Hannah Weber Week 4 at Mission Moroto
Hello Everyone!
This week has been so relaxed yet gone by so fast! I am all bruised and cut up haha, but from playing so hard! Work and play all day, soccer in the evening, and dancing at night. This really is the best schedule to live by!
So first, as I am writing this in advance since this will be sent out on Friday. That is due to Rebekah and I, and Millitent (he is Rebekah’s very trusted helper, who does many jobs and is like the leader of the kids), going out on an outreach up in the mountains. I am very excited! I will make sure to send details of the excursion next Saturday!
Last Sunday we (Rebekah, Millitent, and I) went up the mountain to Kakangol, where Pastor Paul and Simon have a church. Although, first Rebekah and I went to the service at Pastor Grace’s church, which is a rather large group! After that we headed out on the motorcycle towards the mountain, but once the path got too rocky or steep Rebekah and I climbed up the path while Millitent took the bike up. I have to say, the drive to the mountain was one of the scariest I’ve ever been on, but the way back was much better! The hike was shorter but quite steep and vigorous, and at an elevation of 10,000 feet it’s easy to get winded. The church seemed to be a combination of children and elderly people, all happy to see the small group from Rupa. We worshiped and then Rebekah gave the sermon, as she did at Pastor Grace’s church also, and it was the best one I’ve heard here yet! The christian people here are all so nice and love to shake hands. On the way down the mountain we had a little tumble on the motorcycle but no one was hurt! Rebekah and I just walked from that point on haha!
Oh! Last Saturday Rebekah and I were driving and one of the shocks on the back of the van fell!! It was scraping and dragging the whole way back to the mission. Of course we stopped and checked it out and called Rebekah’s mechanic friend before proceeding with the drive, making sure it was okay to keep going. Over the next two days it was looked at and fixed, it needed to be welded and now it’s all done and finished!
On Wednesday morning, Rebekah headed out to take jessica Moru (the girl with the heart problem) to the hospital near here. She got a checkup and her medication refilled. Even though the hospital is not super far Rebekah left before 9 am and estimated not to be back until around 3 or 4 pm. Things such as going to town, to the hospital, buying food, they take all day long!
Four of the older boys came home early from boarding school this week, they finished their exams and were able to come back this week instead of in December, which is crazy early! I haven’t gotten to know them very well yet but their English is very good! One of the boys, John, is (I’m pretty sure) the tallest person I’ve ever stood by, like a giant. I’ve been told that when all the boys come back in December we will get to play and see some very good football games!! I’m super excited! Even the younger boys here are so talented and if they’re saying that comparatively, the older boys are so much better, wow I just can’t wait to watch. I’ve been playing more and more lately and I love getting back into the groove of it. Everyone here is an Arsenal fan with very few Manchester united and Chelsea fans. They all keep up with the games and they get very animated when they talk about the sport!
I’ve become so close with the staff ladies here and I love it. Almost everyday now I go and select rice with them, which I’ve become pretty fast at! We talk and they ask me questions and they’ll talk among themselves and I’ll listen knowing I have zero idea what they’re saying. I love it all though, they’re so lively and happy! I have learned some words and phrases in Karamojan though! Phrases like, “that’s right” (eh robo), “no” (eh mum), “that’s amazing” (ataqoi), and thats on top of the three greetings I know, thank you, yes, and I’m still learning them everyday!
We learned why some of the older boys are coming home early from boarding school. The government decided that due to the ebola outbreak they’re closing all of the schools in two weeks. All of the schools are now cramming in all of the testing that was supposed to be done over the month of November into these next two weeks. So now all of the boys will slowly trickle in from school as they finish their tests. Rebekah is so happy to see all of them, she’s so close to them all and loves them very much.
Rebekah is also going to Kampala again next Wednesday and she’s taking Veronica and one of the older boys, Jon, with her. She is going to pay for some surgeries that are going to happen in January. I might not be remembering correctly but I think she said something like 4 children were going to go for surgeries then. Veronica is going so they can look and examine her legs and see what is to be done and if they can help her be able to walk. Jon has been in many surgeries and just needs one more on his knee so he is going to get examined and then he will learn when he can get the surgery. He was in a serious accident when he was young and it screwed up and broke his hip. His parents never took him to the hospital, maybe they didn’t know it was broken, and it gone infected and much of his hip bone deteriorated. Later his hip bone and his pelvis fused together and the had to get a surgery for that. He can now walk without crutches but due to the way he walked for so long affected his knee in a very negative way. He really needs a knee replacement but the doctors don’t want to due to him still being so young (18 yrs) and so he will get it sorta fixed soon and then need a knee replacement surgery later in life. So they will all be going to Kampala for a few days and Rebekah is leaving Joseph, on of her very trusted older boys who got here on Wednesday, and I in charge. Thankfully though, Rebekah says he will handle all of the medicine so there is no possible way for me to stress haha!!
Oh right, before I forget can everyone please pray very hard for continues safety and protection here. Curfew moved from 10 pm to 8 pm due to some raiders being in the area again. So please pray that they stay away from the compound and are even taken captive by the police. Oh and make sure to add that they won’t be able to bribe their way out! That’s a huge problem here sadly. Thank you all!
I’ve been trying to stay in each moment and take each day in, focusing on what I’m doing in the moment. I really don’t want to miss anything and I can already feel time passing me by way to quickly! Sometimes I think about when I will be going home and I get homesick but here recently I’ve just been dreading leaving. I want to come back and stay much longer! I love helping here and playing with the kids, telling them all about America and making them all laugh! Jon and I were talking Thursday night and he mentioned that all of the kids were going to miss me very much when I leave. He said he could see how they’ve already grown so attached. I’m going to miss them all like crazy and I’m going to hate leaving, I already know it. All these kids I’ve grown to love so much, I’m going to miss them growing and playing and laughing, even them crying and screaming and fighting. I really don’t wanna miss a single moment so I really hope to come back as soon as I can!
I love you all and I’m so grateful for all of your support, I really love to hear from you all, those little stories from home mean a lot to me. I’m sorry this email is shorter haha, as I mentioned time is flying by and I felt like I barely had any time to write! Also, thank you for the prayers and encouragement, sometimes it is really hard to think about home and how people are changing and growing without me. But, I’m so glad I’m here having this opportunity! It really is such an amazing blessing!
Thank you all and much love,
Hannah Weber
Okay, small update. I was mistaken about the day of the outreach, it is next Saturday not this Saturday. So, this will be sent out on this Saturday and next week’s will be early. I know I could’ve just changed the email but haha I thought this would be easier.
www.missionmoroto.org
