Tomorrow I am travelling to Nansana, just outside of Kampala in Uganda, which will be my home for the next months. I am really excited about the work I will be doing to serve the community out there and to experience the Ugandan culture but I am also nervous about what lies ahead.
It's a very weird feeling to think that soon I will be in the place that I have spoken about for months to my friends and family as well as schools and churches. I have seen many photos from previous 'gappers' but I find that whilst the phrase 'a picture can tell a thousand words' is often true, that a place is often so different to how you picture it in your mind. After all the numerous vaccinations I have had, the culturally appropriate clothes I've hunted down and children's resources I have created and bought, I can't believe tomorrow I will finally be there.
I am volunteering with the Christian charity Smile International, who are passionate about helping to relieve suffering and poverty around the world through their feeding, educating, empowering and developing programmes, One of the reasons I chose to volunteer with them is because I identify with their aim to "make a difference by sharing the love of Jesus Christ through practical Christianity. We want to give hope to those in need, provide people with an opportunity to develop emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually."
You may be asking why I chose to use my gap year to do missional volunteering work. Volunteering like this is something I have thought about for a long time because I have always felt called into mission as I listened to talks from missionaries at church and at Christian summer conferences and camps about their work and finding God's purpose for your life. I have been inspired by reading about and listening to their faith and courage and hope to be able to follow their example to make an impact on people's lives in Uganda in my own small way.
God placed Uganda on my heart as I have been writing to a sponsored girl through the charity Compassion for many years. Her name is Linda and she is around my age so we have built up a friendship through exchanging letters. Uganda cropped up in my life growing up again when two Ugandan pastors visited my church as part of a partnership with their home church and my family and I have kept in touch with them since then. In fact, we hope to be able to meet up whilst I am in Uganda as their village is fairly close to Kampala, which would be amazing!
I have a passion for justice and I am aware that I am so blessed to be born in a place where all my basic needs and more have been provided for. I have had a fantastic education and don't have to worry about where my next meal is coming from and that isn't the reality for so many people around the world. For example in Kampala, only 65% of people have access to safe water and the overall poverty level for Uganda is 24.5%.
Smile's projects aim to make the 'world of difference' to many individuals in poverty in Kamapala and the surrounding area. I will be involved in:
-Teaching at local schools, in particular Ruth Mother Care, which is run as a charity for children whose families can't afford to pay the school fees. I love learning and am really looking forward to trying to foster a similar love in the children there. I am not a trained teacher but I hope my team's enthusiasm and the guidance of the permanent teachers there will make up for it.
- Visiting families in the Nabulagala slums on community outreach to share God's love with them by helping in practical and emotional ways by building up relationships through talking to them and giving out aid where appropriate.
- Running children's clubs weekly and in the holidays in churches in the slums and in rural villages.
-Visiting people in hospital to pray for them.
- Practical and construction work. Those of you who know me will know that I am not the most practical person in the world but I am willing to give it a go!!
- Getting involved with church ministries e.g. Sunday school and the youth groups.
- Helping with the Smile project sponsoring and supporting widows to help them set up a sustainable form of income e.g. bead making,
Please pray for:
- A safe journey to Uganda and that all our luggage will go through.
- For the UK team to continue to get to know each other and for our first meeting with the team of local Smile volunteers,
-That we will settle in well and get to grips with the new culture in environment.
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