as their HR official. She has been a Community Trainer for us as well & has shown us how amazing she is at mobilizing the Water User Commitees around the district. She is highly respected and loved in this community – let alone within Medair – I will truly miss her laugh, smile, and strong will!

Benson is working with the District as Town Agent. He has also been a Community Trainer with us for the last 3 months and has proved himself to be honest, trustworthy, and very hardworking. We are sad to see him go!

Charles (not pictured) is working as the District Water Officer & therefore will be still very involved in Medair’s work as we work alongside to create better access to clean water throughout the district. Charles has been working with us for 4 months & has proved to be one of the most intelligent and motivated Karamojong I’ve ever met. He has the best smile & laugh, yet the strictest loyalty to truth! He is determined to not get caught up in the corruption associated with a high position & I’m praying God gives him the strength to see that through and be the change within this town/district!

They are talented, educated, incredible people who we have prayed, worked, laughed and cried alongside for the past 4-9 months. We had a goodbye party last week for 2 of them & the tears were very near as I thought of days going by without seeing them. The good news is that 4 of the 5 have jobs within town, so I will still see them around! But I did get a glimpse of what leaving Kaabong may bring…

The other glimpse came in the form of a very unexpected blessing upon living in Kaabong – Jacob & Georgia Reed. I’ve mentioned these folks many times before, but now they have officially left Kaabong and I already miss them dearly! I never expected to meet people here that I could connect with so quickly but also that I could hope to see again upon returning to the states! Their friendship was a blessing from God to me. Georgia has been a strong shoulder for me as I’ve waded through the last 7 months of getting to know Kaabong. She’s a prayer partner, a chick-flick friend, a facebook scrabulous sister, and a tim-tam slammer extraordinaire! Jacob has been a source of wisdom as we wade through the issues of suffering and culture here, wrestling difficult situations and relationships through prayer and grace. Both have been a source of stability in being fellow Americans as I’ve learned that living with others from all over the world can be trying & just having some common background can be so refreshing.

The Reeds have finished their time here in Kaabong, definitely in God’s timing, and are headed home to Lubbock, Texas to hopefully begin a family and see what God has in store next for them. (check out their blog) I will miss them oh so dearly, but am grateful for the time I had with them here in the middle of nowhere! Thank you, God, for providing friendship where it was never expected!