Why Uganda?

It's hard to believe we have been in Uganda for 10 months already.  Although so much has happened, this blog has been laying empty for most of that time.  Our goal is to change that by gradually updating this to discuss the events of the year.

First, why did we pack up our lives and move to Uganda?

As many people know, I (Julie) have had a passion for East Africa since I was a teenager. Since that time, my major life decisions have all been made with this passion in mind.  My hope has been to spend a significant part of my life living there and serving the poor.

After finishing college, I moved to Nairobi, Kenya where I worked for two and a half years with The Navigators.  It was a great experience of being immersed in the culture and those years of my life were full of growth, adventure, and learning more about myself and God.  Part of me wanted to stay in Nairobi forever.  Yet, something was tugging me back to the US.  I wanted to work more directly with the poor and disadvantaged.  I also realized I wanted to live out my faith through working in the public health realm, instead of focusing on purely spiritual ministry.  So I returned to the US with the goal of acquiring some new skills which would enable me to serve more effectively in Africa.

The next seven years contained many more twists and turns which I won't fully describe here.  This time included intense study of Biblical approaches to helping the poor during grad school, and then four years of public health experience at the CDC.  The best twist was, of course, meeting Daniel.  Some of our very first conversations were about our mutual interest in East Africa.  I learned that his life had been guided by a desire to foster sustainable healthcare solutions in Uganda.  While holding this desire in mind, Daniel had spent most of his career up to that point grappling with the complexities of healthcare in the US.  During our engagement and early marriage, things started shifting for him and he realized that God was calling him to make the jump to a healthcare career in Uganda.  I couldn't have been happier!

In Spring of 2016, Daniel accepted the role of East Africa Regional Director with OneWorld Health.  We moved to Kampala, Uganda in June.