Godfrey with Auntie Rose, his house mother
Learning to walk!
Often after I get back to the States from overseas, I stop writing updates and stop blogging because “the trip” is over. But I am beginning to realize that in reality, the experience is far from over when I get home; in fact, a phase of it is just beginning: processing and assimilating the things I have seen, the people I have met, and the experiences I have had. Often, my periods of time overseas are quite the whirlwind, and it’s only after arriving home and getting rested up a bit that I feel safe enough to let my guard down and begin to process the experience.
On that note, I have been struggling a lot the past few days with feeling completely overwhelmed both by my experiences overseas and with being home. I experienced such a completely different world in Africa this time that the contrast of that world and this world I find myself in here at home is shocking. Coming from things like fighting and danger and crime and AIDS - and consequently feeling vulnerable/scared/stressed on a daily basis - to calm and quiet and people mowing their lawns and cooking dinner here in Indiana is proving to be quite the adjustment, to say the least.
These last two months in South Africa and Uganda were in many ways the craziest period of time I have experienced overseas, and I think it’s just going to take me awhile to process through it all. It was just one thing after another…but the redeeming factor in the mess is that the Lord kept me and sustained me and upheld me through it all.
Overall, this trip had a cold-bucket-of-water-to-the-face effect on me concerning some of Africa’s issues, especially HIV. There are so many things that you can read about and understand in your head, but you don’t truly understand the impact of these things on people’s lives until you SEE and EXPERIENCE them firsthand. Here are some of the things that I am now struggling to process:
AIDS: of course I have been aware of how huge an issue AIDS is in Africa – who isn’t? - and I have seen some evidence of the impact of AIDS during my time there, but it has never hit me so hard as when I was at Good Shepherd’s Fold in Uganda. There were a couple of little babies, Godfrey, 9 mos., and Solomon, 2 years (see pictures above), that I got pretty close to because I spent a lot of time at their houses talking with their house moms. Solomon is a little shy at first but warms up quickly and is a very quiet, easy-going little fellow. Godfrey is just learning to walk and apparently sticking his tongue out helps him to concentrate, as he does it often! These little guys just look like your typical bouncy, adorable, healthy little babies. Anyway, one evening, the couple who run the clinic came to talk to these babies’ house moms – it was time to take them to get tested for HIV. I cannot tell you the shock and fear that I felt. I knew that there was already a house full of HIV positive children living at the orphanage, but Godfrey and Solomon looked so healthy and normal - and the reality of the HIV pandemic so far outside my frame of reference – that the threat of HIV for these little babies had never even crossed my mind.
The next morning the bus, already filled with 8 or 10 older children, came to take little Solomon and Godfrey to town to get tested. I will never forget those several tense days of waiting for the results, and our immense relief that this time, everyone’s results were negative (because they are so young, they will have to continue to be tested as they get older). Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord, that this time the results were good. The hard part is realizing what a terrible situation AIDS is in Uganda - and through many parts of Africa - that it is a normal part of daily life to be tested for this disease, men, women, children, and even babies.
Since I began reading about Africa in my preparation to go to Jeffrey’s Bay, I have been aware of a plethora of myths in Africa related to HIV. One of the strongest and most widely-spread of these myths, which is promoted by local “traditional healers” (ie witch doctors), is that sex with a virgin can cure you of HIV/AIDS. However, until recently, I had no idea how this myth often plays out in reality: the raping of babies and small children. I remembered during our time in Jeffreys Bay hearing about a 2-month-old baby being raped in a nearby township, but at that time didn’t understand that the incident was probably connected to this horrific lie. 2-months-old. Raped. I feel so overwhelmed at this…how do I even begin to process such an unspeakable evil? I hate Satan so much. People need Jesus - The Truth - desperately. “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free…”
Please continue to pray for me as I process these and other experiences, and as I continue adjusting to being back in the States. Thank you so very much...God bless.
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