Musings: Oh, culture shock!

On first impressions of Uganda, I was surprised to find that the landscape is quite tropical, to the extent that it reminds me somewhat of Jamaica. There have been a lot of other things here that remind me of Jamaica, as well; I find it odd that Uganda reminds me more of Jamaica than of the other African countries I’ve been to. Also, there seem to be fewer safety concerns here compared to South Africa, which has been a breath of fresh air.

The new school that is under construction at GSF.

Nurse Stina examining a village child in GSF's clinic

I have been experiencing culture shock off-and-on since I arrived at GSF. Because it has been quite awhile since I have been to a new country, I had forgotten how difficult and disorienting culture shock can be. It is a completely new culture, new language (I keep wanting to speak Afrikaans, the language I am learning in SA, to the locals here!), literally hundreds of new faces…and then of course there’s adjusting to a new schedule (or lack thereof!), trying to find my place here, and figuring out how I can contribute to the people around me. The combination of some or all of these factors has seemed completely overwhelming at times. Thankfully, though, the Lord helps me day-by-day to adjust and find my footing; some of the missionaries here (there are only a handful) have “taken me under their wings,” which has helped tremendously as well.

On a brighter note, out of all the children’s homes I’ve worked in, GSF seems to be the healthiest one by far. There are over 100 children here, many of whom came to the orphanage as babies, often extremely undernourished and/or ill. Ten children of varying ages but the same gender live in a home together with a house mom (whom they call “Aunties”). Each Auntie basically runs her home like any normal home; she cooks and cleans and does the laundry (or delegates these tasks). Each child has chores and the older kids help out a lot with the younger ones. There is at least one special-needs child in most of the houses, as well. The thing that has struck me is how well-adjusted, happy, and not-institutionalized the children seem. There isn’t the constant fighting and violence and abuse I have seen in other homes, either. All-in-all, it has been such an encouragement to see that an orphanage can be a healthy, loving alternative for children without a traditional family.