Bringing it Home ...

Greetings from the Red Stick!

Not a day goes by that my heart doesn't long to be in Africa loving on those beautiful children and doing what I can to help take care of them and make sure they know that their Heavenly Father loves them. It's hard to be here in a holding pattern waiting for the next step in my life knowing that there is so much heartbreak in Uganda.

There are some days that I just pray for God to let me be here whole-heartedly while doing what I can to help my friends in Uganda. A great opportunity arose when one of my friends contacted me and asked me if I would help her sell necklaces to help her send her brothers and sisters to school. Her name is Lilian, and she attends school because of Invisible Children (www.invisiblechildren.com). You can see part of what she is doing here: http://vimeo.com/15999005. She is in charge of raising her brothers and sisters, so as part of the culture, it is her responsibility to make sure they attend school. She will be building a chicken coop with the money that she raises with these necklaces. A chicken coop in Africa is a great, great way to make money. The problem is that most people don't have the money to start one. The money raised from the chicken coop will be used to send her brothers and sisters to school. With that being said, here are pictures and prices of the necklaces that I am selling. If you don't live in Baton Rouge or Alexandria, I can mail them to you for a $1.50 extra charge.

The necklaces are paper-beads. All of the larger beads are made from recycled paper. They are beautiful and make GREAT Christmas presents!

I also have bracelets that are made of the paper beads. I just do not have a picture of them at this time.



close up view so that you can see what the beads look like


another close up of the larger beads


The longer necklaces are $20 and the one with the large beads is $15


close up of the solid colored necklaces


These are $15 and have a metal twist clasp


This is a close up of the 2 necklaces that are different from all the other ones


Both of these are $15


close up of the necklaces with the larger beads


I really like these. They are $15, and they also have metal clasps


close up of the long necklaces


The long necklace is $20, and the shorter solid colored one is $15.

If you have questions or would like more pictures of a certain necklace, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me (bstewa9@tigers.lsu.edu).

Peace,
Brooke

Picture Post!

So, for some reason my pictures aren't showing up on my blog post until I publish it, so Im going to have to explain all of them at the bottom.
Picture 1 - Melissa, Kristin, and I right before we board the plane in Africa
Picture 2- mmmmm . pineapple! Boy am I going to miss it!
Picture 3 - us attempting to walk back across the Nile after a few of us were soaked
Picture 4 - woooH! we made it to Mile 0 of the Nile!
Picture 5- Lilian! My friend from Invsible Children that I met in the states
Picture 6 - sweet neighborhood kids
Picture 7 - pretty girls that we played with when we were at the house
Picture 8 - our very clean well that flows and doesn't clog!
Picture 9 - in the process of cleaning up the well
Picture 10 - the before picture of the well
Picture 11 - burning the "rubbish"
Picture 12 - this is the beautiful sunset that we saw in our backyard every day
Picture 13 - yes, the cows are eating out of bathtubs
Picture 14 - me and Lizzy!
Picture 15 - signs like this for the World Cup were all over Kampala
Picture 16 - this is the Rugby field, one of the bombing sites
Picture 17 - little girl from Remand Home that got rescued before she was child sacrificed
Picture 18 - Daddy Douglas and his stick, making sure kids are listening
Picture 19 - one of the MSTs got all of the kids at Remand Home some shoes. Very few of them were barefoot last Thursday, and usually they are all barefoot
Picture 20 - My sweet friend Kristi that flew all the way from Dallas to Africa with me. She is so sweet!
Picture 21 - Me and some sweet little kids at Victory
Picture 22 - group shot!
Picture 23 - So, ganja is weed in Luganda. One of the Ugandan bands named themselves "The Republic of Uganja," and they drive around this big bus playing their music.
Picture 24 -another world cup sign
Picture 25 - sweet kids at Victory getting their porridge

Fun Facts:
-I went to drive my car yesterday, and I walked to the wrong side to get in.
- In Uganda, there used to be a lot of dogs in downtown Kampala, but the cops poisoned them all. Here's why: There are lots of street kids whose parents send them out to the streets during the day to beg for money. Well, the kids got smart and trained the dogs to act like they were going to attack someone. So, the dogs would chase after a woman, who would then get scared and throw her purse and take off running. The kids, obviously, would go grab the purse. The cops try and do everything in their power to make people on the streets stop begging. They thought that if they got rid of all of the dogs, it would help end street begging.
PRAISE THE LORD!
-Auntie Brooke

One More Time..

