The Final Countdown

Twenty-six more days until I leave for Uganda. On January fourth, I will fly out of Vancouver, stay the night in the Dubai airport, and arrive in Kampala severely jet-lagged on January sixth.  I am very excited about spending the next 5 months in Uganda and am strangely calm and at ease with the unknown and mystery of it all.  I have a general sense of what the Watoto 360 program is all about and what I will most likely be doing when I am there, however I'm unaware of the daily schedule and expectations of us students throughout the program. 


Due to all the preparation and planning that has taken place over the last few weeks, I haven't actually registered where I am going or for how long just yet. It will probably kick in when I board the plane.... Or maybe three weeks into the trip.... Hopefully before....


This last month has been filled with:

1) Vaccination appointments -I have had at least 7 shots so far and have started my trial dose of malaria pills.

2) Packing, packing and more packing- I am moving out of my basement suite of almost four years and storing my things away until I come back to Victoria.  When I initially decided to go to Uganda, I had no idea what I would do with all my stuff when I left. Would I lug it all back to Terrace and then bring it all the way back down when I returned?  That would be PRICEY!  I remember expressing my worries to my parents when I first applied to Watoto. They reassured me that we would deal with it when the time came and that I shouldn't dwell on it. They were right! I have been blessed with a wonderful family from my church who is allowing me to store boxes in their home and park my car in their yard while I'm away, a friend in need of a furnished bedroom for the next 5 months, and some friends who are giving my instruments loving homes for the time being. 

3)  Connecting with the Watoto community- I am so fortunate to have the Watoto Canada office in Victoria!  Instead of paying my tuition and making plans via email, I have been lucky to just go visit the office whenever I feel like it AND cool connection, while at the office one day, I discovered a friend of mine worked there!   I also have been emailing back and forth with past participants of Watoto360 and some people who will be joining me there this time around.

4)  Work!!  I have been subbing lots (it's the flu season) and have even had a few consecutive days in the same class to boot!  I have made some good school contacts and have let them all know about my leave.  The conversation goes something like this:  "Make sure to leave your card so I can call you again" to my reply of "For sure... however I will be in Africa until June... Please don't forget about me." to their response of a "Wow!" or just a wide-eyed stare.


On Thursday, I will fly up to Terrace for a nice snowy Christmas with my family until I leave for Uganda on Jan. 4th.  These final weeks in Victoria have been crazy and jam-packed with final meetings with friends, preparations to leave, and again, lots of calls to work.  Today was my final day at my church here in Victoria before I go.  I shared a little on what I will be doing over the next few months, passed out prayer cards and the congregation gave me a warm send-off.  I love community!


I am looking forward to my time back in Terrace over the holidays.  I spread myself pretty thin over the past few weeks and am anticipating some much needed downtime with my friends and family back home.


Oh and one last thing!  Here is an awesome documentary from Watoto that discusses the history and situation in Uganda right now, most specifically northern Uganda.  Although it is very intense and graphic, the documentary gives you a fantastic glimpse into life in Uganda and into the different ministries of the Watoto organization. Here it is --> Restoring Northern Uganda Documentary 

Peace and love