Brooke's Adventure in Uganda: INTERNET!

Internet is finally working!! TIA ... This post will probably be pretty long because I'm going to try and update everyone on my whole week.

I feel like this week has been really busy. It would probably help if I could sleep through the night, but that has only happened one night, the night I wore earplugs. Every night the dogs battle, Friday always sweeps the driveway early, most of the time the roosters crow, and sometimes a baby cries for 30 minutes. Okay.. enough complaining.

Wednesday we went to Katalemwa, which is the home/hospital/school for disabled kids. This time I got to actually be in the classroom. The kids were precious. I wish we could take pictures so I could show y'all. I could really see myself working there one day. I'm not sure if they're aware of it, but they could really use a lot of help. It makes me really wish that I was like my brother and was really good at writing because places like Katalemwa are not places that I can describe. On our way home the road was under construction, so we had to take the backroads, and I got really motion sick. I had to stay back from the secondary schools, which was a bummer but there was no way I could get back on those bumpy roads.

Thursday on the way back from the Babies Home, our driver got pulled over because we had too many people in the car. I've heard that they get pulled over more than normal simply because we're Mzungus, and the police know we have money. Why does that matter you ask? Well, here you can usually pay them off. If you get a ticket, you have to pay 50,000 shillings, which is like 25 dollars, and you get your license taken away until you pay it. The other option, well sometimes, is to just pay them 25,000 shillings, which is like 15 dollars, so that's what we did. Poor Francis has had a really long week. It started with malaria and an eye infection. He didn't even take a day off with malaria. --- Another one of our drivers got pulled over too for having too many people. Well, the policewoman opened the side sliding door, and pulled on the one Ugandan and said, "Get out!" He just stared at her and just acted like he didn't understand her/didn't really care. Aggrey, the driver, just slowly drove away. haha. Their response was, "We don't really pay tickets here." Golly .. it would be an episode of cops if that happened in America.

We went to Sanyu Babies home this time, which is different from last time. It can hold like 50 children, and it's been around for 50 years. There were two twins there that were 3 months premature (pictures below). The nurses think that they are half Indian, which is why they were abandoned in the hospital. Here, dating an Indian is just unheard of. It's way different from black-white dating in America. There's a good chance that they are HIV positive too. It just breaks my heart .. gosh. The orphange really surprised me. They are very organized and well run. Any kid that can sit up on their own goes to "school," which is just another part of the orphanage. Here, babies are potty trained by age 2 at the latest. They start learning to brush their teeth right about when they get their first tooth. It's craaaazy! -- We went to Remand Home after, and gosh, I love that place. Watching those kids worship is phenomenal. It's not something that can be described in words. After worship, we usually split up in small groups, and hearing these kids' stories and the hope they have is so encouraging.

We have a lady staying with us that has been in Northern Uganda, where the war was a few months ago. There is a woman named Irene Gleeson. You should definitely google her, or try googling cinderella children. wow .. amazing story.

Friday we went back to Zirowbe. Some of us weeded the fields and slashed the grass while the rest of the people helped build them a squatty. A squatty is their version of a toilet, but it's just a big hole in the ground. We're going to build the walls the next time we go. This time we only got the slab done. I got to work in the "kitchen." We just set camp under a big tree and made a few fires to cook. It was sooo delicious! The people in the village were so appreciative, and some of them even took time away from their farming to help. We got to go to one house after lunch that had a 4 day old baby. wow .. I asked the mom how she was feeling because the Friday before she wasn't feeling well, and the dad said she was feeling better since she just had a baby. We looked around and no one saw the baby, so we were hesitant to ask. When we finally did, she pulled back like 5 blankets/pieces of cloth, and there he was! He was completely covered. We all got to hold him, and oh my gosh, he was so cute. I didn't have my camera, but some people did, so I just need to get their pictures. After that we played with the kids. A group of girls braided my whole head .. twice. Well, once fully and then just a few tiny braids the next time. They started by just playing with my ponytail holder, and when I took my hair down, they had so much fun! I think they giggled for a good 8 minutes. We are going back to that village for our "mission week" to bring them goats and build a house for those goats.

Kimpala explodes at night. It becomes soo roowwwddy! I learned that there is a bar right next to us .. literally a foot away from our driveway. No wonder I hear music late every night. I've never left the gated area late, so I never knew that.

(DISCLAIMER: Some of you may not want to read this paragraph because it does entail some details of what happens to your body when you’ve been in Africa). Today (Saturday) the team helped with a debate at a local school. When the dogs started barking at 4:30 this morning, I realized that I felt really really sick. I decided to stay back, and it was a goood thing. Let’s just say that there is nothing left inside of me, digested or just eaten. I will forever be so very, very thankful for running water when I am sick. It’s pretty rough throwing up and then having to go to the water source to fill a jerrican and then walk all the way back with it to dump the water in the toilet so that it will flush. I hate asking for help, so today has really challenged me. I tried getting out of bed to help with my new mosquito net (it’s a 4 corner net, so no more bites on my knees! Praise the Lord!), and I couldn’t even sit up. That was at the peak of my fever, so I’m sure that had a lot to do with it. So I had to ask for a lot of help, to say the least.. especially because my stuff was everywhere since this week was so crazy, so I couldnt tell anyone where anything was. God sure is teaching me a lot about asking for help here, which we all know is much needed.

Sunday: I woke up this morning and felt much better, but I’m still not 100%. I ate some peanut butter crackers that I found in my purse, and they didn’t feel great, but they’ve stayed down so far. I FINALLY got a shower... and yes, it’s been awhile. We didn’t have running water Friday night, and I was so exhausted that I just went to bed. Then, Saturday showering was definitely not a priority. I even got to wash my hair, which hasn’t happened since Tuesday. Yeah, gross, I know. Don’t judge me. It actually didn’t look that dirty. Jayan’s comment to me last night was, “We’re Ugandans. We can’t tell.” Haha. I was planning on washing it before now, but African water and viruses had other plans for me.

We are leaving for the safari tomorrow, so I won’t have internet access again for a few days. We get back Thursday afternoon at some point, if everything goes as planned. Pray for traveling mercies! I’ve heard it can be a rough drive.

So, today we washed the dishes in rain water that was collected from the roof. Actually, we washed them and then rinsed them in the rain water. “Welcome to Africa.”

One verse that Benon shared the other day that really stuck with me was Hebrews 12:7: " asdf" dThe kids here look up to us and look up to our faith. Is mine really something worth modeling after? That's the question I ask myself. In America, people watch me simply because I claim to be a Christian. What are they seeing? Should they really be modeling my faith?

Fun Facts:

- Ugandans do not sit cross legged. They sit with their legs to the side.

- It is really rude to talk to a Ugandan while they are eating.

- It is not normal for girls to play football/soccer here. So, when I told them that I wanted to play with them, they were shocked that a Mzungu girl knew how to play soccer and could actually keep up.

- When Ugandan girls fight, they start by taking off clothes because skirts are so easy to yank off. So, sketchy boys love to watch girls fight.

- Some moms put their babies on the sidewalks at night so that people will drop money for the child. The one that I saw wasn't even crying. He was just sitting there. gosh .. I was in shock.

Loran and a sweet, sweet boy from Zirowbe.

The kids waving goodbye to us. I'm so pumped to spend a whole week with them!

Some of the cute girls that braided my hair .. twice. The second time they only did a few. I think that the week I am there will be spent with my hair braided.