Well, it looks like this will be my last blog entry. (I say that, but I may be making a post about the culture shock that I'm already experiencing). I am writing this on my plane ride to Dallas, but by the time I post it, I will be at home with my parents. HOOOORAY! I just looked at my Africa pictures and tried to organize them and see which ones I wanted to print, etc., and I think everyone around me must have thought I was really weird because I could not stop smiling. What an amazing 5 weeks it has been. If you are looking for a place in Africa to go, I would highly recommend Empower a Child. They also have a program in Kenya that just got started.

I just have no idea how I should summarize or end my blog. I have been staring at the computer screen for about 15 minutes. I'm sure part of it is the extreme lack of sleep because of traveling and the roosters that lived in our backyard, but still .. Either way, I am just completely at a lack of words (surprising, I know .. ). The last 5 weeks have changed my life in so many ways, and I know for sure that kids' lives were changed and are still being impacted because of the work that Empower a Child has done. So, thank you for your prayers and encouragment. Y'all are wonderful!

I'll post some pictures from the last few days soon. If any certain project that we did interested you at all, I have plenty more pictures and stories to share. Our main projects were the village, secondary schools, feeding programs at the primary schools, Remand (juvenile) home, Katalemwa (hospital for disabled kids), Kids in Need (home for street boys), and the babies homes. Also, if you're interested in sponsoring a child through Empower a Child, please contact me (bstewa9@tigers.lsu.edu). I saw so many lives changed by that program while I was there. We did home visits to the children that are spnsored, so I got to see first hand what was done through the sponsorship program and how it changed lives. Some MSTs with Empower a Child brought their sponsor children over after going shopping, and I've never seen smiles so big in my life. Please be in prayer about that. It's only $30 a month unless you want to sponsor a special needs child, and it's $40 a month. The special needs program is just beginning. EAC started it after we met a special needs boy in the village and fell in love with him. - I would love to talk to you in more specifics about my trip. :) I know i mentioned this in one of my lasts posts, but if you want to receive my final letter to offically end my trip, just e-mail me your address. I would love to send you one.

Fun Facts:

- The grandparents usually name the kid.

- The bars never close in Kampala. They tried to make the 2 a.m. rule, but it didn't happen. Therefore, we saw lots of crazy drunks on our drive to the airport.

- I don't really think that majority of the people at the airport knew what was going on. We were told the wrong thing about our luggage so many times.

PRAISE THE LORD!

-Auntie Brooke

Playing in the Nile

Greetings from Ntinda .. one last time.

Today was sooo much fun! A group of us went to the Nile today to just do some tourist stuff. A group of people bungee jumped over the Nile and had so much fun. It's probably a good thing that I didn't have enough money on me because I had a huge urge to jump. I had someone's 300x zoom and got some good pictures for them. It was a really nice resort that was very Africanish. On the way to the source of the Nile we pulled over to take some pictures in front of the Jinja sign. When we got back to the cars, two policeman made our drivers walk off down the street and yelled at them .. a lot. We were actually getting pretty nervous. When we get back we ask what it's all about, and they got in trouble because we weren't supposed to park on the side of the road. I'm not sure how they were supposed to know that because there wasn't any signs or anything. They were soo mad .. I just don't get how parking on the side of the road can be that big of a deal. One o the guys was pacing and screaming. We could see it all the way down the road. So, we continue our journey and into the heart of Jinja, and we get pulled over again. (We tend to get pulled over a lot because we're Mzungus.) All taxis were supposed to pay a fee to enter. Sempala is one our drivers, and he drives a taxi during the summer just for the MSTs. During the non-busy months, he drives it around the city to make money for EAC. We tried to explain that it wasn't a taxi and that we weren't paying in for the ride. They also were letting so many people by, but they would not let him get bye. Poor Sempala .. second time to get pulled over in less than an hour. Once that is done we FINALLY get to the Nile. We take this boat tour to this concrete block that marks mile 0. Well, the rocks were really slippery, but we decided that it would be a good idea to walk across them to the cement blocks. Yeah, not a good idea. I got wet all the way up to my waist. I have some really cool pictures that I will post when I get home. Then, we went to the one of the fastest moving rapids in Uganda and just hung out for a little while. While we were there, we heard a REALLY loud boom that was not thunder. The Ugandans said that there was a military close by. It scared us pretty bad to say the least. Well, after a long day we were so ready to get home and Sempala gets pulled over AGAIN! This time they just wanted to "check on us." The officer asked where we were from, and when we said America he said, "All I know if Obama, California, and Chicago." Then he let us go. It was interesting .. Poor Sempala. He was such a good sport about it all. (Remember that I never read back over my posts, so I'm sorry if this post is confusing).

