The End is Near

"You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you". -Frederick Buechner

I think this quote is so true. With only a couple of weeks left, I am really missing my family. I have really come to appreciate them and realize how much I love them while I have been here. I see families here that are broken- either they do not all live together, or some have been killed. Some of the girls are orphans because of the war, and some do have parents alive but do not want or are able to take care of them. I think I have been especially missing my family since I did not have a real Thanksgiving. I was the only American at the center and it was really weird to go throughout my day as ordinary as ever, but knowing that is was a holiday for me and no one else. My Thanksgiving meal consisted of pancakes and syrup that I made myself (thank you Camp Ewalu for all the practice you gave me in making these!), which were not too bad, though I did miss the turkey and stuffing.

It is crazy that just as I am starting to feel independent, I am leaving soon. Saturday I spent the day in town by myself. I went to a little coffee shop and used the internet, went to the grocery store and the market, and came back on a boda all be myself! Usually I am with one other mzungu, but I was alone this weekend and so had to fend for myself. You really learn to be independent when you don't have anyone else to depend on. I am glad that I have gotten to this point because that is one of the reasons I wanted to come here. I now feel that if I can walk alone around Gulu (which is a pretty big city) and do my errands, I can definitely be independent in the Twin Cities! Especially when I am familiar with the culture and can speak the same language!

In other news, I have started tutoring 3 of the girls to take the PLE. I started by assessing them to see how much they know (or remember because it has been a long time since they have been in school). Unfortunately, the results were not quite how I had anticipated for a couple of them. I realized that I needed to just back up and work on reading in English. Their Primary Leaving Exam (PLE) is all in English and so they could not do as well as they might have if they had known how to read better. So, yesterday I took some children's books from the ECD classroom and read with the girls. I am only sad that I did not start this sooner! I feel bad that I have just started with them, have gotten their hopes up, and now am leaving so soon. I wish there was something I could do, but with the speed things go in Uganda, I don't think I will be able to get them a different tutor before I leave. On a brighter note, one of the girls did much better than I had expected. I was so excited to see her doing so well! She has such drive and motivation that I just know she will make something of herself after she leaves the center. I am glad that I can at least start something with these girls while I am here. I just wish there was something I could do when I am 3,000 miles away...