One of my favorite foods in Uganda is
chapati. Basically it is the Ugandan form of a tortilla, and
tortillas were my staple food back in Boise. Today I woke up with a
serious need for some chapati, and apparently so did Trevor because
he begged for some at the beginning of our day's lesson. We made a
pact that if we both worked very hard, then we would go get some, but
we had to work EXTRA hard! He never worked so hard in one of our
lessons as he did today.... we got chapati.
Trevor's shoe broke along the way, so I
had to fix it about a hundred times along the way. By the time we
reached our chapati man (he is beginning to recognize me... and I am
not sure how I should feel about this ;]), my hands were covered in
dirt. Not ideal conditions to eat finger food. There was a bunch of
people waiting in line, so I reached into my purse to pull out my
precious hand sanitizer. As I did, I heard someone shout, “Eh!
Mzungu! Mzungu!” I have become accustom to this, and ignored it.
However, they did not let up. As I squirted some into Trevor's hand,
a hand grabbed my arm. Once again, not too uncommon, but I always get
a little frustrated. As I shot my head up in preparation to tell
someone to leave me alone, my eyes met the most excited and beautiful
down syndrome kid I have ever seen! My frustration melted at an
instant, and was replaced by a wonderful warmth. I pretended like I
have known him my whole life, and gave him a big handshake and high
five. He didn't speak English, so that was as far as our
conversation went, but he stood next to me smiling the entire time. I
loved it! The people around us looked in almost horrific disgust as I
showed kindness to this friend. My heart broke.
I have worked with special needs
children on many different occasions, and it has given me such a
compassionate heart. I have made some of the most amazing lifelong
friendships because of this work. Sometimes, I forget what the world
sees when they see someone with special needs. Many cultures view a
handicap as a curse, and will reject the person, kicking them out of
the village, Uganda included. In America, special needs children are
not considered a curse, but rather an inconvenience to society. They
may not be kicked out of a village, but are rejected in horrible
ways! Praise God this is not the only response to people with
disabilities! I wish it did not exist at all, and pray that view
point will soon disappear. Others are simply uncomfortable around
special needs people. This really isn't much better. Out of their
uncomfortable feelings, they will obviously ignore the person,
refusing to make eye contact and making big circles around them
instead of just walking by. Praise God there are also those people
who look past the disability, and view the person as a fellow
human... because that is exactly what they are!
I never understand either of the first
two viewpoints. The children I worked with that have special needs
have blessed me with some of the most amazing memories, and have
taught me more about Christ's love than I can even fathom! They are
some of my best friends, and I miss them everyday I am away from
their beautiful smiles. God truly enriched my life because of their
never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever spirit about them.
And their families! Oh their families are just as amazing!!! They are
filled with an unconditional love that truly inspires me! How I wish
every person could experience what I have through these children.
When I think of Jesus and His ministry
to the sick and disabled, I continually see Him full of compassion.
Most times (if not every time) Jesus comes across a disability, the
Bible says, “He had compassion on them.” A stirring in His heart
came to help those so many others rejected. Why should I act any
different? Why should Christians act different? The fact of the
matter is that we all are going through major lifelong struggles. No
one is without this struggle. My struggle is shyness. I have been
painfully shy my whole life. I have a hard time going out and making
new friends because I cannot stand any amount of attention on me. I
have full on panic attacks in crowds, and if I have to speak in front
of people, I generally black out (praise God though, because I may
not be coherent to what is going on around me, but God will speak
through me, and give me words... even when I cannot remember what I
said at the end of my speech). God has brought me a long way, but I
still battle daily with this shyness. Other people must fight other
battles. Some are inward battles like shyness, and others must fight
an outward battle. Let us come together and fight the battles
together. Nothing feels worse than fighting a battle alone.
As my new friend walked away from the
chapati stand, he kept looking back toward me and smiling just a bit
bigger and brighter with every look. I waved back every time, knowing
that if nothing else, I will be able to pray for him every time I
remember that beautiful smile. I pray I do come back in contact with
him, and we can have a lasting friendship!
I unfortunately did not have my camera today, so a picture of my buddies will make up for the loss!
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