The rest of the day was just us relaxing, playing with kids, and packing. We have a tradition here where when an MST is leaving, they get in the middle of the circle and everyone says nice things about them and prays for them. I was a teary eyed mess. It's so bittersweet to leave this place. I'm not real sure what else to say about all this leaving business.

We leave at 9:05 Uganda time, so 1:05 am central time. Keep us in your prayers. I'll try and make a short post when I land in Boston so everyone knows I'm safe.

Thank y'all so much for all of your prayers and support over the last 5 weeks. There is no way that I will ever be able to thank y'all properly. I'll hopefully be writing a letter summarizing my trip when I get home. If you want to receive the letter, e-mail me (bstewa9@tigers.lsu.edu).

Fun Facts:
- Ugandans sometimes brush their teeth with a Guava branch.
- Uganda is the youngest country in the whole world.

PRAISE THE LORD!
-Auntie Brooke

Final Friday

Yes, Ozarkers - That title is just for YOU!

Well, I am officially done with all the scheduled ministry that I have here. This morning we went to a well and cleaned it out. That consisted of getting lots and lots of mud out of a stream and hacking away at the grass that was clogging the flow of water. This "well" was more like a stream. There is a pipe where there is a constant flow of water. Whatever water is not used just turns into a stream. It's kind of hard to explain, but I do have pictures that I can upload when I get back to the states. We finished much faster than expected, so we went and did the ministry aspect of the day right after. We went to a few houses and just talked to some families. We asked them about their lives, and they asked us questions about America. They were so shocked at some things like the price of sugar and how organized our neighborhoods are. If only they could just see it .. Since we finished so early, we were the only group that didn't go back out to the sites, so this afternoon I got snacks for our trip to Jinja tomorrow and just relaxed. Me and some friends sat on one of the straw African mats and just talked about life. I'm going to miss that so much.

Tonight I got to see my friend Lilian from Invisible Children. She came to the house, and it was sooo good to see her. I didn't think I was going to be able to see her again, so it was such a treat! I also had to tell Lizzy bye. I was always in her group for some reason, and so we got so close. There were some mornings that I was just so tired and not excited to be up and moving around the house with 30 other people, and then Liz would walk in and give me a hug and show me that smile that is constantly on her face, and I would have a snap back to reality. She is so very special to me!

We get to go to Jinja tomorrow! yayyy! I've already seen the Nile, but now I get to see the start of the Nile! Some people are going bungee jumping. Don't worry, Mom, I'm not doing that. I think if I did anything like that, I would go skydiving. Bungee jumping just doesn't sound appealing to me. It's going to be last real day in Uganda .. maybe forever, but hopefully not. It's so weird to think that I have to tell everyone bye tomorrow since my flight leaves so early. It just doesn't feel real. I hate when people see me crying, but Saturday night I'm going to be a hot mess. It's going to be rough.

Well, my eyes are legitimately closing on me right now, so I'm going to end this for now. Pray for safe travels tomorrow and for the safety of the city.



Fun Facts:
-Ugandans throw buckets of water on people when it is their birthday.
- The FBI is here investigating the bombings.

PRAISE THE LORD!
-Auntie Brooke

Hardest places to say good-bye ...

So, I'm just going to be real honest with you that I fought back tears all day today. I had to say goodbye to my favorite babies and all of the kids at the Remand Home. It was rough. On top of it all of my Ugandan friends are telling me that they are going to take my passport and never give it back. ahhh ..

