Alright y’all I know I already have a blog but I decided to start a new one because I’m starting a new chapter in my life and this blog is going to be related specifically to that.

So as many of you know I have decided to say yes to an internship that will land me in Uganda for six months with an organization called Sole Hope. This blog will be my journey on the way there and my way of keeping in touch and updating you guys on my life while I am there.

First of all, I wanted to share my story and how this all came to be, because well, I think it is pretty exciting.

Well, it actually all started 3 years ago. I read a book called “Kisses from Katie” and the next thing I knew I was on the phone with someone I had never met and telling her to save me a spot on her trip because I was going with her to Uganda. I spent two weeks during the Summer of 2014 in a country that would forever leave an imprint on my heart.

While in Uganda I got really sick, like really, really, sick. Upon my return, I was still sick. I had multiple trips to the Emergency room and UCSF as well as a 3 day stay in the hospital. I was planning on returning to Uganda summer of 2015 but my health wouldn’t let me. I was wrecked. I wanted nothing more than to return to the country that I fell in love with. Everyone knew it, you could read me like a book. It was all I talked about. My conversations were filed with tears and a deep longing to return.

I kicked and screamed and tried to kick down all the doors I could to get back, but nothing opened, all the doors were sealed shut. Locked tight and not budging.

Then an opportunity came up for me to go to Kenya with my church, so I jumped at it. It was an amazing trip and I met some amazing people and I plan on staying connected with them but it wasn’t quite the same. Uganda felt like home. Kenya was a small little drink to satisfy my soul and to build relationships and connections that will last for a lifetime.

So, here I am, on the cusp of graduating and I decide to do my senior project on an organization called Sole Hope. A friend of mine had introduced me to them during a “Shoe Cutting Party” during the summer of 2015. Since then I have had a pulling on my heart strings towards this beautiful organization and all that they do (I’ll get into that later). Last year I saw an application to apply as an intern but it conflicted with school so I had to deny myself the desires of my heart and turn it down.  I was crushed. But if I knew one thing at this point, it was that I was done trying to break down doors. I wasn’t going to waste my time and energy trying to make something happen that wasn’t going to happen.

So what happens? I contact them saying I’m interested in volunteering for a longer period of time while I will already be over there this summer. I start trying to figure out how to plan my month-long trip in Uganda. I sent a Facebook message to the person in charge at Sole Hope asking about volunteer opportunities. And the next day I hear back from them saying that they literally were just talking about opening a room in their intern house for someone to stay June through December and that if I wanted it, it was mine.

There it was, my door, it had flung wide open and this time I didn’t even have to knock. I looked in and saw everything I had been fighting for was basically being handed to me saying “here, its yours, just walk through the door and you can have it”. I knew the day that message was sent that I was going to say yes, but my stomach was in knots because six months is a long time to be away from all my friends and family I have here.

On Monday last week I was presented with the opportunity, Wednesday I had a skype call with some more people in charge at Sole Hope and Thursday I said yes to spending 6 months in the country that my heart had longed to be in for 3 years. So, that’s my story. I am going to Uganda for six months. Am I excited? Heck yes, just getting through school is going to be a challenge because my mind is already there. Am I scared/nervous? Also, heck yes. I am already waking up in the middle of the night thinking “wait I need to remember to pack…” and it’s still 4 months away.

So, with that I say “Uganda here I come”. 3 months til I return to the red dirt that stained my feet 3 years ago, a stain that I have been trying to scrub away every day since I returned. Yet, no matter how hard I have tried, I never could. Guess its ok though, because soon again my feet will be in that red dirt and I have a feeling that it’s something I will never be able to get rid of.