uganda: our final day in gulu

on tuesday, our entire team was together again, 

working in the nearby village of achoyo - 

it was our last day of service,

and i kinda had mixed emotions. 

the next day we were headed on a safari and

a cruise up the nile river, so that was 

exciting to think about...

but i knew i was going to miss the 

one-on-one experience of the medical clinics.

i loved talking with the young mothers,

and meeting their children. 

i loved spending time with the interpreters,

hearing their stories, and learning of how 

they came to work with sports outreach. 

i even thought it was pretty cool to see

that one kid with the snake bite on his foot

(don't worry, there's not a picture - but trust me, 

it was pretty gnarly).

and the babies... oh my goodness, 

the teeny little babies. 

after the clinic,

we spent the afternoon in the gulu prison

with the new foundations community church's 

teen choir and the rest of the sports outreach staff.

no cameras were allowed inside the prison,

but believe me when i say 

it was a very eerie feeling
when they shut and locked the gates
behind us as we entered. 

we held two medical clinics there:
one for the women's prison, and one for the men's prison.
the "daktas" saw hundreds of inmates.
the teen choir put on an hour-long performance

in the open air courtyard 

of the men's prison during the clinic. 

those kids sang and danced the entire time,
tirelessly, and with no complaints. 

after our time in the prison was over,
we walked out on the other side,
and said our goodbyes
to the sports outreach staff.
we were driving to the safari lodge the next morning,
so this was our last chance to say bye to
many of the staff there in gulu.

i've thought about the staff often since we've been back...
i miss their sweet and simple joy.
i miss how quiet their voices
are when they're speaking,
but how loud they can be
when they're singing praise songs.
i miss hearing their passionate prayers.

and i really, really miss their sense of humor.