Building a house, changing lives.

June 13th

It's funny. It's funny how low expectations can turn into something amazing.

This week we traveled 4 hours away from Kampala to the village of Rakai. Rakai is where the AIDS epidemic is most apparent with many child-headed families, widowers, and guardians taking care of children other than theirs. This village is in much need to say the least. Our purpose of traveling to Rakai was to build a house for a widower taking care of 2 children of her own and 2 of her sisters children staying in an insanely tiny shack.

I knew i was traveling to Rakai for a good reason, to build a house for someone who is in desperate need of one. However, i came into the week with the outlook of just getting through the next day. The idea of sharing a mattress on the floor and no running water just did not seem appealing.

We began the first day of construction and my team was on "pole duty." Now, when i thought of poles my mind jumped to small, light, and long poles. However, as we walked about a mile from the construction site, i soon realized i was being led into a forest, not a place to buy poles. I was handed a machete by one of the Ugandans on our team, but as our group of 4 girls soon realized, chopping down huge trees with a machete wasn't exactly our forte (however, be proud to know that the next day i managed to cut through a tree with a machete and i have a huge blister to prove it :) ) So our job instead was to carry the "poles" a half a mile up to the road where a truck was coming to pick them up. The day began with a rough start and ended with a rough ending as i realized that i was covered with dirt and was living for 6 nights without running water. Let me tell you, bucket showers just aren't the same. haha

However, the funny thing about my first day was that besides the fact that i was still covered in dirt. I did not care. We spent all of our nights before bed outside and looking up at the stars in a village with hardly any electricity was one of the most beautiful things ever. Every star was perfectly seen.

The next day i began with a different attitude. That this house was giving this woman and her family hope. Everyone else in the village knows nothing else than no running water, and i had the privilege of having a mattress to sleep on. These people did not. Who am i to complain? That day was wonderful. Every time i thought i couldn't carry another brick and child from the village would come beside me to help me. Every time i began to think how long the day was seeming and how tired i was, singing Disney songs at my top of our lungs while carrying bricks or mortar lifted my spirit. Every time i looked down at my arms and hands and saw all the callouses, blisters, and scratches, i looked over at the children surrounding us and saw they had much worse. My outlook: I could get through the day and i was blessed to be a part of the experience.

The last day on site was by far the most special. Near the end of the day, a few of us decided to hike up a huge hill near the construction site. At the end of the climb i witnessed one of the most beautiful site ever. Rolling hills, green every where, and being so high up in the air that i could barely even see the house we were building. Beautiful. It was one of those moments when you realize that this could be a tourist site, however, i was in the middle of nowhere with only a handful of people standing on top of the hill looking down on God's beautiful creation. To say i was in awe would be a understatement. The day ended with everyone surrounded in a circle near the completed house. The woman who we built the house for walked to the center of the circle and got down on our knees and began to thank us for all of our work. Her new house restored hope.

I am back in Kampala humbled. Humbled that i could be part of such an experience. That God was in the midst of it all. That God could take my low expectations and turn the week into something beautiful. I love others because i am overwhelmed with the love of Jesus Christ and i am grateful that i could part of this experience that brought hope to the village of Rakai.

"Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like You have loved me. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything i am for your kingdom's cause." -Hillsong

Mzungu, Mzungu!!

June 6th

Well, i left off on Wednesday and today is now Sunday. Since then we have had the opportunity to do a lot. On Thursday, we started off in the morning by going to a babies home with all orphaned babies. Right when we walked in and the doors open, we all had about 30 big brown eyes glued on us as the one's who were able to walk or crawl ran to us and literally started to climb up us wanting to be held. I ended up with about 4 children on me at a couple points. One of each leg, one on my back, and one holding my hand. Probably my favorite moment was when i had one baby sitting in my lap looking at me, i would put my hand on his back as i dipped him down slowly. We did this for about 20 minutes and every time without fail when i would dip him down he would burst out in laughter. I have become convinced that one of my favorite sounds is a child's laughter. I feel like it could never get old me to; knowing that i brought a little bit of joy to that orphaned child's life that day. I want to bring them all home with me.

That afternoon we went to Remand home which is a juvenile prison. It's a place for both boys and girls who have either committed crimes or more often the case, were dropped off because their family's didn't want them or they were wrongfully convinced. One teenage boy was wrongfully accused of a crime when he was at home. He was sitting outside playing cards with some friends and the police who did not want to deal with the trouble of these children just assumed they were up to no good and arrested them. How horrible that an innocent boy who just happened to be living in a poor and crime filled community in Uganda is wrongfully accused. His life is going to be forever different now. However, Remand home offers them hope. Hope that they will one day return home, hope that there are people that care about them, and most importantly hope in salvation through Jesus Christ.

Every weekend we have free, so yesterday we went to Jinja which is the source of the Nile river in Uganda! It was so special to see and to be able go on a boat ride in the Nile. Not a normal Saturday activity at home! It is one of the most beautiful places ever and after the boat ride we all sat for a couple hours on huge rocks that were right by the edge of the Nile and where Lake Victoria meet.

Today, we went to Watoto Church which i have always wanted to visit ever since i saw the Watoto children's choir in Orlando. They support about 2,000 children and these children travel the world, all of which are orphans, and sing and raise money for school fees. This choir has given life to the orphans. The church was fairly westernized, even though it was blazing hot in there, which is not very unusual. It was super special to be a part of especially because i found out that the Watoto Children's Choir was in Orlando last night and this morning! Crazy!!

