The Crazy Adventures of an American Mzungu

  Fridays are my day off. They generally consist of me barricading myself inside my compound with my pups. We may do a number of things, but usually it is a whole lot of nothing! As Thursday evening approached, I looked forward to my Friday. Oh, I would nap and maybe binge watch something stupid, but most importantly, never get dressed! This dream crashed when I realized my house was the only one not receiving power. This meant calling the electric company and corralling my enthusiastic lab away from people who are terrified of him. But we did it. This brings us to noon. I still had half the day to relax. I sprawled out on my bed and put on an episode of Psych, one of my favorite shows. I get ten minutes into the episode, when I hear Teddy barking at the gate. He is such a wonderful watchdog. He has different barks that I have learned, which help me to know if I should respond or not. He will give off a warning, but if someone pushes the bounds, he produces a sound so intimidating that

Words failed me as I looked into the eyes of my friend. They were full of fear, although she reassured me she wasn’t afraid! But how could she not be? We had been hearing of covid-19 for months, but it felt so far from us in Moroto. We hadn’t had a case, but then they brought patients from other districts to our hospital in Moroto. My friend, a 27 year old widow with three young children, had every reason to be afraid. How do I express my own feelings? I’m not afraid. I agree with Paul when he says, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). I’m not afraid to die, as I know where I stand with the Lord. I also believe I have a strong enough body to fight if I got sick. I heard from a few friends that have experienced Covid, and it isn’t easy! But just as Paul says a few verses later, “for to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” (1:29). If I were to get sick, then I know it would be for Christ’s sake.

I sat in my place at the back of the church. Recently they were given 500 new chairs. My church cannot hold 500 chairs, but they still set as many out as could fit in our little building. Now, the back is the way back. I find myself among all the mamas with toddlers and young ones. This is not an issue for me. One late mama came and sat next to me. Her youngest is around two and her oldest is around five. Out of all three of them, I know the oldest daughter the best. She has the most beautiful eyes, and often comes to greet me when I come to Kakolye. The younger daughter stayed with mama during the sermon. She sat well most of the service and managed to find a child’s chair to sit between mama and me. I sat as usually do, one leg crossed over the other, while holding my knee. While I soaked up the sermon, the mama bats at my arm to get my attention. She then pointed down to her daughter, who sat exactly like I did. We shared a laugh at the sight, and she went back to the sermon.