Under the Ugandan Sun

Each morning I wake up, crawl out of my mosquito net and head to by bathing area mentally preparing myself for my bucket bath of freezing water, knowing full well that I will never actually become clean, and I ask my self, is it really worth it, do I really want to be here? As I drag myself to my pit latrine I notice the sun brilliantly coming up over the horizon making everything seem to sparkle with wonder. Somehow the colors of the trees and flowers are more vibrant here. Someone should look it up and see if it is because I am now closer to the sun or if I am just going silly. It puts a smile on my face, because as I pass their home, I can hear the fathers praying. There are some mornings when I want nothing more in the world than to come home. I am thousands of miles away from home, probably developing more wrinkles than the downy dog, constantly covered in sweat, and for what? Then I reach the orphanage, a mere 150 yards away from my home. I know the distance because I roll stepped it, yeah marching band! As I approach the home, I am greeted by dozens of smiling faces. “Good morning Auntie Sarah, how was your night,” is what they all say. My response is usually, wonderful. Because, I am then reminded, no matter how homesick I was, or how late I was kept awake by the lizards and cockroaches the night before, I realise that I am wonderfully blessed. A majority of these kids have no relatives to speak of, other than their family of other children and staff here. What are two small years away from mine?

I have become very reflective lately in the late hours of the night I spend awake listening to the cockroaches scurry back and forth on my ceiling and I think in a way Uganda is changing me. Sure my skin is now darker and my hair (including my arm hair) lighter, but there is something deeper going on. Something inside that I can’t quite put my finger on, perhaps I will never know, but I know that it is something good. Don’t worry though, I am still Sarah Cowan, BME, lover of jellybellies, peanut butter and oboe music. Some things will never change. :-) This Sarah is smiling, under the Ugandan sun.