Every Wednesday, here at SUUBI, we hold an English Class/Information Sharing session for our ladies. This past Wednesday we talked about dental health. We first started by asking the ladies how often they brush their teeth, how long they brush for, do they have toothbrushes and why they think they have tooth pain. We found that only a few of the ladies had brushes to use but they were very old. One of our women told us they brush until they see blood. They also thought their tooth pain was caused from dirt decaying their teeth. After hearing what the women had to say we went through a list of do’s and don’ts for tooth health. The one thing we focused on was not brushing till you draw blood but to brush for two minutes and not hard. The ladies also laughed at us and looked at us funny when we told them to cut back on sugar, as it is one main reason for their tooth pain. These ladies use so much sugar in their tea so to suggest cutting back was something they didn’t want to hear. Although, at the end of our discussion they informed us because sugar prices were rising and they now know it causes their teeth to rot, they will cut back on the amount of sugar in their tea. After sharing information back and forth, we ended our class with handing out new toothbrushes for them and their children/grandchildren. They loved to have new brushes and we told them we would check up on them to make sure they were brushing twice a day and limiting their sugar intake. After classes like this it makes me feel good to realize, although it is a small seed planted, that it is appreciated and needed to help with the development of our SUUBI women. Written by Kat Willet, Uganda Volunteer

**What is your role with LGH?** I’m here in Uganda as a volunteer with LGH. A few of the things I do here are helping with buying the necklaces on Thursdays, observing solar cooking, teaching English class on Wednesdays and doing home visits to better know our women working in SUUBI. **Where are you from and what is the biggest cultural difference between there and Uganda?** I am from Westminster, Maryland near Baltimore. The biggest cultural difference for me is the market. At home its so easy to jump in the car, go to the nearest grocery store, and walk up and down the clean, cool isle and select my products which are neatly packaged. Here we walk or boda to the outdoor market which is very hectic. If it rains its hard not to come out of the market with mud all over you. Items are chaotically placed about the market and there is no set price. While you are looking for your products bodas and bikes are competing for space to get through, which forces you to squeeze next to the nearest shop stand praying your toes make it out in one piece. You have everyone calling for you to check out their products, because theirs is the best, and you defiantly know when you have reached the fish section of the market. I do enjoy visiting the market but I will appreciate my local grocery store so much more when I get home. **How did you hear about LGH?** My husband is in a band, called Willet, and at a festival they played at, LGH was there sharing what they do here in Uganda. I had just returned from a year in Haiti and was looking for another opportunity to serve. My husband told me about LGH and I knew that it would be something I would be interested in. At first we joked about me going to Africa for 5 months and then before I knew it I was here. **What are some of your hobbies?** I love cooking and trying new recipes. I also enjoying cleaning my home and making it a place of refuge after my husband and I both come home from ministry on the road. I like to read, play games, work in our local homeless shelter, and garden. **If you could pick your 5 dream Jeopardy categories, what would they be?** Name that musical, Name that women in the Bible, Adoption Paper chasing, Name that Christmas carol, The life of Judy Garland.

“_Do you want to kill it?_” Those were the words I heard during one of my home visits while the son of the house was holding a chicken and a knife. In the states I just cook the chicken that comes wrapped in a package at the market. I have never experiences the process from chicken to package and I must say that has now all changed. These past few weeks I was stretched in so many ways. One which of course was cutting a chicken into pieces to eat with the family I was visiting, another was sitting with women one on one cooking and learning from them. When I am in the states I enjoy cooking food and cleaning, you can call me a “housewife” or whatever, but after these past few days of being a “housewife” in Uganda I realized the value of kitchen utensils. I believe every visit I went on I spent the whole day cleaning and cooking. Even if I wasn’t doing it right I knew I was helping and was bring joy to the women I helped because they laughed an awful lot when I did things an “American” way. The funny thing for me was even if I cooked it like an “American” or they cooked it like a “Ugandan” it all turned out the same. I didn’t think that would surprise me but it did. That made me realize something I didn’t think of before. I went on home visits and sat with these women everyday expecting them to be so different from women in America but that’s all wrong. These women cook, clean, work (even if just a little), have children (sometimes too many), want the best for their children, they laugh and cry. Why would I think they would be so different? Is it because they are from a different country or because I assumed they would be? It’s not what they necessarily do that’s different but how they go about doing it. It’s their drive for waking up and fighting to get through their day. In the states, is it not true that we wake up and just start our day looking ahead to getting our list checked off? When women wake up here they may have the similar things to get done but their reasons for doing them may be different. What I found out from visiting these women and getting to cook, clean and share stories was that they are filled with a desire to move forward and strive harder then ever to be a mom, wife and friend to those around them. They know what it is to have lost and therefore value what they have in front of them. I am not saying every women here is that way, but from the ones I have been blessed to visit, it is. This week I laughed with the ladies as we learned English and Luo together, I sat in silence as they shared their stores from the rebel camps and I grieved as I learned of one of our ladies who lost her baby who just the week before we joked about me delivering. These ladies made me feel like I was back home. The difference was I could see where they drew their strength. It was in prayer and belief that their Savior was walking with them and taking care of their every need. Written by Kat Willet, a current volunteer in Uganda.