Uganda 2026 Day 6

Uganda 2026 Day 6

Today was our second and last official Neturum clinic day. For the morning I went with Benjamin and Mark to lead the children’s church. There were a lot less children than yesterday. We actually did not do children’s church yesterday because there were so many people and we needed all hands on deck. I believe we had 5 teachers with us and one, Sophia interpreted the whole time. She did amazing. At one point she introduced us to her twins. They cried every time they got close to or looked at one of us. It was so funny and sad at the same time. We started children’s church by explaining who we are. Then we sang a couple songs about God being good. Ben explained to the kids what good means and how God is good. Then I shared two messages back to back. I started with the message of salvation. Then talked about when Jesus said let the little children come to me. Just like in Jesus time, I feel like children are not always seen by adults or listened to. I think it is important for them to hear that they are important and have worth. When I finished the message and finished praying for them, we danced again. We did two songs. I thought they would love the first one because the kids in Rupa love it the most. As it turned out, they loved the second one the most. All the kids danced along to the songs instead of the ones on the outside of the group not dancing like usual. After this we brought out the parachutes we have. I told the teacher they could shake it up and down, they could walk around in a circle with it or they could run under it. This was explained to one group at at time and we had 6 groups. They all walked in a circle with it and some ran underneath. They did this was singing and some danced in the middle of the circle. The next couple things we were going to do is have mark speak and do the elephant toothpaste science project. Ben was talking to the two of us about the science project and he grabbed one of the premixed boxes of supplies. When he did that, he said this is going to explode, turned around and opened the lid. The second he opened the lid, there was a loud bang and the liquid went everywhere. It sprayed on the parachutes, on Ben, the wall, the dirt and a small amount on a kid. I gave Ben a tissue to wipe his face for the small splashes and Mark took one to wipe off a kids face from a couple spots. Ben went and mixed a new container for this, but did not put the lid on this time. When the kids got back from their water break, Mark shared his message about prayer. While he was teaching, Ben, one of the teachers and I took wet wipes and cleaned the parachutes so they hopefully would not stain. They were new because some of our old ones had rips in them. Hector shared a message next. The last thing we did was have all the kids sit down in three rows and give them instructions. They were each going to receive a piece of candy. They were told not to get up until everyone received a piece. I was very impressed with them because until the last 7 or so pieces of candy were handed out, they did this. Sometimes in Rupa, it can get crazy. Then we took a break for lunch. We were ready before the lunch was, so we helped where we could. 

During this time, I really got to see how many adult were waiting.  Apparently, they did not shut the gate. Later I learned they were asked to three times. I was almost to the education tent when a group of people ran from the waiting area toward the tent. Thankfully, the security we hired, some of the interpreters and a couple of our team stopped them. It took a lot of convincing to have them return. In the waiting area the people had been becoming more violent too. They would push each other and argue. One of my team members asked me to walk with her to the bathroom. On our way back, mom found me. She ran up to me and gave me a big hug. I was so happy to see her again. She is such a wonderful lady. When we were back in the main clinic area, Abigail was starting a group on education of the feminine hygiene kits we brought. 99% of them were had made by people in my church and the rest were purchased online. I asked her if I could stay and record for the people who helped make them. She agreed of course. It was so fun to watch her reach them how the woman body works and why we have our period. Then she explained how the kits work. Even the guys listened very close. When she finished she let me help hand out kits to the women who still menstruated. Sadly, everyone wanted them, but it would not be helpful for people who don’t menstruate and we did not have enough for everyone. It was an honor to be able to help give these women the kits. During this time, poor JoAnne had to make one of the hardest decisions. We closed the clinic after we were done eating lunch, seeing the last patients we were with, and packing up. This was just because the people were becoming to aggressive. It was for their safety and ours. Thankfully, when John Bosco was telling people we were closed, he explained that is the reason. Maybe if we come back next year, they will know we are serious and they must not become violent toward each other. If they do we will close early and/or not go back. It was hard to leave, but important.

Back at the hotel we had time to relax. Anna hung out in my room again. She wanted to do a video call with James, so we talked to him for some time. She gave him so much sass and we confused him so bad most of the time. It was very funny. When we were done, I called my dad for a short time. While I was talking to him, Anna fell asleep on my bed with her phone in her hand. She woke up a couple times and fell right back to sleep. Before dinner started we had a team meeting. We talked about what happened, why we closed early and what we can change for next time. Everyone was sad we had to close early, but I think we all understood that the safety of the people, our team, and our security wad important after the meeting, we had dinner, spent time together and went to bed. Anna did come in my room a short time before going to her room.