Beth's Adventures in Mbarara Uganda

After much prayerful consideration, it has been decided that I will leave Mbarara, Uganda after I finish school in June 2007. It is SO hard to believe that this life that I have come to love here in this small town is coming to an end.

I thought I would stay here forever! The team here is going to be going through so many changes over the next year, though, and we decided it wouldn't be a good time for me to try to "transition" my job also, especially since what I KNOW is school and kids. (Also because I have felt called to do something more with Africans if I'm going to be here in AFRICA!)

Anyhow, even though I'm really sad to be leaving Mbarara, I'm also really excited!!

Strangely, my future is TOTALLY unknown and I'm sort of okay with it. I do need to start making plans and figuring out where to go once I leave Mbarara on/around June 13th, but the world is FULL of possibilities!!

I could go back to Michigan and work for Woodhaven Schools again. (There's a good chance I could get a 2nd grade teaching position there!) It would require some work, on my part, to figure out certification and continuing ed. credits to stay up-to-date.

I could go to Maryland to be closer to the majority of my family. I'd love to work on my masters degree in counseling/social work or something like that. My ultimate goal is to work in a children's home, so I can HELP kids...not just deal with the politics and paperwork that goes takes place in many public schools.

It's even been suggested that I could go to Texas or Searcy to teach and work on a masters degree simultaneously...and I've THOUGHT (although not seriously) about Washington state or the west coast area just because that's where my big brother and his family are currently living. But I don't think I'm a west coast girl any more than I am a southern girl. Unless something VERY obvious and drastic happens, I don't think I'll be ending up in the any of these places... (TX, AR, or WA)

OR....

I could go to Kitale, Kenya and help to run a children's home there! I'm not sure about ALL of the details, just yet, but I think the majority of my job would be overseeing the primary school that is currently run by a corrupt headmaster.

SOOOOOOOOOOO.....Pray about it for me! I went there to visit a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with some of the kids--especially baby Ian! (I tried to post a picture of him---soo cute!! But alas, it's not working now!)

Anyhow, I'll try to write more later--especially about the trip. It was my first time taking public transport! What an adventure!! But I guess that's life--an adventure is always out there and ready when we are--and sometimes there's an adventure for us even when we're NOT ready!