As I walk down the dirt road to the market, I quietly enjoy watching my feet become covered in dust. It reminds me of the afternoons I spent playing outside as a child, only to be met at the door by my mother, washcloth in hand, refusing to let me inside until my blackened feet were scrubbed clean.

Knee deep into my summer internship with CARITAS For Children in Warsaw, Poland.

Besides being an adorable scene, I feel that this photo contains a strong allegory for describing my time so far at the Holy Mother of Mercy children’s center in Warsaw, Poland wehre I'm working as an intern with CARITAS For Children. It is naturally difficult to grasp the overwhelming concept of being in a completely new culture. I am constantly hitting language barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and awkward little silences when neither I nor the person I’m speaking to know how to proceed in discussion. But children don’t care. When I followed them to the large play area they simply grabbed my hands, escorted me to the sand box, and started burying my feet…then my legs…arms…you get the idea. Some brought over buckets, some brought shovels, but mostly they just scooped it up with their hands and patted it down. It is through this little ritual that I started to understand my place here at the center, here in Warsaw, here in this new country.

During my internship in Uganda, I'm rooming at the CARITAS Learning Center on the same campus as the Stella Maris Primary and Secondary Boarding Schools. I'm fortunate to have Teddy prepare meals during my stay here.

This week a singing, debate, and theater competition was held at St. Paul Primary Boys School in Nkokonjeru. Students from Stella Maris Primary Boarding School, St. Alphonsus Demonstration School, where many CARITAS supporters sponsor a child, and St. Paul all presented songs, skits, and debates to be judged.

During my internship in Uganda I accompanied Sr. Carolyne, CARITAS Program Coordinator in Nkokonjeru, on a visit to meet with Bishop Christopher Kakooza who was installed as the new head of the Lugazi Diocese on June 5, 2015. We traveled with Fr. JohnBosco Wasswa, the Catholic parish priest of Nkokonjeru Parish where CARITAS For Children has one of its child sponsorship programs. The Nkokonjeru Parish Choir was also along to meet with Bishop Kakooza.

On Sunday, June 7th, Teddy and I attended Mass at the Stella Maris campus church for the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi [The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ].

"The sponsors should know that what they are doing – it is not just a one-time sponsorship, but it is a lifelong relationship, [by] which they themselves are transforming those individuals into becoming human persons that they never would have been." That's the message Mother Anne Nasimyu, superior of the Little Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, said she would like to convey to every CARITAS sponsor.

After 20 hours of combined air travel to reach Uganda’s capital city of Kampala from the US, I am finally back on a familiar country road heading to the east toward the town of Nkokonjeru. A feeling of joy grows in me, anticipating the time ahead to be back with friends, our children, sisters and many I have come to know and love over the past 13 years.

"Why is he missing school all the time?" The answer Sr. Carolyne, Program Coordinator in Uganda, gave to that question created an awareness about risks to the health of the boys and girls in CARITAS' child sponsorship programs in Nkokonjeru due to waterborne illnesses. 

This past Saturday afternoon, the CARITAS students who attend St. Peter Secondary School met at the Nkokonjeru Parish to help clean up the church and the grounds. Tasks included scrubbing the church floors, weeding along the church steps and weeding, raking and hoeing the parish yard. The activities occurred just in time to spruce up the parish for the Feast of Corpus Christi on Sunday, June 7th.