This morning at the babies home we had more people than normal, so we cleaned really fast, which means more time with the babies. I got to spend so much time with my beautiful Katarina, who is getting so big! It's a good thing that I'm not in the place in my life where I can adopt because she would be mine. She just stole a piece of my heart. She started SCREAMING when I put her down. She would let other people hold her, but she would never willingly reach her arms out to them. I think my mom should just adopt her and love her back to full nourishment. What do y'all think? :)

Remand Home is always so fun but so challenging. I have trouble relating to the kids because sure, I had a mouth .. well have a mouth on me .. but I'm not a juvenile. They also tend to give the answers that you want to hear. However, I loooove seeing those kids worship and seeing their smiles when you hug them. One girl in my group told us that when she came to Remand Home she was a Muslim, but now she is so excited to go home to her family and tell them about Christ. She told us that the reason she was at Remand Home was because some guy snatched her on the streets and was going to give her over for child sacrifice. Some lady rescued her and brought her to Remand Home for being an "idol child." The precious girl was crying as she was telling us this story. I have a picture of her, but the computer won't let me update any. I just can't even imagine.

We went to the craft market after, which is downtown Kampala. Some people have told us that there was another bomb found that was deactivated in downtown Kampala this morning. Of course, we had no idea. I can only find that information on one web page though. Maybe it will make news tomorrow.

Sorry for such a short, boring post, but I am soooo tired.

Fun Facts:
- I bought a jersey off some guy's back today. It does smell like straight up African armpit. What I learned: Africans will give you the shirt off their back for the right price.
- You can get a ticket here if your car is a hazard. Like, if your tires need to be changed or aired up or something like that, you can get a ticket.
- They have one insurance company for cars, so all of the insurance tags on the cars expire in the same month, so when that month comes around you better believe that they do lots of random inspections.

PRAISE THE LORD!
-Auntie Brooke
-

Only 3 Days Left ..

This is the post that I wrote right after everything happened:

We all went to bed around 2 this morning, so I was already in the funk when I had to wake up at 8... to stay the least. Then, one of my roommates said, "Did you e-mail your parents and let them know you're okay?" I was like, "ummm..why? Why wouldn't I be okay?" Jenn then said, "There were bombings in Kampala last night." The internet has been really sketchy today too, so it was hard to email our families and check to see the details about what happened. Y'all probably know more than me about what happened and what casualities there are. I do know that at least one 18 year old girl died. There are lots of 18 year old girls here, doing the exact same thing that the girl that passed away is doing. Everyone here has been a little uneasy all morning to say the least. One of the bombings was 20-25 minutes away and one was like 40 minutes away. People in the house heard it last night. I was at a cafe watching it, so I didn't hear anything. The scary part is that pubs and bars were targeted, and the cafe where we were was right above one of the pubs showing the game. One of the Ugandans said there are about 3 locations in Ntinda where there are bars. From what we know, a bomb was supposed to go off in the shopping center where we were watching the game. They said that Ntinda was targeted because it's a "suburb that never sleeps." It's so surreal. Sure, I've been a part of 911, but that was so far away from me. Our team members heard this bomb go off, and I heard lots of sirens last night. I remember thinking, "That isn't normal. I never hear sirens here." But, I just shook it off and tried to go to sleep.

Thankfully the only public place where we normally go is the local grocery store, and we rarely go at night. I know bombings don't have to happen at night, but these did.

Now, I still don't even know what to say. Some of our staff has been in and out of the house attending funerals. It is just heart breaking. I don't even know what else to say. My heart is broken for so many reasons.. broken for the Ugandans, broken for the Americans, broken that I have to leave this beautiful place and these beautiful people, broken for this country that has been through so much heartache.. and the list could go on. The good part is I really do feel safe at our guest house and at our projects. Driving through the city does make my stomach churn some. The idea of flying is what REALLY makes my stomach churn more.

I'm going to be honest that focusing at devotionals has been hard. I know God has a plan. I do not doubt that one bit .. not at all. One of the phrases they use here is, "God is good." Then the other person says, "All the time." person 1 - "all the time." person 2 - "God is good." I keep trying to remind myself of that. I trust He has a plan. I can already see His work being done because of the death of the American that works for Invisible Children. I'm learning more about faith .. more about how my faith needs lots of work. I'm learning that God doesn't disappoint. I'm learning that God is in control. I'm learning to trust God even when I think I have it all figured out.

