One Week Later-Final Thoughts

St Jude's Orphange in Gulu, Uganda

How do I sum up 5 weeks of life-changing experiences?  It's hard to do, and as I sit here writing this, I am crying.  So many emotions and experiences flood me all at once.  Where do I start?  First and foremost, Uganda is in my heart and on my mind.  Those few days in Uganda just blew me away.  I just want to say thank you to all the Rotarians that traveled with me, for the life-long friendships we formed, and for the absolutely wonderful people of Gulu, Uganda who showed us their needs, their love, and their spirit.  I want to share the lessons learned and blessing received on this trip with everyone.

1.  My daughter, Kayla, is a different person today than she was two months ago.  She has blossomed into a more mature and loving individual on this trip.  She shared her life with the unfortunate, and saw a different side of life.  She volunteered for two weeks at an autistic school and made friendships and grew to love the children there.  She then spent the next few days touring a polio clinic, fistula clinic, schools, hospitals, and orphanages.  She gained an appreciation for everything she has; her health, her home, her family, her body and just life in general.  She glows today with this new found love of life.  Uganda was her favorite, as was mine.  The Kalang Mill was our project, and it brought happiness to so many people.  They danced around her and with her and for her!  She smiled and laughed and touched and held their hands.  They loved her!  She got up very early many mornings when she could have slept in. She wasn't afraid to get dirty or work hard when we fixed a borehole water well.  She put on the vest and gloves and got right to work.  She jumped into the truck to go fetch the heavy rocks to line the water run-off area.  Again, the children loved her. They wanted to touch her skin, her hair, and even her freckles!  When we visited the orphanage, she got down with the babies and played with them and loved them and touched them.  We both would like to return next year for some volunteer work at the orphanage.  They need help so much!  Kayla has blossomed into a young woman now and she continues to grow as we discuss our trip next year and start our preparations for what she needs to learn in the next few years if she wants to live over there some day to serve the people of Gulu, Uganda.

2.  I have made so many life-long friendships on this trip.  I lived with Zemi Yenus for two weeks in Ethiopia and came to love both her and her son Jo Jo.  Thank you so much you two for having us.  We had a great time.  After leaving Zemi's house, we became a group of 50 Rotarians and spent three days touring places that needed our help.  Then we spent 4 long days and many hours of traveling for polio immunizations in Harar, Dire Dara and even closer to the Somalia border where polio is coming across the border.  The hours on the bus left us much time to talk and share our stories.  We laughed and cryed and became friends.  When you share a hurt with someone, the pain is a little easier to bear, and we all shared with each other.  We had lots of good times too!  Our group got even smaller when we went to Uganda and shrank to about 15.  Now we became one very close knit group.  We shared our amazement as we were shuttled from one fantasitic experience to another.  I have to take this time to thank our leader and planner for this trip to Uganda, Ben Abe.  Ben is from Gulu, Uganda, and he has been taking a group of Rotarians to his homeland for several years. I can speak for the whole group when I say it was the most amazing experience in our lives! The Kalang Mill, fixing the well with our own hands, and spending an afternoon at the orphanage changed our lives. We had fun unwinding at the Safari Lodge Paraa and sharing our feelings and thoughts with each other.
Thank you again, Ben, for all your work.  Thank you friends for making Kayla and I feel loved and special.  Let's keep in touch!

3.  I have a renewed thankfulness for my health.  We take it for granted that we drink clean water and plenty of good food every day when many people all over the world don't enjoy this privilege.  I was sick-very, very sick for about 12 hours, then weak for a day or so after that.  I don't know if it was something I ate or drank, but it happened.  I am thankful for my strength to perservere.  I made it.  All of these experiences have made me stronger.  I am a survivor.

4.  Service is the key to happiness.  Serving others is why we were put on this earth; not pursuing money, wealth, or material things.  When we are serving others, we are serving God.  A trip like this makes me realize that my problems are minor compared to many other people.  It helps me put my personal issues in perspective and realize that, ultimately, I can survive anything that is thrown my way or overcome any obstacle put in my path.  Occasionally, certain people cross our path of life and share some very important information with us.  Several very special people crossed my path, and I know this was a gift from God.  He knew I needed to hear what they had to say at this time in my life.  I am a richer person today for meeting some very amazing people on this trip.  I now have the confidence I need to solve the problems in my life and find the balance, joy and love that I so need.  Serving others makes me happy.

5.  If service is the key to happiness, then gratitude for what we have is a very close runner-up.  Gratitude for what we have in our lives leads to contentment, and contentment leads to happiness.  Get off the fast paced whirl wind for more money and more of everything.  Be happy for what has been given to you, and appreciate everything.  When bad things happen, find the good in it, because even the bad times strengthen us.  I find that after a trip like this that I start to even down-size my belongings.  I donate more things to charity that I haven't used, and if I buy something new, I get rid of something else old.  I have started my list of things I want to remember to take to back to Uganda next year. I don't want to be attached to things.  I want to be able to give up absolutely everything I own if I had to (which of course I won't have to).  Just knowing that things aren't important to me is comforting.  My life stays simple, and I can concentrate on my inner being and my mind.  I can improve the person I am.

6.  I love who I am today.  I love my God, my life, my family, my health, my friends, Rotary, my home, my dogs, my yard, my food, my water I drink, my job, my everything!  I love life!