Back on Crutches

Yes. It’s true.

God intended most men to walk on two legs. Obviously, God intended me to walk on four legs. For those that know me, you know I’m right because you’ve seen me on crutches in my life more often than years I’ve been alive. This is the fourth time in less than two years I’ve found myself on crutches. And for those that don’t know me well…. Well, let me warn you,….I break easy. Which surprising for a girl as active as I like to be, but nevertheless, pinch me, I will bruise, push me and will fall and more than likely if you do neither, I will still manage to break or tear something just walking down the street on my own.

My foot is currently bright with pretty colors of blue, purple and yellow. I have torn the tendons that run across the top of my left foot… again. But, to be honest, finding myself on crutches in Africa is the most inconvenient crutch experience I have ever had. Take away my car (parked within 20 feet of my front door), remove drive-thru banks, drive-thru food, and then remove paved roads and sidewalks and then add the Uganda rainy season (this isn’t like the daily drizzle in Portland, picture in your mind instead hurricane and you’ll have a better idea) and now you have a perfect scenario of a potential prison with no walls. Regardless, I’m not one to sit around - it’s a recipe for “crazy” for me (picture big hair, frantic eyes, and conversations with no one in particular). So now when I go around Kampala, I’m not just watched because I’m a Muzungu (white), but because I’m a “cripple”. One day, when I was exhausted of “crutching” around through crowds of Africans on uneven, unpaved roads, I took a seat on a ledge on a busy street and someone tossed me a coin – as if I had joined the ranks of beggars!

(Ok, that didn’t really happen.) But, I get so much attention and so many people say “sorry” when I walk past, that I’m scared if I were to stop for a rest, I would find a pile of coins next to me! I guess, I’m trying to find the humor in every situation. And, well, you never know it could be a God-given way to raise money for Hope Village!