This morning we went to Katalemwa, the hospital for disabled kids, and after cleaning up in the kitchen, my friend and I got to sit in on some therapy sessions. It was exciting because the lady did know some of her stuff, but it was sad because there were so many mis-diagnoses. For example, a baby was totally fine, got tetanus, had some seizures, and they think it's CP. I WILL come back one day to work there. They need lots of help and guidance. The kids are absolutely precious too!

Tomorrow is THURSDAY! a.k.a my favorite day here! We get to go the babies homes and to Remand Home! woooh!

Just keep everyone in your prayers. Even though we all feel safe here, I think everyone's spirits are down.

Thanks for all of the encouraging words and prayers. Y'all are the best! Love y'all!

Fun Facts:

- I have lots of pictures and videos to upload, but the internet is running too slow, and they won't load. I can make a post of lots of pictures later though.

- Breast feeding in public is so totally acceptable. I saw it the other day in church, and this morning at Katalemwa it happened. Today one girl was breast feeding before therapy, and when it was time to start, she yanked her kid off and just let her breast hang out for a good 7 minutes. It happened twice. good times in Africa.

-Linking arms with a guy means that you are committing yourself to them. ooops .. I have linked arms with guys before. Actually, there is a picture of it. haha

PRAISE THE LORD!

-Auntie Brooke

Write your plans in pencil, and give God the eraser.

Change of plans: I'm leaving Sunday morning, and I'll be back in Alexandria on Monday morning. Continue to pray for EAC staff as they attend funerals and mourn and for the MSTs as some desperately try and change their flights or choose to stay.

I'll post more when I can actually grasp what to type here. I have a blog post that I typed out the morning after everything happened that I'll post soon.

Thanks for your prayers and concerns.


PRAISE THE LORD!
-Auntie Brooke

We are okay

Brooke asked me to update her blog by saying that we spoke to her on Skype and she and all the team members are okay. the internet is sporadic and she hopes to post more later. DAD

Relaxing Day .. FINALLY!

Hey, hey, Hey!!

We FINALLY had a relaxing day! This morning I woke up pretty early, so I had lots of time to shower, spend some time reading the Word in my hammock, and get ready for church. We went to one of the other Watoto churches this morning - Watoto Central. I'm not sure if I mentioned this last time, but Watoto is a Hillsong church. I haven't really figured out what that means, but it does have something to do with the band Hillsong. It was outrageously hot. We were in the balcony, and they closed some of the doors. My shirt was soaking wet. The pastor talked about what it meant for the church to be the bride of Christ. We sang, then he preached for like 20 minutes, we sang some more, and then he preached for another 25 minutes. I'm not a big fan of talking about marriage, and it's been all around me. The other day I was doing my quiet time in Romans and there's a section about being faithful like you would in marriage, one of the girls here found out that her boyfriend asked her parents if he could marry her so we've been talking about that, and then today .. woooH! God sure does have a sense of humor. After church I just napped, read my book, did some dishes ... just hung out. It was WONDERFUL! Everyone but some of the Ugandans left for the pool and the cafe, so I had the house to myself. I forgot what quiet sounded like.

I almost forgot... this morning at church some of the teenagers at church dressed in stereotypical tribal African gear, and danced to the Word Cup song. It was PHENOMENAL! The pastor decided that we all needed to see it again, so they did it twice. I filmed about a minute of it, but someone has my camera, so I'll upload them tomorrow.

So, I glanced back over my post about Zirobwe and realized that I forgot to put a summary of what happened there and what is going to happen. EAC is building a training center there, which is like a vocational school. They want to house all of their MSTs out there too. The building hasn't started, but the land is bought. They really want to invest in this community. Some people are believers, some are Muslims, and some have no faith or hope at all. A lot of the people that are Christians are wrapped up in the spirit of religion. They don't realize that Christianity is about having a relationship with Jesus. While we were there around 100 people gave their lives to Christ .. children and adults. How cool is that! This is just the beginning too. I really feel that the Lord has big plans for Zirobwe. In the words of the Ugandans .. "Waliwo ekija." That just means that something is happening. We say that phrase a lot at Remand Home.

