An Unexpected Journey

I puked.   Not what you were expecting to hear, eh?   It somehow feels like I have successfully completed some sort of right of passage ceremony and now belong to an official club of travelers.   It was not the vomit itself that was the worst part of the experience, though.   I did not want to puke alone.   It sounds strange because most people would want to be alone during such a lowly moment, but I longed for the comfort of someone to be present with me during my feelings of agony.   I wanted someone to care for me.   Instead, I was alone…in the dark…outside with my waste bin and had to pull myself together enough to care for my own well-being.   But was I really alone ? On the way home from my practicum site that same day, I was talking with Jesus.   In the midst of my prayers, I heard Jesus say to me, “Emilia, I will take care of you.   Trust me.”   Though I did not know what it would mean, I decided to trust Jesus to m...

Poverty is a daily reality in my workplace.   However, I would like to go further than the American belief that poverty is a lack of material items.   There is another reason why poverty is so prevalent at my practicum site and its root is much deeper than mere things.   One of the most important aspects to understanding poverty is recognizing the fact that poverty is very cultural.   There are overarching commonalities of poverty within the world, but, as a whole, the way someone should approach poverty is by looking at the cultural context of the poor.   While I will not pretend to be an expert of poverty, I am starting to develop a firm grasp on what poverty means in my work community.   A major cause of poverty within the lives of my clients, who are women, is their gender and the gender roles that are widely held and practiced by Ugandans. The structure of Ugandan culture is tailored to favor men.   Women are often expected to cook, clean...

He came up to me and excitedly greeted me.   He continued to say how happy he was that I could make it to their early morning fellowship followed by another statement that had at first left me confused.   “I have not seen you for three days.”   My initial response is to think, “Oh great, here is another Ugandan man who is attempting to make a move on me.   Why, and how, has he noticed that I have not been around campus very much, let alone for three days?!”   But I chose to suspend my judgment, as we say in my social work seminar class, and take a moment to think about this statement because I was sure he was not trying to passively show his romantic interest.   My neurons made a connection and I realized what this gentleman was saying.   It was his way of recognizing my presence. Ugandan culture seems to be one of presence.   “The core of Africa’s wisdom is that she knows the difference between existence and presence,” writes John Taylor...