About 9 months ago, I
sang “Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders” at Echo in Kennesaw, Georgia. Many of you will
recognize that line as one from the Hillsong song “Oceans.” (LINK to song). I should
have known better than to ask such a grand
request from The Lord, but I had no idea what He had in store for me. In case you are wondering, it was Uganda.
But I must say that 1 month later, He did NOT
disappoint…not that in my wildest dream did I ever think He would!
We have been here in
Kampala for 1 month (to the day!), and what an adventure it has been! I had no
idea that God would take me 8,000 miles away from my comfort zone to show me
what truly relying on Him would look like, but He did! If there is one thing I
have learned in the past month, it is that true reliance on God is humanly terrifying, because it means
completely letting go of everything, and trusting Him with it all. However, as
humanly terrifying as it may be, nothing
is more rewarding. Allowing God to work in and through you is one of the
most satisfying things we can experience as humans, because we are fulfilling
God’s purpose for our lives. We still have 2 and a half more months here in
Kampala, and I cannot wait for what
God has in store!
I say that we have
experienced “a lot” while here, and I mean that! I have tried my best to keep
you all updated on what is going on, but it is difficult to share everything
with you all. One of the most exciting things (for me, anyway) is that I have
started teaching! For the first three and a half weeks at KISU, my
colleagues and I were simply observing different teachers throughout the school
and helping out where we could/were asked to. However, I took over two classes
this week, and will be teaching those for the next 8 weeks! One class is a Year
9 (equivalent to 8th grade) History class. There are 10 students, 3
of those being English as an Additional Language students (EAL). To put it
simply, English is not their first language, but I also work in their Language
Support class twice a week, so more on them later! The Year 9 curriculum works
through various themes in history. The unit that I just started is “Conflict,”
and we will be looking at conflict from Great Britain’s perspective –
specifically World Wars I and II. The next unit is “Power,” and we will be
doing case studies on Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin. My other class, Diploma
Program 1 (11th grade), is going through a book titled Russian
Communism Under Lenin and Stalin. My first thought when my Mentor Teacher
told me was “WHAT.” I had NO prior knowledge of Russian History, and suddenly I
was going to TEACH it? Let me just say that Friday’s lesson was…interesting. I
taught on the Russian Civil War (1918-1920), and I was not as prepared as I
thought! My 2 (yes, I only have 2
students in that class) students told me it went well, though, so I will take
their word for it! I will be sure to keep you updated as the term progresses.
Some of my favorite
lessons each week are with my Learning Support students. I work with 3 Year 9
boys, 2 Chinese and 1 Angolan who speaks Portuguese. They are learning English
well, they just all learn at different paces. I have worked with them since Day
1, so I have gotten to know them very well. They have been so quick to speak to
me (the best they can) in the halls and at lunch, even when the other students
still had no idea who my colleagues or I were. The 3 boys are so funny and nice,
and working with them is such a day-brightener. Even when I am getting on to
them for not working as hard as the teacher and I know they can, they still
smile! I am so excited to see how far these boys have progressed when December
comes!
It has taken a month,
but I have reached the point of adjustment where I am comfortable. Walking everywhere is normal to me, and riding
in a car seems strange. I have learned to live with schillings, and seldom do I
now ask myself, “How much is that in dollars?” I am used to having to either
fill up my water bottles everywhere or buying water (yes, paying for water)
anywhere we go out. I have even gotten used to being at least warm at all
times. [In the entire month we have been here, not once have I felt cold, and
we are nearing the end of the cold months. I would hate to experience the hot
months!]
As I close out this
post, I will leave you with some moments.
Funny Moment: This week, I was working with a Year 11 (10th
grade) girl from South Africa. We were talking about universities in the
States, and I asked her if she was considering going to one. Her response made
me laugh: she said “no” because she was scared of America based on what she saw
on TV. I asked her what she had seen, and she said Kim Kardashian and some show
about teenagers in Beverly Hills. I had to quickly explain that most people in
the States cannot stand the Kardashians (although people just love keeping up
with them!), and that university was nothing like the shows and movies! I then
explained misconceptions that people have about Africa, and when we talked
through those, she was laughing because she knew they were not true, just as I
knew her misconceptions were not true. [Side note: the majority of
ideas Americans have about Africa are probably false.]
Scary moment: I GOT HIT BY A CAR WHILE WALKING TO SCHOOL.
Yes, you read that right! Saba and I were walking on the side of the road, with
me closer to traffic. We were on a hilly side road that is usually heavily
trafficked with walkers, so cars will normally drive slowly. NOT THIS CAR. We
were walking like any other day, and out of nowhere, I feel something hit the
back of my elbow very hard, and saw a blue van drive by. Saba thought my arm
was going to be dislocated, but I was fine except for some swelling. The van,
however, now has a dented side mirror with the mirror part cracked in several
places. The van did not stop, so I have no idea who was driving, or how angry
they were. [Many of you might be asking “why were you walking with traffic as
opposed to against it?” Our school is on that side, and crossing the road can
be tricky, so we try to cut the tricks wherever we can. It had not been a
problem any of the previous days!] This happened yesterday morning, and I am more
than OK now. No permanent (or temporary) damage! Still scary, though! However,
I do tend to pull my arm in closer to my side when I hear a car coming by while
I am walking with traffic on the side of the road.
As always, I want to
connect with my readers. How has your month been? What are some conceptions you
have about Africa? Let’s chat!
Cam
Connect with me through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Skype! Links provided!
- Facebook is more for general updates on how things are going (Cameron Yarbrough)
- Twitter is more thoughts about things I am experiencing (@TheGrandCameron)
- Instagram is for cool pictures and things! I am using the hashtag #CAMpala2014 on all of my pictures during this experience, so you can find my pictures that way as well! (@TheGrandCameron)
- Skype me! cameron_yarbrough
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