I Didn't Walk Alone

Joe meets me at church. Church feels great. Frank sits next to me during priesthood meeting. I look through his Book of Mormon. It is worn out. He has to wake up at 6am everyday for school, but he wakes up a little bit earlier so he can read the scriptures. This kid is so great. As I was flipping through, he showed me his favorite verse. It was about baptism. Every time I see Frank he seems to be glowing.

After the meetings I stay for Frank’s baptism. Another girl, about my age, is also getting baptized. I think there is a baptism every Sunday. The water in the font is slightly brownish. I love baptisms.

We were singing a hymn today, I’m not sure which one, and suddenly I was filled with such gratitude about my simple walk home last night in the dark. I realized that it is incredible that I could call upon God and ask him, as his son, to keep me safe. I thought about how there is no darkness for Him, and how lucky I was that since I couldn’t see anything on that trail last night, I could lean on Him who can see everything. And while I was feeling this gratitude there came a confirmation that I did not walk alone last night.

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In the evening a photographer came up the house on a bicycle. All the girls ran and got dressed into clothes that looked like they were going clubbing. Kelley and I were in awe. Where in the world did these girls get these clothes?? And they had make up on and everything. The guy charges 1000sh per photo. The girls took pictures with me or with Kelley.

Then I got out my camera to take photos of the photographer taking photos of the girls. And then EVERYONE wanted their photo taken. I told them that if they wanted a print they had to ask the photographer who had come. I didn’t want him to lose business. It was so funny.

“Even me! Even take a photo of me, Adam.”

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We were explaining to Jeff who came to the porch, what is going on with the girls. He had been with Jimmy telling him how to use this test kit to tell if you have Malaria. He was feeling sick and this clinic didn’t even test him for Malaria, but gave him some of the strongest meds you can take for it.

Then the girls told me I had a visitor. I looked up and saw Harriet and her son Charles. The woman I spoke with about a week ago who has HIV. She has just gotten back from Kampala and was on her way home and stopped like I asked her to. Jeff runs to get the nets and a whole troop of us follow Harriet to her house. Jeff, Kelley, some girls who acted as interpreters, and me.

It was late and the sun was setting as we walked up the hill, deeper into Nsumba. It was beautiful. We could see Lake Victoria and all the jungle stretching on till the horizon. We get to her house that has a nice yard and two trees that look like oak trees. Her five other children came running to greet her. I think they were left on their own for this whole week. The oldest couldn’t be more than 7 years old.

We hang the nets in her house. It is a brick house but has mud walls inside to divide the rooms. The children sleep on foam mattresses on the floor. A bag of goat food hangs above their bed. It is a neat house considering.

She kneels on the ground to thank us. And tells us she will walk us back to the main trail. We tell her we don’t need her to, but she wants to so we agree. I think it’s important to let people do nice things for you. In this case it gave this woman a way of thanking us.

I’m going to go back to visit her and her children. I want to help out around the house and maybe do a photo project with Harriet and her kids. It was so beautiful where she lived.

On the walk up she said to me, “You see, Adam. I am positive, but I’m still active and living my life.” I told her I thought she was doing a great job and that her and her son looked so great.

We walked home in the dark and Jeff and I scared the girls by saying really quickly, “WHAT WAS THAT!” It was hilarious. They were scared of foxes. What is with these people and foxes? And getting your head chopped off? When I came home yesterday Festus said he was worried I had gotten my head chopped off.

Anyway, bye.