The Ultimate Creator

So after a week of no internet/very little we are officially back online again. Going to try and fit in the last week and a few of the antics!
I had my first week in theatre which I have really enjoyed. The staff are all lovely and despite me declining marriage offers I have been able to build up some good friendships. A lot of the guys would like a white girl to marry for two reasons. Firstly, to have money and secondly to get a UK citizenship. They will openly discuss this with many of the UK staff who work here and despite many refusing they have not lost hope. I attempted to explain the basics of a Christian marriage which struck up a few interesting conversations. So please pray for the men of Uganda to really consider how they can live out their Christian faith in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. And not to have a superficial Sunday ‘faith’ that doesn’t stand for anything or have any influence on other decisions they make.
So in theatres we wear scrubs, hats and masks at all times. I thought it was warm enough without additional PPE (personal protective equipment- for those of you non-medics) but I have sufficiently tested my body’s ability to cope in extreme heat and my sweat glands are working just fine! Maybe a little too well. Anyhow, in the morning we begin by cleaning the theatres. This is really good fun. We basiclly fill up 10L buckets with soap and water and pour them around the room. And then brush it all about. Basically an indoor water fight! And then we have to try and get all the bubbles down the drain which is much more difficult than it looks. Especially if you’ve used approximately 10times more soap than necessary due to misunderstanding the instructions. So I was there for a while much to their amusement! Then the morning is taken up by tea-drinking and circumcisions. There is a Uganda-wide programme that all males be circumcised for hygiene reasons and to reduce the spread of HIV. So this was introduced relatively recently and so there is a massive back log of males so they are very busy theatre lists. Although by the number of tea cups being used you would wonder if any work is being done! Afternoons are usually procedures that have been organised that morning. And at any point there could be a caesarean. So I have been able to scrub every day and been floor nurse too. So really enjoying my time in theatre and looking forward to another week this week. Although it is very sad because it will be my last week here at Kiwoko. But it will be filled with fun I’m sure as the nursing students return from their two weeks holiday today!
There has been a bit of a craze with badminton here in the last week too. Some of the interns (Junior and Douglas) discovered we had rackets and have been round a few times to play. And then only last week they discovered we also had a net which led to a full blown badminton tournament being spontaneously thrown upon us. It was brilliant fun though. And for having not held rackets until about 3 weeks ago they are considerably better than all the UK students who have! So two hours later the tournament came to and end… primarily because we could no longer see anything, not due to their lack of enthusiasm! So they came into the guest house and continued the evening with guitar playing and singing! Junior hadn’t heard In Christ Alone until that night and by the time we were on the final verse he had learned the chords and was playing along!!! So that was great to have a time of singing together. And then it was my turn to play…so I have established 3 chords. And it takes about 2 minutes to change between them. So maybe in a few years I’ll be playing!
We also had an incredible weekend just past. We managed to find a budget safari trip for 3 days at Murchison Falls Park. We got to see so many animals on land-elephants, lions, giraffe, antelope, warthogs, water bucks, buffalo, lizards, tortoise, monkeys. And more on a boat cruise on The Nile-hippos, crocodiles, elephants! And Eilidh and I were speaking about how Moses had once been in a basket on the very same river (a lot further downstream) and how later in his life it had become blood during the plagues. It was such an awesome opportunity and we were just constantly reminded of God’s faithfulness and how is the Ultimate Creator. A really encouraging weekend filled with lots of fun along the way. A highlight…I was standing by the counter ordering lunch for the following day when I feel something rather sizable drop on to my head. I turn to Eilidh and ask her to remove whatever is on my head. She just looks at me in awe and asks what type of bug it is. At that point in time I was really not that bothered by naming the species. The guy taking my order just laughed and removed it while Eilidh was still just watching it crawl about my head. Turns out it was a Preying Green Mantus.
So after surviving the weekend I am looking forward to another week in theatre. It will be busy as I would like to spend time with the students who are back. And I have an essay for university to write. And there’s been talk of Eilidh and I organising a ceilidh. And a badminton tournament too! So prayers for time management and wise decision making would be appreciated as I work through the week.
Sarah