We are off to Rakai, Uganda next Tuesday through Sunday. We are going to be building a house for one of the Empower A Child sponsor children as well as a couple other things. Rakai is where AIDS began to spread in Uganda and is one of the cities that is stricken with the most poverty. It will definitely be eye opening.

"Religion that God our Father accepts are pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep one's self from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Heart, Welcome home :)

June 2nd

Scraping of leg casts as the drug on the ground, squeaking wheelchairs, the uneven plotting of feet on the ground as crutches braced their uneasy legs, the gentle hum of bugs buzzing around my face, the light cry of a child getting fitted for casting...the sounds of wild laughter coming from 50 smiling faces, roaring singing, wild applause from a crowd of children when a child threw a ball of paper into a plastic bucket to score a "basket".

Seems kinda contradictory hearing these same things in the same day, let alone from the same children. Yet, this is what i heard today when i went to Katalemwa.

Katamelwa is a children's hospital and rehabilatation center for children who are crippled or have some deformity. The children here have i would say the most reason to complain. However, the children are filled with so much joy.

Theres something about seeing a 15 year old boy with metal screws in and a brace on his leg coloring a makeshift cross made out of popsicle sticks on which he wrote "I love Jesus" that breaks my heart.

His name was Fernando. He is 15 and has been out of school for 3 years at Katalemwa because he had an infection in his leg and needed to have surgery. I asked him if he wanted to go to University. He lowered his head as a shy smile creept onto his face. He raised his head and said "Yes." He wants to be a surgeon to help others like he was helped. Talk about a humbling experience. He has every reason to feel sorry for himself, yet he has so much joy in Christ. The fact that these children can face so much hardship, yet praise the name of Jesus Christ so loudly astounds me.

We have also gotten the opportunity to visit a couple schools. At which, all children thirst for education so badly. I've also had the great priveledge of using the squatty potty aka hole in the ground and the bucket shower. The house we are staying at is Westernized, however, most of the time the water is not working because it is out in the entire city. However, strangely i actually enjoy the living conditions. Yes, i know. Please don't judge me. But, there is something incredibly humbling about living as the Ugandans do (in a couple ways at least) and then going out to spend time with those who know no different than a squatty potty and a bucket shower.

Can't wait to experience more :)

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you." 1 Peter 1:3-4

Have i ever mentioned how much i LOVE handwritten notes? :)

May 29th

Today, at 1:25pm i'm going to be starting my adventure by boarding a plane en route to Houston, Tx. Shortly after, ill be going to Dubai. After a small, or not so small, layover of 12 hours, i'll be going to Entebbe, Uganda!! All in all, i'll be traveling for a full 2 days and arriving in Uganda at 2:45pm (or 7:45am for us floridians.) :)

Hopefully, i'll be able to update on here every so often and keep everyone in the loop, but if you want to contact me another way feel free to email/send me a letter because if you didn't already know i love handwritten notes :)

Email: kristin.russell@ufl.edu

Address:

Kristin Russell

c/o Empower A Child

PO Box 33273

Kampala, Uganda

Thank you all for you love, support, and prayers. Can't wait to spend 2 months experiencing life with the people of Uganda!

One backpack. One bag. One adventure. Ready to go. :)

Safari yangu kwa Uganda ni kuhusu kuanza!

Yesterday, I went downtown to help feed and chat with the homeless. There I met a man named Rick who after an hour long conversation, I learned that he had lost his wife and daughter on June 14, 1990 in a head on collision with a drunk driver, lost his job 10 months ago with the Orlando Sentinel after 14 years of service due to a failing economy and budget cuts, and had his house and car repossessed because he had no job and no funds to pay for them.

What makes Rick any different than me? He at one point in time had a family, good paying job, a house, and a car. With the unfortunate reprecussions of a downturning economy, he lost it all and is out on the streets of Orlando with the only possessions to his name being the clothes on his back and a blanket where he sleeps. Why him?

This could very easily happen to anyone. Rick's life didn't look much different than mine. Maybe he is the same kind of different as me.

Two years ago when I first traveled to Uganda, I witnessed the remarkable joy that the people there had. They had so little, but they had such great joy: a type of joy that can only be explained through the transformational and remarkable love of Christ. Why them?

As i'm preparing to head out to Uganda in 20 days, i've thought alot about what to expect and i've tried to imagine how God is going to drastically shape my life while i'm there and when I return. As i've tried to picture what these things are going to look like i've come to one conclusion: I have no idea what to expect. However, strangely this is ok with me. As I sat talking to Rick yesterday, I realized maybe it's ok not to understand fully why i've lived such a charmed life, while others live on only a dollar a day. Maybe all i'm supposed to understand is that my life has been shaped the way it is, every detail, for a reason. All I know is that I am blessed beyond belief. I may not understand the answers to the questions: Why am i so blessed? Why are they not? But I do know one thing: I am blessed to be a blessing.

Jesus Christ took the sins of the world on His shoulders and died on a cross for all of humanity. He payed the ultimate sacrifice. I'm a sinner in desperate need of the love of a perfect God. I love because He loved me first. Jesus Christ took this broken heart of mine and made it alive. I believe in a big God who can do big things. I have 57 days to experience life in the country of Uganda. I intend to make the most of every opportunity. I intend on challenging myself. I intend on believing that big things can happen. I intend on learning more about myself than I ever thought possible and learning more about the remarkable God I serve each day. I look forward to offering anything i can to the people of Uganda, and in return being impacted by being a part of their lives.

Welcome to my journey.

"He has shown you O man what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." -Micah 6:8