So, I just got a letter as I was writing this from one of the kids that hangs around here asking me to be her sponsor. How sad is that .. She isn't on the list, so it's not practical because EAC has protocol. It's just heartbreaking that some kid's only hope is to be sponsored.

Off to watch the World Cup at a local pub .. should be very interesting. I wish I could record a video for y'all, but again, I don't have my camera.

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures or videos for y'all.

We saw the funniest vehicle today, but I'm going to leave y'all in suspense until I can show you pictures. It's classic.

I only have 2 weeks left here. I'm so torn. I'm so ready to eat and finally be full, so ready to hug my parents, ready to get settled back in in BR, but sooooo very, very sad to leave here. I have never felt so comfortable somewhere so fast.

Fun Facts:

- There is not a Luganda greeting that translates to "hello." - like a greeting that doesn't require a respond. You greet someone with the phrase that translates into, "How are you?"

- I've heard the World Cup song all day today randomly playing outside. Africans are so pumped that the World Cup was here.

- Sorry is now one of my new favorite games.

PRAISE THE LORD!

-Auntie Brooke

Stanky Saturday

When I first got here, I was told that Saturdays were our day off. That has happened once since I've been here. So, this Saturday we split up into 2 different groups and went to a party. The best way I can explain it to you is that it was kind of like the FCAs from different high schools meeting together for a celebration. They don't have FCA here, but I can't remember what they call it. We weren't supposed to be able to go because of the mission week, but it all worked out. Well, I was really motion sick because I still have a cold, so my ears are really congested. Honestly, going to this school was not how I wanted to spend my Saturday after a mission week. Well, I walked in and I was overwhelmed by the odor. I can't even explain it. I understand that most people don't wear deodorant here. I've gotten over that smell. This was like SOUR, week old, sweat your life away all day STANK! I just wish y'all could have smelled it. On top of all of that, it was so hot, and there was no circulation. It was fine ... for awhile. I was hot, it smelled bad, I had to go to the bathroom, and I was hungry. Those people that know me know that I can get really grouchy if I'm hungry. When the girls choir performed, it was great! (videos below). When they didn't perform, people were lip singing, and it was more than obvious. I have some vi videos at the bottom to show y'all. After lunch, which was at 2, we had to go back inside because they wanted us to have a formal goodbye. A formal goodbye lasted for about 20 minutes, and we felt so bad because they kept saying, "Empower a Child wants to leave." They were really thankful that we were there and thankful that we visit them every Wednesday. It was just awkward because we felt so terrible because they said over and over again that we wanted to leave. The program lasted until 6 though. We were more than relieved to get out of that stanky, hot room. The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxing though. So yeah, not much to updated y'all on today.

The maturity level of some people here is really starting to get to me, so be in prayer about that. I just keep trying to tell myself that they're younger, and that's just how it's going to be.


sI forgot to upload this picture after the village. This is after I "washed" one leg.This is our group from today.



Precious Daphne in the village matched me with her precious bandanna.
Some of the decorations from today. Halloween colors with some toilet paper .. TIA.
This is the other part of the decorations. The middle is a Valentine's Day decoration that says, "I love you!"




Fun Facts:
- Goodbyes and greetings of welcome are a big deal here, and they make sure of that.
- Some words in Luganda are made up so that it can be translated easier in English.

PRAISE THE LORD!
-Auntie Brooke

Home Sweet Home

Greetings, my friends!
Back from the village, and I have hit the wall of exhaustion for sure. We had such a wonderful time! While I was there, I wrote bullet points into a journal, so this entry is just going to be random thoughts.

Tuesday, July 6 - Leaving Day
- We said that we were leaving at 9:30. Yeah, we didn't leave until 10:30 or so. haha. We were on Ugandan time and not American time this morning. When we got there it was close to lunch, and we realized that we had left all the kitchen stuff with the remaining Ugandans that were waiting for their ride. So, we cut up some pineapple and ate bananas until like 4, when lucnh was ready. We finished the squatty that day .. well finish as in did everything but the roof, which the Ugandans would do later. Melissa, Mrs. Kim, and I were making cement. We put it in the wheelbarrow, and one of the Ugandans looked at the wheelbarrow and then pointed to where he wanted it. Melissa's comment was, "What? Are your legs broke?" It's one of those moments when you're so glad they don't speak English. haha. While we were doing that, other people were clearing the campsite and playing with the kids.

