May 25

Yesterday for church we divided into groups to go to either an Anglican, Catholic, or Pentecostal church. I went to the Catholic church which was really interesting. Some of the people in our group said that it was extremely similar to mass back at home, except for the songs. The singing was so pretty and I'm pretty much obsessed with that kind of musici anyway and it was just cool to hear those African voices and harmonies. So, Ugandans don't see personal space the same way we do. The church was pretty packed and as we walked in, people were pointing to spots in the pews for us to sit in, and we were like oh really? because that doesn't really look like an open spot to me. Paul, Fish, and I kept walking closer and closer to the front and thought we were going to be sitting up there with the priest but we basically just made it to the front row. Overall the experience was very interesting because I don't even think I've ever been to a Catholic service in America so it was all new. After church we ate lunch at the Gately and I had a steak sandwich which I would probably never order in America because I don't eat that much steak but it was really good. They also have the good bottled cokes and fantas that they don't have in America. The afternoon was so lazy. We all just hung out and wrote papers for our classes. Sunday night Mark and Lori Manry (two of the missionaries) had us over to our house. They are so cool. They have two boys and two girls. Their house is so nice, and we all felt like we were getting a taste of America as we sat on their big couches and ate popcorn and brownies. We played mafia and psychiatrist (with Perrin, which was the funniest game of my life!) 

Monday morning the religion and communication class times were switched so we had com in the morning. We had it outside under the pavilion at the tables where we eat dinner. It started thundering and eventually started POURING. It was soo awesome, but we definitely were not paying attention to Selbs after that. It was so pretty and intense (definitely doesn't happen in Malibu). After class we ran back inside the hotel to put on our rain jackets, but within a few minutes it was sunny again. We took a matatu (we are getting pretty good at cramming all of ourselves into one) to the Source then split up for lunch. I ate at Indulge and hada  sandwich and a really good smoothie. Then we split up for service learning- I was really excited to hear about an organization called Beam of Hope, and I was able to go to it. It was an experience that I am still processing. It's like an organization for people who have disabilities, to help them to learn to be self-sufficient. Abraham (our guide) took me, Ashley, Brian, and Hannah there. It was so legit. First we met a man named Paul who runs the place. He took us into his office and explained the purpose of Beam of Hope. He explained that in Ugandan culture, the disabled are not even considered people or part of the family, at all. I wrote down the vision statement:

 "Promotion of societies in which disabled people have equal opportunities and facilities to use their remaining potentials to be self-reliant with justice, equality, and pride. The mission statement was:

To enhance the social and economic standards of living of the disabled in qualitative and quantitative terms so as to integrate them into mainstream society. 

Then we walked around and saw some of the people who lived and worked there. It was just so interesting partly because I just finished a class on disabilities in the SAAJ (social action and justice) program at Pepperdine. There was a guy with no use of his legs sitting on the ground weaving amazing baskets and hats out of  banana fibers. Others were knitting or doing laundry. It reminded me a lot of the ARC disabled center in Ventura that I visited with my SAAJ class where people were given jobs based on what they liked to do and were capable of doing, no matter how small they were. Then we all sat down in a room of 10 or 15 with all of the disabled people in wheelchairs. They all went around and told the stories of their disabilities. Almost all of them were born normally and had either gotten in an accident or gotten something like polio. Everyone of course had a really touching story. After they all talked, Paul asked us what we as American students could do. He made it clear that he was not asking for money, but still, we were all dumbstruck at how little we felt like we could actually teach them or do. In America at our liberal arts university we are taught concepts rather than skills and are told that we can do anything we want with them. We offered what little information and motivation we could think of, and left feeling very overwhelmed. You could seriously see the wheels turning in all of our minds as we drove back to the hotel. Our first instinct was that people raise money for organizations like this all the time at Pepperdine, and we would be able to help maybe. Then, we came to terms with the fact that they don't really need our money thrown at them, as they are supported by the government, and that made it even harder for us. Personally I'm a big picture person and just couldn't imagine how anything could ever work or change until the entire Ugandan perception of handicapped people changes, which would take generations and generations. I'm glad we got mad and confused and frustrated about it, though, because we are continuing to think about it and realize that things aren't as easily fixed as we wish. 

After dinner I was a part of a conversation that went in huge, confusing, challenging circles for a couple of hours. It is really challenging to be here. Pepperdine really attracts serious Christians, serious searchers, and seriously searching Christians. The intercultural com class and the dang "cultural lens" that we're all learning that we have, as well as the rel 301 class mixed with our daily experiences in town and in service learning are really just messing us all up! In a good way. I'm so happy our group on this trip is close and is able to have these important conversations about Christianity as well as social justice all day every day, and to be able to end every day with sincere prayers and fun.