Mission Possible :: Wessex Scene Online

Mission Possible

Uganda is home to the highest mountain range in Africa.

2nd October 2009
Sarah Colah

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During my gap year, I believe that God called me to go on a mission trip.

He led me to Mission Direct, a Christian organisation piloting a gap year project in East Africa called UgapUganda.

Before arriving in Uganda, the image I had in mind was of a hot, dusty, and vast desert. However, the moment I stepped off the plane that picture quickly vanished as I discovered that Uganda is beautifully green and lush. They call it the ‘Pearl of Africa’ because it is like Africa condensed, with the best of the continent’s landscapes packed into one small but amazing place. It is home to the highest mountain range in Africa, the breathtaking Mountains of the Moon, all the wildlife of the Lion King in the national parks and mountain gorillas in the rain forest. The source of the River Nile is found near the town of Jinja in northern Lake Victoria. It offers some of the best white water rafting in the world with up to grade 5 rapids.

My group and I were based in Rukungiri, southwest Uganda. The ‘hotel’ we stayed at was pure luxury for a Ugandan. It had not only running water, but also electricity and beds with pillows.

For the first few months, I taught in the local Rukungiri Modern Primary School. This was great fun but also very daunting. The teacher put his chalk down and said, ‘ok you teach now’. I found myself facing a sea of little black faces, staring expectantly at me. Once however, I started to plan my lessons I really enjoyed teaching and spending time with the children.

The last month of the project was spent painting the dormitories at the primary school. The conditions that the boarding children had to live in were appalling. There were about 40 children to a room; 2 or 3 to a bed. What struck me initially was the stench. The children all wet the bed because at night the lack of electricity made it very difficult to find the ‘long drop’ toilets. Due to the countries water shortage, the bedding does not get washed very often, and there were also no mosquito nets on the beds.

The team leader decided that we must do what we could to make the living conditions for these children better. By the end of the month the dorms were cleaned, scrubbed and painted. They looked fantastic and the children were thrilled.

My time in Uganda was so life changing that I knew that I would not be saying goodbye to the country for good. Little did I know how soon I would return. God was amazingly gracious to me this summer, giving my friend and me the funds to go back to Uganda for 5 weeks. We were reunited with the Ugandan friends we met last year and were able to see what progress had been made there. This time we painted an orphanage 8km from Rukungiri.

If you would like to get involved with mission work, research countries that you would like to visit and contact one of the dozens of suitable organisation that will take you there. You will not regret it.

Visit www.missiondirect.org for details