Tipp City woman recounts mission trip to Uganda

“I just happened to be unemployed,” she said. “And I said, ‘Why not?’ ”

In late November Turner left for Uganda, where she stayed at an orphanage for girls.

“It was a growing experience,” the 43-year-old woman said.

While she had traveled to other countries, she had never been to Third World country. In Uganda, she stayed in a modernized African hut that had a concrete floor and windows, but no electricity or running water. It was a 2-mile walk to the spring.

“I didn’t put a lot of thought into it. I thought if I put a lot of thought into it, I wouldn’t go,” she said.

For the trip, she packed light, bringing clothing suitable for 80-degree weather as well as playing cards and a camera.

The playing cards turned out to be quite popular with the 16 orphan girls, ranging in age from 6-14.

“All of a sudden, she had 16 daughters,” Allen said.

The girls called her “Aunt Melin.”

Also popular was the travel sewing kit that Turner brought.

Turner found herself doing a lot of mending when people discovered she had needle and thread.

During her stay, Turner lived much like the orphans. She ate meals consisting of rice, beans, cornmeal, and local fruits and vegetables. She ate lots of bananas, mangoes and pineapple.

Her transportation choices included walking, bicycle, motorbike taxi, a donkey and, on trips to the airport, a taxi.

For light inside the hut, she used a kerosene lamp.

At night, she experienced the African sky, that, free from light pollution, seemed vast.

“The sky was amazing. It would put you in a trance,” she said.

Turner also saw poverty and death. Many of the children in the orphanage lost their parents to AIDS. Allen said that a drought in 2009 led to many deaths, especially among the very young and very old.

During her stay, she developed friendships with the girls, and that made leaving hard.

Turner, along with Allen, returned from Uganda in late February.

Returning home to the noise, lights and pace of the United States proved more a culture shock than going to Uganda, Turner said.

“I do plan on going back,” she added.

“I wish everyone could experience something like that because they’d appreciate what they have,” Allen said.

Do you know of someone who should be featured in Hereabouts? Send an e

-

mail to Beth Sears at sears@erinet.com or call her at

(937)

448-0101.