Too soon

Our last days here are slipping by much too fast, but we're doing our best to make the most of them and to enjoy Mukinge as much as we can. Corey complicated things by spraining his ankle and turning it into a big, swollen, multi-colored mess- forcing us to nix our final saturday morning walk to the boma. But besides that we're doing well. We're enjoying our last few days with the Tompkins, and getting ready for our last visits to the school and he hospital. It's hard to believe we'll be saying goodbye soon....


[The walk home from school]

While Corey has been focusing on bringing his ankle back to a normal size and color, I've been doing my best to soak up the scenery. Yesterday I joined two friends on a walk through the stunning hills of Kasempa. We wandered for a while, following the many different footpaths we stumbled accross, before it started to rain. The downpour wasn't much heavier than the other rains I've experienced here, but it's one thing to admire it from the window, and quite another to be caught in it in the hills, in the midst of a maze of footpaths that quickly turned from dirt, to mud, to streams of water filling my shoes. Needless to say, by the time we found our way home (an hour or two after the rain started) we were pretty waterlogged. But it was still worth it. Yes, these hills are that gorgeous.


[Stream/path]

I've tried my best to take pictures that actually do this place justice, but I have almost come to terms with the fact that that's not going to happen. There is no way to capture the way the sun hits the clouds and reflects the brilliance of the green landscape. Or the way the thick white mist rolls in and blankets the valleys so that only the very tops of the dark, prominent hills are visible. Pictures can't capture and words can't describe the loveliness of this place. So I'll have to be satisfied with my pictures of shadows that only hint at this breathtaking beauty, enjoying it while I'm here, and committing what I can to memory. The rest I'll leave behind me, and, who knows? maybe I'll be back to enjoy it again :)



-Jamie


[The best my camera can do...]

Home Stretch

My apologies in advance for the lack of pictures accompanying my descriptions. I promise to make up for it when we return to consistent, high-speed internet

As I have been walking around the Mukinge area recently, I have been both overwhelmed by the beauty surrounding us here and simultaneously frustrated by the fact that there is no way to do describe or even photograph the visual experience completely. The hospital and center of our community is located at the foot of Mukinge Hill, and the view from the front of our house reveals other densely wooded hills in the distance that have recently begun to spring with green and life now that we have entered "rainy season".

It seems like every hill you cross or road you walk down reveals a unique view of the distinctly "African" landscape. The road to school reveals a towering view of a small maize crop and the overgrown flora surrounding the dam, while the walk to the market provides a fantastic view of the many rolling hills of the Northwest Province, complete with grass roof mud huts scattered among the grasses and small farms.

The most breathtaking part of it all, however, is the sky. The other day as I was walking home from the hospital and some gigantic rain clouds were forming up ahead, Daren remarked that the sky "seems to go on forever". It really is incredible, whether its dawn, dusk, nighttime, storming or just overcast, I find myself stopping in awe of how impressive it is. For all the things we can say about this place, I don't think I could ever get over the natural beauty of it.

Mukinge has certainly won our hearts in a variety of ways, and as we near our departure date, the thought of going home is bittersweet. I think we both look forward to some of the comforts of home; driving our cars, fresh leafy vegetables, access to ice cream and chocolate and consistent power and internet access sound awfully nice to us now. However, we are extremely torn at the cost of going home.

We have both become pretty attached to our class of 30 8-12 year-olds, and they have already begun to express disappointment that we are leaving soon and have no tentative plans to return to Mukinge. I have been helping teach on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and occasionally joining "Auntie Jamie" when she goes on Fridays. In addition, the children have also made a habit of coming to our house after school hours to join us to swim or play a game of basketball. The children of Mukinge Hill Academy will definitely be sorely missed by both of us, and I will be even more upset to lose my status as "Uncle Corey".

Other than the school, I have spent the last few weeks using my experience in the food industry to assist in the opening of a "restaurant" built to help generate some income for the hospital. It is a small building with a kitchen the size of a small bathroom, but the menu includes a number of local favorites as well as "chips" (where I was happy to lend my "expertise" on making some quality American french fries). In the first week of being open, I have been managing, assisting the two cooks and trying to help the business to become somewhat autonomous (having the workers order their own vegetables, pick up their own meat, etc.), being that the hospital staff does not have the time to be overly involved in everyday business. I have also had some great opportunities to assist in some medical procedures with Daren during the days that I shadow him at the hospital and have even gotten to scrub in and assist in a few major operations. Speaking for myself, my time here has already proven to be invaluable in so many ways, and it will be excruciating to be driving away from this place when it is time to leave.

Jamie continues to fill in any and all gaps around the house, depending on what needs to be done, whether its watching the boys, taking care of the baby, doing laundry, cooking, baking or helping clean. She has also been "volunteered" to play piano for the hospital chapel service on Sunday night, which entails leading a few hymns and praise songs. She is a bit nervous, but it will be a great opportunity, and the enthusiasm of the worship here will provide its own reward.

I know I speak for both of us when I say that we are extremely excited to be going home soon, but are equally anxious to make the most of our valuable last two weeks here.