“If this is the life you have called me to live, here I am.”
What did I just say?
I never actually thought about these words before, they seemed to come out. But now I am standing in the Ugandan heat wondering the weight these would carry.
Let me rewind for a moment to let you in on this moment just before it happened. I found myself several days into my trip to the continent of Africa. Uganda to be exact. We were in Kiryandongo. One of the largest refugee camps in Uganda made up of people fleeing from the South Sudan or Ugandans who experienced a disaster that displaced them. It was our 2nd day in the camp, the first day was spent in an area of people who just arrived to the camp waiting to see where they would be placed or the help they would receive.
This day we found ourselves in a school of over 3,000 students ranging in age. I was on a team of 8 and we were there to serve as many as we could. We had shoes for almost everyone so our team divided into 2 classrooms washing feet and placing shoes. I must remind you one class we served had 126 students with 1 teacher. Organized chaos at its finest. Our team was running into damaged feet, some with open wounds, other infested with jiggers, small flea like parasites that embed in the foot and work into the blood stream. We served until we ran out of shoes, the pictures below show the crowds of children.
Our team was exhausted from the mornings events, but our partners on the ground had another project for us. They wanted us to help feed the students at the school. Some of the school staff cooked rice and beans all morning. We must remember this would be the only meal most of the students would receive, not knowing where their next meal comes from adds to the situation. As the staff began to explain the process they let us in on an important factor, bowls or no bowls you serve. What did this mean? It meant that the child had to be served. Some came with bowls and utensils, some came with paper ripped from their note books, some came with empty hands. We had to serve no matter what. My heart began to break when we had to dump the steaming hot food into the kid's hands. Knowing that their hands are burning they are willing to endure the pain for the food.
The lines seemed to never end, then finally the last student arrived or so we thought. That was only half of the students, so we moved to another location for the rest. As soon as we set up a dust storm began to kick up as the students ran to get in lines. The sun right above us baring down on our team. The heat from the food, the sun, and the exhaustion from serving was kicking in . But we had to continue to serve. I was bouncing around trying to get the shots needed to tell the story, to show the need. But it began to get overwhelming.
How could this be? How could this happen? Why are children faced with things like this? I had to put my camera down for a moment to think clear and get my bearings straight. Ah a small shed just ahead of me, let me step there to gather my thoughts. To my surprise as I stepped in I was not the only one who had this idea. I found small children hiding in the shadows with their food they had. Many looking for bags to place their food. Some hiding the bags under their shirts or eating as fast as they can so the large kids don’t take it from them. My heart sank, I couldn’t escape the need and for one of the first times in my life, I felt overwhelmed.
I stepped outside and the words above seemed to flow out of my mouth as a response. “If this is the life you have called me to live, here I am.” Since that moment my life has taken a different direction, a new path. Uganda will always hold a special place in my heart for that reason. I can still say it was the most honest heart felt prayer that has taken place to date.
In that moment I realized the power of the image and story. The first reaction is always how can this happen or how can people let this slide by. But if people are not aware or know the need how can we expect change to take place. I knew this was something worth devoting my days to. I knew in this moment this is what I was called to do.
For more information about Samaritan’s Feet check out: www.Samaritansfeet.org