Stay Focused!

It is already 10:30 PM and it feels like I still have a lot to do before I go to bed. I am the queen of procrastination! There are so many little details and things that I always want to do at the very last minute, but something always has to give. I keep reminding myself of my purpose and of the people that our team is going to go and help in northern Uganda for the next four weeks. To provide a mobile medical clinic for women like the one in this picture, with a look of hopelessness on her face. Probably wondering if things will ever change for her, or if she will spend all the days of her life living in a camp. She walks miles daily to fetch a jerry can full of water, or a heavy bundle wood, to work in the fields near where her home would be if it was safe to live there. Her belly is probably rumbling with hunger and parasites, she maybe suffering the ill effects of malaria. This is why I am traveling for the next three days to a remote part of Africa, a country once hailed by Winston Churchill as the "pearl of Africa". I am drawn back by the people, the beautiful, stoic, hard working, enduring people. These people have all but been forgotten by the rest of the world, even when the U.N. lists their condition as one of the greatest humanitarian crisis of all times.

I need to keep perspective on the important things before I fly out tomorrow evening. I am so thankful for my husband, Mike. Not only is he supportive in my little ventures, but he sure does tolerate the frenzy in the hours preceding my departure. I'm sure he sighs with relief after he drops me off at the airport. Thank you, Mike for your love and support! I couldn't do it without you! I only pray that I will be able to sleep on the plane so that I will arrive somewhat rested.

"He is no fool, who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." Jim Elliot

Preparing for Uganda... It is now less than a week until I start my mission in Lira, Uganda. I am frantically trying to tie up loose ends here at home, mainly taxes. Today I received my passport with the Ugandan visa neatly printed and dated inside of it, my airline ticket, and information about my teammates that I will be meeting enroute. It is finally starting to feel real.
I frequently feel like I live in two different worlds. My normal life here in Washington state is as a wife, nurse, church member, friend, daughter, sister, etc. It seems very cyclic and routine. My life of short term medical missions, is one of living for 2-5 weeks at a time in third world countries as a foreigner, team member, and nurse. It is a simpler life with a different pace. It feels more alive, productive, and significant.
I am looking forward to joining with the Ugandan members of Northwest Medical Teams that I worked with last year. What a terrific bunch of people! They are such hard working and friendly people, it is truly a pleasure to serve alongside of them in the IDP camps (internally displaced people). It breaks my heart that the northern Ugandan people continue to be terrorized by the Lord's Resistance Army, and that about 2 million people continue to live in the camps seeking refuge and safety. This has now been going on for 20 years and the Ugandan president and government do nothing to help the situation.
I will continue to tell you more about the situation in the coming 4 weeks as time and internet availability allow. I understand that the power has been off more than on, so we'll see!