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Hello All,
Just wanted to give a summary/recap of the past month and some key events.
1. Visits to schools
2. Job
3. Celebration of a family friends birthday
4. Church
There,
concise, yes now read further. Lol, and if this is livejournal, it will
actually includes the details, and if this is a xanga post you´ll have
to link to the livejournal. Why? Because I like livejournal. In short,
its got nicer features and you can do more stuff with it. Anyhow, on
with the story.
read more...
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| Letter sent to family and friends about Uganda. Was in central Africa from July 5-July 20 give or take a few days for travel. Enjoy.
+++
July 25, 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Well, I just got back from Uganda several days ago. The trip went well, all 15 days of it, flying from SFO to London, from London to Kampala. But before I share some memories and reflections, I'd like to thank you for your support, both in helping me to fund the trip, flying there, getting ground supplies, prayer and moral support. It meant a lot to know the many people that gave advice, kept me in their thoughts, and prayed for me during the trip. I couldn't have done it without you.
Once we arrived in Uganda, our group (14 of us) settled down, and stayed with Benny Kagonyera's--the one team member "studying abroad" in the US from Uganda-- family and friends place. Over the course of the next week and a half we traveled quite a bit around the countryside: visiting several churches, the source of the Nile, the Watoto Village Orphanage, the Mukono District where we helped transform a house into a hospital, the Equator, and Sanyu baby orphanage in Kampala. I wish I had time to describe all of these, but I'll only relate a few memories below.*
At the Sanyu Baby Orphanage, we helped take care of the babies for several hours. The children are from 0-3 years old, and they are abandoned by their parents in various parts of the city. The people from the Sanyu baby clinic often find these babies in dire circumstances before they take them in, with the ultimate goal of adoption into a family. As we held those kids in our arms, I could not imagine how they could have been abandoned by anyone. And yet they were the most cheerful kids, toddlers just ambling around, wanting to get picked up and be held. During the time, as I was reading through Isaiah a couple days previous, Isaiah 49:15-16 stood out in my mind as I reflected caring for these babies. "Can a women forget her nursing child...surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hand." Like the babies at that orphanage, God hasn't forgotten any of us. He lifts us up and takes care of us. It was really neat to reflect upon that Scripture while working with those kids. The second day, we visited the orphanage to drop off some baby formula. All the babies were in one room. As we walked in, several babies lifted their arms to get picked up and held. Several teammembers did so, but soon all the babies started to follow suite and when we weren't able to pick them all up they started to cry. One baby approached me, walked right to my feet and lifted his arms. I didn't quite know how to respond. I've never felt this emotion before. While I may find babies occasionally like this in a nursery or daycare, I felt an special added extra concern for these children--they have no parents and its just them in the orphanage with the caregivers. I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to interact with these children, to hold them and pray for them.
After visiting Sanyu, we visited the Watoto village to help out with some of their needs in preparations for classrooms and teachers rooms for their schools. We helped to paint two of their classrooms with a considerable amount of white paint. In addition, quite a bit of morter and bricks were laid down as we helped build a new teachers room. During that day I helped transport the wet mortar and shovel it to the workers site. I also did a little bit of bricklaying but I found out that laying down brick and mortar was a bit more challenging than I though it would be. The workers there appreciated our extra help, and continued on as we visited the next part of the village. Watoto started in 1992 and currently accommodates approximately 1500+ children. Many of these children have lost one or both parents. At Watoto village, the children are placed in homes with at least one adult, and the local church tries to provide a father figure from the community to mentor the children in each of these homes. When I visited this Watoto site, I observed many homes, many tidily organized, with children inside doing some homework on the commons tables. There was a nice soccer field outdoors, and all the children were eager to see us. I wish I was able to spend more time with them. More information about Watoto can be found at http://watoto.com/us/AboutUs/index.cfm .
The majority of our labor during the trip was in the Mukono district. Its an area about 30 minutes away from the capital city Kampala. It was quite a bit more rural than the city, one of the schoolhouses their was built in 1910. As we trekked through the district, we eventually met a man, Joseph, born in the 1920's that used to be the main sponsor of the school. In his prime, he used to try to fund and support many progressive projects for the village. However, at this age, he realized the best way to help out now would be to donate his old living residence to be used as a womens hospital. The house he donated was a fair size, with at least 8-10 rooms. However, the condition of the building had deteriorated as the building fell into disuse. Over the course of three days, we cleaned cleaned out the rooms, removed cobwebs (and I mean thick thick cobwebs), chased out cockroaches and rats, sandpapered the walls in preparation for painting, and then primed the surfaces of the walls. It was quite a messy project, but at the end of the day the house looked much better. Several more steps will need to be taken to transform the house into a womens hospital, but the impact of this project on the community will be huge. During the week, Joan Kakwenzire, a Uganda Senior Presidential Advisor on Poverty Alleviation, visited us at the project site and expressed her gratitude. A week later she held a party in our honor and was thankful that "so many volunteers helped us. You (volunteers) are always welcome in Uganda." She told each of us to forward that message to the people in the States.
