Leaving 'home' to go 'home'

Last Thursday I returned home after spending nine months in Uganda. I say that I returned home but really it would be more accurate to say that I feel like I’ve left ‘home’ to return ‘home.’ In the months that I spent in Uganda, my time wasn’t just a trip but was my life. The children we have worked with, the friends we have made, and the Smile family are all people that we have lived alongside, laughed with, shared with, cried with, prayed with, played with, eaten lots and rode bodas with. After getting used to the initial culture shock that comes from moving somewhere unfamiliar where you know nobody, I felt settled. Not only have I done lots of exciting, new and adventurous things but also all the usual events you might expect like celebrating birthdays and mundane jobs you would anywhere like washing my clothes, albeit this time by hand.  It’s small things like that that make you feel at home.

I have so many wonderful memories from my time in Uganda, a beautiful country not only for the beauty of its land but also for the people I have met and the culture I love. I am so grateful for being welcomed so warmly to the 'pearl of Africa.' 

Although it is very hard to leave a place which holds such a special place in my heart and where I have grown so much as a person and in my faith, I know that means I am incredibly blessed for everything I have experienced. I went with a heart to serve but have been richly blessed by and learnt so much from the people I worked with myself. There is a price you pay for the gift of loving people in more than one place but it is more than worth it. I thank God for bringing the opportunity in my life from putting the work and a passion for justice on my heart to providing financially to getting me through the challenges I encountered.

I am so thankful for everyone who has come alongside me. My journey to Kampala started a long time ago with all the people who have spent time with me growing up to nurture my faith and the examples I have seen of people serving God faithfully in many different ways, both through people I know and people I have read about. Thank you for the support I have been shown through prayer, words of encouragement, financially and many other ways. I could write pages of thank yous but here are a few:

-Thank you for the generosity of individual donors, to Gold Hill church mission board, Hazel’s Footprints Trust, 1^st Burnham Girls Brigade, St. Nicolas School Taplow, and the anonymous donor who  gifted me some money towards the extension of my stay.

-Thank you to everyone who came to my quiz fundraising evening last year and all those involved in organising it and helping on the evening.

-Thank you to the Smile 'family' and in particular Innocent and Gabit for helping us to get to grips with the field work and making sure we're always laughing on the projects and for Alex our project manager for checking on his 'three muskateers' .

- Thank you to the teachers at Ruth Mother Care for making us part of the team as Teacher Stephanie, Teacher Kate and Teacher Lois and showing us how you teach the children so lovingly.

Thank you to the children for never failing to make me smile and all your hugs and to their families for being so hospitable and friendly on community outreach.

-Thank you to my friends at Kampala Baptist Church for welcoming me into the church family and being there for me.

This is how I spent my last few days in Kampala and what it has been like since arriving home:


Sunday 24th- Our leaving party

On our last Sunday, a goodbye party was held for us at the Smile house. In the morning we went to KBC for the morning service, where we were called up on stage to say goodbye to the congregation and thank them for welcoming us and making us part of the church family.

Sunday morning KBC service

After, we headed back to the Smile house for our party and had a lovely afternoon spending time with our friends, eating our last meal with chapattis and taking lots of group photos. This was our last evening to spend with many of our friends who we knew wouldn't be coming to church the next day so it was difficult to say goodbye to them (or rather 'see you soon' as we preferred to say) but also a lovely send off for us.

Gathering for speeches

Playing cards

On our last day, we visited the teachers at Ruth Mother Care to give them the books and other resources like stickers that we had brought with us and to say goodbye to them. In the evening, we went to church to spend time with our friends there and share rolexes together (chapattis with omelettes inside them) . It felt very surreal to walk out the gate of a place that I've spent almost every evening in whilst being here.

On Tuesday morning before we left for the airport, we took photos with all the Smile team in the garden. It was a fun way to spend our last few hours and nice to have the photo memories. After saying our final farewells to the team, we set off with Alex and Innocent in the Smile van to Entebbe. Luckily, we were able to weigh our bags on the scales before we checked in and after some sharing between us, all three of our suitcases were under the 32kg limit!

We were trying to cheer ourselves up after
flying out of Uganda- English butter helped!

McDonalds at our stopover in Dubai

After being picked up from Gatwick airport on Wednesday morning by our gap year coordinator Emily and Smile International's CEO Clive, we drove to Operation Mobilization's guest house for returning missionaries in Bromley for our debrief. Luckily, we had Wednesday to sleep and then chat and watch movies with blankets and hot drinks. Thank you to Emily for buying us lots of yummy food to cheer us up! On Thursday morning, we had our debrief chats. It was weird to be in the UK but not to be able to see our families, but it was helpful to spend the first hours in the UK with Lois and Kate who were going through the same thing as me and be able to talk about our experiences together.

FOOD!!