Africa and Beyond: Part One- Africa
Wow. I think the only words I have to describe what I’m feeling at this point are where did the summer go?!
Okay, back up, stop sign; this post must come with a preface. Brace yourself; it’s going to be a longer post filled with the hodgepodge of happenings that made up my summer.
Part One: Africa
If you read my last post, you know that I spent the first portion of my summer in Uganda and Kenya for a month. I had every intention of writing before, during, and directly after my trip; however, as I said before, this summer has flown by! So although I am doing the trip that was taken a massive injustice by summarizing it as such—it needs to be done! The first two weeks of this Ministry and Service sponsored service trip were in Uganda. Just for a visual, here’s a map of Uganda and everywhere we traveled. 
It was intense, and one of the greatest learning experiences I have ever encountered. You may be familiar with a group who call themselves the LRA or Lord’s Resistance Army. They have been terrorizing the country of Uganda for 20 years at the leadership of a man named Joseph Kony. Due to this conflict there have been hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people living in government designated camps, several of which we were given the opportunity to visit. As well as these many internally displaced people, at the peak of violence there were an estimated 37,000 child night commuters in two districts of Uganda alone. Children would commute from their homes before nightfall to safe houses such as school building, churches, and other designated areas. The reason for this was directly due to the LRA; they would abduct children, brainwash them, and turn them into children soldiers. Although the conflict has somewhat settled, and the LRA have moved into southern Sudan, the country is still struggling to take the next steps necessary in insuring peace and safety for all.
Needless to say, when our group of 9 finally passed the border from Uganda to Kenya, we were anxious to experience the differences between the two countries as well as recuperate from being extremely tired and drained not only physically, but mentally as well. In case you are wondering, chasing the sun is what we called out group thoughout the trip. Alright, on with the blog.
The group arrived at an establishment entitled the Koinonia Community, and stayed within the Shalom House. The Koinonia Community is a group of local businesses that employ individuals from the slums surrounding Nairobi. It is self sustainable, and is able to directly feed money into the places that need it most. While in Nairobi, the majority of our times was spent at three different homes for street children: Tone La Maji, Kivuli, and Anita’s Home. In the city of Nairobi, there are over 60,000 street children, or children who have been forced from their homes and left to fend for themselves. For most street children, being forced from the home at ages such as 6 is not due to a lack of love, but rather than a lack of money. These centers for street children focus of rehabilitation of the children, and ultimately reuniting them with their families, simultaneously providing those said families with the funding they need to keep the children in school, and some form of food in their bellies.
This photo was taken at Nyumbani, the girls thought tickling me until I couldn’t breathe was hysterical. I have to say, my time spent at Nyumbani, the AIDS orphanage, and Anita’s home were the most impactful for me of the entire trip. The girls that I met have hearts of gold, and an amazing desire to grow, learn, and change the future of their country.
This was hands down the most extraordinary, enlightening, eye opening, heart-hitting trip I have ever been on. I will never forget the people I met, or how they have impacted my life.
Stay tuned for Africa and Beyond…Part Two!
Oh and PLEASE if you have ANY questions for me AT ALL referencing the trip or NCC LET ME KNOW!!!!
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