SALT Yearbook Questionaire, or, Let's Reflect...

A questionnaire from the GSL Department at MCC-Akron. It was interesting to write, so I figured I'd share.

1. First Impression:

The first few weeks, I remember being overwhelmed by how different everything was. Food, language, skin colour, lifestyle, technology, mannerisms, gender roles, climate. The view from my window and the people I encountered outside my room seemed to have so little in common with the faces and places I had just left. The biggest similiarity I could find between central Virginia and central Uganda was the August temperature.

But you know what they say about first impressions? Today I know this place as home and these people as friends. I speak their language, follow their customs, and dance their dances. They have adopted me into their midst, given me a muganda name, and taught me to live as they do. And I have learnt to greatly appreciate the mango and avocado trees growing outside my window.

2. Differences (between home & host countries):

I would quickly run out of space if I tried to list all the differences between my life in the US and my life here in Uganda. From the brightness of the Milky Way on powerless nights to the wood fires we cook over and the lessons I have to cancel for children to tend the school garden, the differences are many. But perhaps more important to mentions is the difference I've come to appreciate the most--the deep spirit of gratitude and hospitality which pervades my community and the surrounding culture. Hard labour and a dependence on earth and climate teaches even the youngest children not to disdain or take for granted any small blessings. Even the simplest things are shared quickly, as I remember every time a student offers me a bit of his or her lunch. Perhaps the most telling things is how impossible people find it to imagine a place where poverty means hunger and homelessness.

3. Memorable or Funny Experience:

Lately, I get teased in the school staffroom almost daily about how exuberantly my Primary 4 class greets me. Taught to stand and welcome any teacher who enters the classroom, the 43 of them can be heard across the compound whenever I come in. Their chosen pronunciation of my name adds to the effect, and their pitch threatens my ear drums by the time they finish--"You are most welcome, dear Auntie Christine!"

4. Relationship with God (Highlights/new insights or difficulties/struggles in your faith?):

Among people who rely so heavily on the forces of nature for their daily sustenance, I have learned to pray for simple things and to express gratitude quickly and easily. I have felt both at home and challenged by these people who make faith not simply a matter of belief, but more a way of life--a way of being and working and loving and living that does not always need to be expressed in words or philosophies.

Also refreshing has been the deep religious tolerance I have found in this community, the peaceful way in which Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims (though not "born agains") live side by side. My own faith has been renewed as I join my neighbours to celebrate the holy days of various traditions, as I am invited to the table for Holy Communion at mass each week, and as I release my Muslim students from class for Friday prayers. Often, I wonder what the world would look life if we all acknowledged one another's faith practices as freely as so many people seem to here.

The same questions of suffering and justice and God's place in this world arise here, though they do so in new contexts and with new faces. My heart breaks for those, many of whom are children, whose suffering and pain is overlooked or ignored by those who claim to follow a compassionate and loving God.

5. New Perspectives (How has your view of yourself, others & your home country changed after cross cultural service?):

In a recent letter to a college friend, I wrote, "Maybe one thing this year is nurturing in me is a deeper confidence and peace about myself--who I am, where I am, and where life is taking me." I've learned to draw on my own strength where I once might have sought much encouragement from others. At the same time, I've come to recognise and value the important role that relationships--both local and distant--play in my life (a significant admission for an introvert).

America. At times, I find myself hoping as strongly as my neighbours for the good my country could do in the world. More frequently, though, I am disheartened by how little it has done and by how uncritically people envision it. I pump water from a borehole placed by American dollars as often as I try to explain why it is so difficult (and expensive) to buy a visa to the American dream.

6. Future Plans (What might you do next, when you return home?):

TBA.

7. What single word best describes this year for you? Explain why – in a sentence or two.

Webaale.

In English, "Thank you." I've been thanked--in words, favours, fruit, and fresh milk--more times than I can possibly count. I've learned to thank people for working, for studying, for sitting well, for living, and for simply thanking me.