It was also nice to visit several churches in Uganda, St. Lukes an Anglican Church and Kampala Pentecostal Church, which supports and helped initiate the Watoto Village. During one of the services at KPC, one person spoke of their success at Watoto. Different than a project supported by an NGO or a global organization like World Vision, this outreach which supports 1500+ children is the product of the church and local community efforts. It was a real privilege to visit the village and be able to see first hand its successes. At Watoto, after painting and bricklaying, we visited one of the villages and passed out toothbrushes, hygiene kits, and some snacks. It was real neat to participate with them in some soccer matches, to go to their homes and see the kids writing down in their notebooks information about "respiration in the lungs" and insects being the "vector for malaria." I'll never forget the people I met there, the smiles and the laughs.
Uganda is a beautiful country. It surprisingly has a climate that was better than California--especially with this current heatwave. The countryside is green and the temperature never seemed to surpass 70 or 80 Fahrenheit. More importantly, the people were extremely friendly. At dinners, which started around 8 or 9 pm and were always long, if there was ever a visitor, they would make a concerted effort to go around, shake hands, and introduce themselves to everyone. But on the other hand, Uganda is a country that still deals with the effects of Idi Amin, the LRA, and the AIDS crisis. Benny Kagonyera, who is "studying abroad" in the US, mentioned that because of these issues "Uganda is about 15 years behind where it have been in development." But it was a privilege to visit and be part of the things that are helping to uplift Uganda: the Watoto Village, the Sanyu Baby Orphanage, and the Mukono District Womens Hospital. It was a privilege to volunteer. I am grateful for the opportunity that we had as a team to go across the globe to benefit a community in a different part of the world. I'll never forget the wonderful times I had there.
Once again, thank you for helping to sponsor us for the Uganda trip. I've enjoyed writing this letter to you—in some ways its a journal reflection for myself as well of the good memories and times there. I'm still processing through some of the moments there, but if you'd like to learn more about Uganda or the work we did there, feel free to contact me. In the meantime, I hope you are having a wonderful summer. God bless.
Sincerely,
J L
P.s. *I hope you enjoy the photos that I am including with this letter. I wish I could send more. However, at the website http://agsedu.splink.net/photos/ , I created an album of photos entitled Uganda that has several hundred photos of the trip. There are pictures of Sanyu baby orphanage, Watoto Village, the Mukono District house and school, Benny's family and much more. | | |
| April 19, 2006
Dear Friends,
This month has passed by
well. The last time I updated was perhaps in mid March. Time surely
flies. This is my last quarter studying at the University of California
Davis. I have three classes: Microbiology 102, Art 5 Sculpture, and
Music 10.
In terms of graduate schools, I can happily say that
next fall I shall be atttending that University of California located
in the "The Angels." Indeed, I shall commence my studies in UCLA's
Graduate School of Education and Information Systems. There classes
will be taken to achieve a Masters of Education in the Science Teacher
Education Program.
In all candor, it was difficult to make the
choice between all the schools I got accepted too. In order of
acceptance date (from early March 3 to March 24): Stanford, Columbia
Teachers College, UCLA, Cal Berkeley, and NYU. Each school is splendid
in its own right. Three of the schools offered various scholarship
moneys. However, some were private and some were public. And some
didn't send their scholarship/grant/financial aid letters till after
April 16--the deadline for 3 of the schools. Personally, Columbia would
have been a wonderful place to go to. Their deadline was on May 15,
however, they didn't mail out their financial aid notices till mid
April. NYU, Stanford, and UCLA offered scholarships.
However,
UCLA offered the most in terms of academic and personal growth. Finance
wise, NYU actually offered more. But tuition and ROI (return on
investment) shall be greater at the UC school than the Stanford and
NYU. Academically, UCLA's stellar program situates me as a novice
teacher the first year. The second year, I shall be a resident--think
medical student--teacher in a high school in LA Unified. And because, I
received an NSF scholarship, I have the opportunity to teach one extra
year. This pretty much ensures me two solid years of teaching with
excellent mentorship and feedback. Magnificent!
However this
quarter at UCD, I am in the process of closing off some deals. For
example, classes at Davis. Three more classes provide me with ample
time to explore various fields sans plant biology. This is
recreational. Art 5 sculpture utilizes the medium of cardboard,
plaster, and wood. Music 10 develops in students awareness of the many
facets of music. And for Microbiology, well, I've grown to see that
prokaryotes "are the most important species on earth." Perhaps to
Professor Wheelis this is true, and perhaps to the ecosystem. But in
all sincerety, prokaryotic microbes pale in comparison to the human
beings "created on the sixth day." Yes indeed, we are a special people.
In terms of things I'd like to reflect and remember:
-Rest
in Him, how do you avoid being overwhelmed or burned out, "spend time
with God" and "spend time with good friends." Priorities according to
these dictums. This supersedes anything else.
-Jesus shall take
care of you, no matter what option you choose. Why does He do this?