Mrs. Kim brought lots of bubble gum, and the kids loooved it! She also brought plastic cross necklaces .. all of which the kids LOOOOVED!

So, we didn't have mosquito nets in the classroom where we were staying, so we used LOTS of bug spray. We also slept two to a mattress..a twin sized mattress. Let's just say that we didn't sleep much, especially because little kids were constantly peeping their heads into our windows too. It's kind of hard to sleep in the mornings knowing someone is watching you.

I tried porridge for the first time, and it was actually pretty good. I'm going to attempt to make it when I get home. That should be quite interesting.

After every meal, we always give the Ugandan men that help us and the children our leftover food. I wish we could do more. It's so sad to eat in front of them, but I had to remind myself that in order to be affective and be able to build a goat shed all day I needed nourishment.

We had a big gathering that night where some kids came and hung out. It was so sad because majority of the kids walked home by themselves, and it was pitch black.

One of the girls named Rita is about 5, and she is in charge of her 2 year old little sister. The guy that made Melissa move the cement is her dad. We went to bring her little sister home one day because she fell asleep in someone's arms, and we saw her dad on the way there, and he wouldn't take her. He told us to bring her home, but when we went there, no one was there, so Rita just hung onto her. so sad ...


Wednesday, July 7 - Start of Goat Sheds
Our day started off with the 6:45 am school bell waking us up and a quick sprint to the squatty! We split up into 4 groups, and we all started our goat sheds. Two of our team members got sick, which was fine because today had a lot of sitting. We didn't know how to build a goat shed, so sometimes the Ugandans thought it was just easier to do it instead of telling us how to do it since a lot of it was a one person job. During our breaks we gave out more bubble gum and cross necklaces. :) The kids would turn into a mob when Mrs. Kim pulled those out. We started busting up an old ant hill, and some Ugandan men thought it would be entertaining to come watch us struggle. It was like busting up cement at times. They also proceeded to laugh at us while we worked. It was a little frustrating.

Comment of the day: Melissa and I were talking about how the kids all just stop and stare when we walk by, and she said, "I feel like I'm at the zoo. Now you know how the monkeys feel." haha.

Food in the village is always so, so good. It's just hard to eat it while all of the little kids watch to see how much is left for them .. if they get any after the men are done eating.

Today I was very tired and very dirty. There was no showering, so I just stuck my arms and legs in a bucket and washed the mud off. Thank God for baby wipes is all I have to say! A shower on Friday is going to be wonderful!

The squatty roof was put on today, and we started using it! This is a big deal for the village. They no longer have to go hide in the jungle to use the restroom .. or be like the little kid at the house where we were working and use the bathroom a foot from the house as we watch her. It was weird .. and a very unhealthy color.

Tonight we had a huge dance party with the moms and kids. None of the dads really participated. It was so neat because one of the songs that came on was Michael Jackson's "It Don't Matter If Your Black or White" song. I wish I could have captured it for y'all. It was wonderful! After the dance party, we had a little time of praise and worship and then Uncle Wilson spoke. Well, Melissa and I saw someone fall on the bench, and we were like uh oh .. one of the kids got pushed off the bench. Then a good 20 seconds later, someone yelled, "This kid is having a SEIZURE!" Well, we have a nurse on the team, and Melissa is a special ed. teacher, so the three of us book it over there and do the seizure protocol. He has 2 seizures but seems to regain consciousness pretty fast after the second one. Well, it turns out that Patrick has practiced witchcraft in the past, so everyone is pretty sure that it was a demon. One of the scariest things .. I didn't know the witchcraft thing until later though. As he was recovering some teenagers came over to laugh at me. Let's just say that I went to bed really angry. Demons or epilepsy - that is NOTHING to laugh over.

