Rest & Relaxation: The Fire

Started out like yesterday. I got up around 8am and went to breakfast. After I sat at the pool for a while reading my book. Came back to my room and was finishing up with my music files when there was a knock on my door. Turns out there was a call for a Kristee, but the last name was different. I went back to my computer and a few minutes later there was another knock. The call was for me. So I went down to the front desk and waited. A lady came out and told me the call was from Food for the Hungry and that they would call back in 10 minutes. I asked if it was FH Uganda or FH Congo and they told me it was FH Uganda, So I came back to my room and was going to call Golda at the FH office when my phone started ringing. I noticed I had two missed calls and was wondering what was so important someone was trying very hard to reach me….

It was Renee from Bukavu. There was a fire in my room and most everything was lost. Just my room which was good, although good is a relative term to me. They think the fire started in the light above my bed. Jeff, our house guy extraordinary, discovered the fire when he came to work in the morning. He hurt his hand trying to put the fire out and that hurts me more than the loss of the things. But, it still stings that my family photo’s were destroyed, the notes and letters from supporters, the printer CFHI provided me with, the extra toiletries I lugged all the way from Canada, the arts and crafts I collected in Uganda, my baseball gloves, books and bibles and $2500 US. I feel like I have been violated. Kind of like you feel when you are robbed, yet there isn’t anyone to blame, just a fire.

So, that sort of put a damper on my holiday. I cried my way through lunch which was a little embarrassing. I need to talk when I am going through stuff like this so it was the staff that got to hear all about it. One of the tables overheard and a guy came out and told me how sorry he was. I burst into tears again. My attitude, truly is however, that all that was lost were things. They can all be replaced. If the fire did start above my bed and I had been sleeping in the bed, I could have been hurt. And while that is truly how I feel, it really sucks thinking about the things that made me feel at home being destroyed, my clothes damaged by smoke and flame. But, life moves on and so will I.

I went on my regularly scheduled Nile boat ride and saw hippos, elephants, crocodiles and Murchison Falls. Coincidentally, the guy that spoke to me at lunch was on the boat with his family and friend. They were extremely nice people; he’s Ugandan and is married to an American women and they have two beautiful girls. We had a nice time chatting on the boat, but always the fire was on my mind.

After the boat ride I came back to my room and called my parents who were their normal practical selves. I love them! I was considering not going on the game drive in the morning and instead heading back to Kampala and home, but Dad convinced me to stay and enjoy my holiday before heading back and dealing with the fire’s aftermath. It was good advice…as always.

I was debating whether or not to go to dinner. I hardly ate any lunch and was hungry, but the thought of eating by myself again and thinking about the fire was not appealing to me. Then another knock on the door. I thought it was the guy who comes in and pulls the mosquito net around and sprays the room, but it was a man from reception letting me know that the doctor, Hugo, requested that I join them for dinner. Thank you Jesus…who knew what I needed at that time. So I went to dinner and had a lovely time. It was nice to be able to chat with people and even be able to joke about the fire.

And I booked my game drive!