Because you are His child; you are His son, you are His daughter. I
came to know this truth more profoundly when I had to decide between
graduate programs. All five choices had a "Go Green Light" on them.
Sometimes choices are clear cut polar choices such as Good and Evil,
Right and Wrong, Black and White, Orange and Blue. However, some
choices are the option of "Good and Better." And sometimes you don't
know how to choose. Does God speak through coin flips. Maybe he does.
But I didn't choose this way. My roommate made a good point when I
posed the question. He said, "Maybe God can speak through a coin toss.
But its like this. I can offer to make dinner on Thursday and then give
you two slips of paper that say "Yes" and "No." Then I immediately walk
away and say, "Yo Jon, put the piece of paper under the door." Thats
the kind of response we desire from God in a coin toss. Its a clear cut
Yes/No. But God desires more than just a Multiple Choice Yes No
relationship with us. Turning to God for help and making a choice,
sticking with it, and resting in Him, means so much more to Him. And
you know what? I have a peace about UCLA. Its going to be wonderful.
Why? Because God is my God and God is with me.
Well, its been a
pleasure catching up on the things happening this quarter. Please do
leave a comment if you feel inclined. Coming up, during the next
journal entry, I will describe how me and 14 other friends are going to
travel to Uganda this summer to do service projects and many other
outreaches.
Have a splendid day, and God bless you.
Your friend,
Jay El | | |
| Re: http://www.xanga.com/BrightStarUCLA/401097111/thank-you-all.html
December 10, 2005
To the Benjerman from the Jonjerman
This link amuses/inspires/encourages/concerns/loves/actionverbs me. Yes it is as the commercial on the ...Network (alas, the Nick/Cartoon Network says), "Verb Its What you Do!"
Yes, indeed, you are exuberant too. And you've got the heart of the red and gold ranger. You are the leader that "yo he be." Though you are Ben, you've fought the fights, you contend with a wrestling spirit, you turn to and encourage "yo bro dai dai Jay Jog." Thats right, your name is Ben, and you encourage my Soul.
Ben, The word "be" alive. This text I write is more than cingular of xanga letter alphabet streams. It imparts information and perhaps occasionally some revelation.
Wurd...
Words are defined for this Jonjerman, in three distinct ways.
Word One: text, information, analogous to DNA, or for the "computer literate" also known as "slashdotta's" perhaps C or C++ coding text information, or for the lawyers in the crowd, the written legal brief, or for the cooks in the kitchen that lovely and fragrant recipe...
Word Two: agreement, wurd up my brutha from the Socali region. Greeting, friendly hello from the Central Valle Farmers de Sacramento y la ciudad a cerca de the Ville of Vacas, the Town of Cows. Yes indeed, agreement. We humble men. We cool men. We keep it real. I know you "love" yes "love" observing certain cowpies. But thats cool. Farmers are cool. We keep life real. We be true. In LA, they say, we "legit." Thats right, cuz you "mi hermano friend"
Word Three: The Holy Word of God. La Santa Biblia de Jesus Cristo, the Way the Truth and the Life. If you want Life, you gotta receive life. You gotta have Life. You gotta know the one that gives life. If you are a created being, it helps to know the person that "molds yo" that "shapes yo." He "be coo." He knows you. Reading the Word, you know him.
How shall a young man keep his motives correct? Be takin' heed "accordin' to His Word." This is more than just cleanliness or what we classify as purity, but godliness of motives of ambitions of causes and drives. Is it money mammon ambition search for security drive or is it the love of GOD. Is it the love of "yo Dad" "yo Padre" "the Word."
"Cuz people be ministering to yo" There were folks in the City of Oaks, commonly known as a town home of the Raider nation, that spoke the TRUTH to me. PEACE....PEACE...READ IT....PEACE... LOOK AT HE...LOOK AT HE... THAS ALL...THAS RIGHT. YOU COOL JON. YOU'S A MAN OF GOD...Bam, Shabooyah, Ho ho lah, hen hao, whatever your lengua is: That truly was the living Word, that was revelation. That was Word. That was peace. That was calming. That was direction. That was truth. That was life.
ES LA VIDA VERDAD.
Interogative Question 1 for the Audience: (implies that feedback conversation threads are welcome and appreciated)
Do you "Wurd." Do you "Word." Do you "Biblia." Do you "Palabra" ?
Lovin ya all cause He loves ya most,
onathanJ astnameL elay
P.s. To the choir and the people in the pews and to the people sitting on the stairs outside , to the youngin chiles and to the mature and wisened discerning abuelos and abuelas, and to the farmers and workers that haven't yet had "equal access to IT" yes "accessibility to THIS" yet, I charge thee with this word...
"Teach it, Preach it, Be it, Salamat Poe, Look UP."
thas rite, BE it mah Tim - O- Thee.
Key Words:
Word, feedback, welcome, shalom, salamat is thank you, shalom is peace, salam sounds so nice, Word, Word, lapalabra, Ben, Jon, Cool Brothers, Cool Wrestlers, Be a Blessing, BE the word, cuz you do and you shall know more of the Word. Word UP.
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