Nusu

Nusu is the mountain of all mountains in this area. In the eyes of the locals, it is an enormous accomplishment to hike. Maybe it's just because they don't think white people can do any sort of hard manual or physical labor. Being an ever present obstacle outside my front door…I had to climb it.

I organized to have Teacher Godfrey, Teacher Peter, Teacher Michael and Fred as my guides, and Stuart (the 11 year old boy that lives with us) as my traveling companion. Teacher Godfrey led the way, having climbed Nusu 4 times before. After getting lost 3 times, forging our own path through the brush and climbing STRAIGHT up the mountain side, I began to wonder about my choice of guide. Being a mathematician, he knew the shortest distance between two points was a straight line. And thus we climbed this crazy steep mountain in a straight line. "Godfrey. Do you know switchbacks? Do you have switchbacks in Uganda?" Apparently not.

I love the teachers at the school. They are so incredible. Peter, one of my favs, put himself through high school on academic and sports scholarships because no one in his fam would pay his fees. He started running because he heard they would pay school fees for the best. He was always the best. Nine of his siblings (his mother gave birth to 19 children, 5 of which died before Peter was born) and his father have passed away. Godfrey was abandoned by his mom when he was 2 1/2 and hated by his father's 4 other wives and neglected by his dad all his life. Michael went to school under a tree growing up, and we have yet to interview Fred. But I'm sure it's something crazy like everyone else's stories. They love life. They laugh at everything. They love each other. They were all giving each other the hardest time. Michael kept complaining about going straight up the mountain, Fred kept wanting to take over and "drive" since we were getting lost so many times, Godfrey was calling everyone weak, and Peter and his amazingly positive attitude kept reminding us all that we set out to have an adventure.

And that we did!

At one point I couldn't look back because I knew I would have lost my balance and fallen off that mountain. I met a 13 year old boy that had built his own house. We had to get 2 boys with large, large knives to cut our way to the very top. We walked past a school that consisted of poles, a bamboo roof, and 4 small benches. And I met a traditional doctor and the houses where the gods live. They look like little tiny mud huts with bamboo roofs. One (the bigger one) for the male gods and another for the female gods. You come to him with your sickness, he offers a chicken (I saw the remnants to prove it) to the gods, I'm pretty sure you pay them somewhere in there, and then the gods tell him how to fix you. Fred says it doesn't work. He's never tried it. How can he know? J I want to know what the gods sound like when they talk to you.

The view was beautiful from the top. I could almost see Kenya. It was just on the other side of the farthest mountain, Mt. Elgon. One thing that puzzles me. People live at the top of this mountain. They have to go down to the valley every day for water…and then come back up with it!!!! I asked why they don't move, and the answer was that they don't move. Not satisfactory. Because this is where they were born and where their ancestors are from. Where would they move to? Where is there a place to go to? This is their home. This is where they have always lived.

Not me. I would be in that valley in a heartbeat. I climbed that mountain once. I would not do it every day, with 10 gallons of water on my head.

I can understand why religious places are often on the tops of mountains. You feel closer to God. You feel like you have worked to be where you are. You have sacrificed. It is peaceful, and you can see all of God's great creations surrounding you for miles and miles. Not everyone will reach. Only those that are determined. Only those that want it enough. Only those that know that it was worth every minute of pain and effort and sweat to finally reach the top to be greeted with that incredible view. Up at the top you can see clearly. You can see how everything works together, how everything is connected, where you have come from and where you are going. Everything makes sense like it never did before. And it's best to enjoy all of this with friends.

It is the same with the gospel.