Thursday, July 8 - FRUSTRATION
Right after breakfast, the Heavens opened, and it POURED!! Thankfully we had the top of our goat shed up already, and we needed lots of mud for the wall. It normally would have taken close to 25 runs to the well for water, but because of the rain we had to make so many less. After soooooo much mud (mud will never again be fun to play in), we finally finished the shed. We finished it after lunch. We were so close before, yet so far away. One of our team members got bit a few times by something and asked if she could go ahead and call it a day because of that. I was very frustrated because we weren't done. I was raised to not finish until the team is done (thanks, Mom, and soccer!). We were still missing Kaylee because she was still sick, and Benon had to keep checking on things, so we were down a few people. After lunch everyone was more then ready to be done. Well, one of the Ugandans was making the situation even worse. One of the sticks that we used for support was bulging on the outside. Well, instead of just covering it up so that it wouldn't rot, we had to add an extra 2 inches of mud on the outside so that you couldn't tell the stick did that -- basically, so it would look good. So, we wanted to work from left to right. The Ugandan guy wanted us to work from right to left. He wouldn't have it any other way. It was soo frustrating! Ashley and I just gritted our teeth and did what he said. The fact that I was really tired did not help the situation at all. We did finish it though!! yayy!

On our lunch break some kid walked up to us and said, "Mzungu, I am so hungry. Can I have some food?" It was one of the saddest things. One of the Ugandans did make a good point. She said, "He was surviving before we got here." He really could have just been saying that too because they never get the kinds of food that we have.

So, we got really dirty today. Actually, that is an understatement. I wish I could express to y'all how dirty we were. So, we stayed at the well and got clean because we knew that we would have to use more than 1 bucket to get clean. It was definitely entertainment. At first there was like 5 kids watching. By the time I was done, there was 30 kids at the well, and every single one of them was watching us get clean.

A few of our team members were walking to the well when they saw another girl have a seizure .. I'll leave it at that.

Tonight we had a feast for the village and about 250 people were there. While the food was being cooked, which a lot of the village ladies helped out with, we had a massive dance party. Gosh, I wish my camera would video at night. It almost made me cry. It's just something you have to experience. They all had on their nicest clothes. Most of them were not clothes that Americans would ever be caught wearing either. Their best is something we would never wear in public.. crazy!! It really made me mad because all of the men ate before the women and children. People were fighting for the food. One guy FILLED a HUGE bag full of food and took off. I wanted to look at him and say, "uumm.. you know that some kids won't eat and you took a whole lot of food." It's a good thing I knew that he would not understand me because I was soooo tempted! gosh. I wanted to cry. We did the best we could to make sure all of the kids ate, but it was almost impossible. Some kids were in tears because they got pushed out of the way. It was so sad to watch.

There was one guy that was really creepy all night.. really creepy. He followed me all night. Well, when I went to walk back to the school with a group of girls, he watched us walk off. He acted like he was going to walk the opposite direction down the road but then turned around. Needless to say, we got some Ugandan guys to walk us back. I was pretty creeped out.

Friday, July 9 - Dedication!!
We were supposed to sleep in today. Yeah, that doesn't happen when you are sleeping at a school where all the kids think we are just the coolest thing in the world. They were so loud. :) Today everyone went to all of the huts and did a dedication for the families. Most of them, if not all were widows, orphans, or someone taking care of orphans. We had enough money to buy two extras, but we didn't have the people or money to build an extra one, so we gave it to a widow who said she would take care of getting the hut built. It was such a cool experience. As we were walking back to the hut where I built the shed, our family's mom goat was having a kid. It didn't make it. :/ They said that there was one more that she was going to birth. I hope everything goes well.

Then, we had lunch, fed some more kids and headed back to unpack, SHOWER!, and just rest. I took my braids out..hence the greeting picture.

Fun Facts:
-Ugandans let chickens live in their house. You know how Americans say, "that my house is so dirty it looks like a pig sty." Well, yeah .. that's true here...except it's a chicken coop.
- I caught myself calling Kampala "home" today.. weird. It felt so right though.


My group (minus Kaylee and Mama Kim), the goat shed we made, and the family
the finished squattty!!
Some of the kids waiting to get their food at the feast.
precious children hugging Sarah and Stef
Liz looooved my LSU hat. :)
precious Joseph!!
yes.. this is the meat that we ate. :) TIA
we got to see this every night .. AWESOME!
gosh .. I just can't get enough of these precious children!
Marvin and his two missing front teeth!
some of the school kids that kept peeping at us!


Enjoy the videos! One is of the kids playing with a mirror, another of precious Joseph laughing, and the last one is of the kids singing a Luganda song.

PRAISE THE LORD!
-Auntie Brooke