A lot of things are very quickly coming across my plate with regards to a future (date unspecified but secretly wished for) trip back to Uganda. My heart is bursting lately with a constant barrage of new knowledge of all things therapy, and while I have a job that allows me to put this into practice stateside, I cannot ignore my loved ones back in Uganda. I cannot fathom a life where I don't eventually get to put this into practice in countries where the children do not always have access to therapy services or parents who are able to provide a means of getting to a place where they can get it... or even parents at all.
[My heart is also yearning for several other non-PT related needs of my friends in Uganda, ie the boys' home, Kaihura and Home Again and clean water projects, but those are other stories for other dates]
I know that being concerned with a child's development often takes a backseat when one thinks of all the things one can do on missions trips & can even be overwhelming for those who are already in another country and find children in their care... there are doctors visits, finding help for childcare, food&clothing&shelther, schooling needs, restoring nutrition for those coming out of bad or unknown situations, and even basic safety. I mean, with all of those concerns multiplied by the number of kids at an orphanage or under foster care, I can't imagine how instructions from a therapist trying to implement some sort of intervention program with regularity even gets onto the list!
However, I know in my heart that different people have different purposes. Different skill sets. Different ways of being equipped according to the purposes to which God desires them to fulfill. Maybe the responsibility is not adding the burden to another, but doing something myself. I constantly question "Why me, Lord?" when I feel that tug to Uganda, to India, to South America... "Why can't I have the resources I need to allow me to pay off all this debt, to travel to another country and somehow be a missionary like I know you are calling me to in some extent?" and "Why do I have to wait?" Instead, maybe I should be looking more at what God is equipping me with now, and the using the resources I am already provided with rather than desiring what is in the future and as yet unattained. I know that I may be a relatively new therapist, but somehow God chose me... little me... to be a therapist with a heart for this (as I think I have met many therapists with the same heart, I know this cannot be a rarity) and even moreso, a person with a heart for this who happens to have a certain skillset.
I cannot just wait around for access to therapy to become available to these children. Maybe it will, maybe it wont. Maybe it comes through me... It may be foolish for me to envision dropping all obligations and moving away to pursue this full time, but it may be doable to continue learning here, and try to either better equip those in charge of these kids or take periodic short term trips to implement and evaluate etc etc.... I'm having some pretty interesting (and overwhelming!) ideas as of late. But regardless, I'm feeling happy and blessed to see how the aptitude for the sciences that God seemed to have placed in me has led to a certain career, combined with some crazy connection that landed me in Uganda 6 years ago, and now finally seeing two seemingly separate interests of my crazy head/heart converge into a possibility.
Craziness.
So currently, I am making a point to be in prayer for revelation and wisdom in Purpose, for those caring for orphans overseas, and for their physical/emotional needs so that these kids can have the best functional outcome and best LOVE outcome possible. Everyone deserves a chance. No matter what situation you were born into.
