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

Preparation Day!

Wasuze otya! (Good morning!)

Today was supposed to be a preparation day for the village mission tomorrow, but one of the girls is leaving tonight, so she wanted to go to a babies home this morning. We left around 7 so that we could get back in time to have our Monday meeting about the week. We did the typical floor scrubbing and just making sure the babies feel loved and cared for. There is so much work to be done there everyday that the kids very rarely get individual attention. So, the kids love when we come, but the workers think it's bittersweet because they cry when we put them down. It always breaks my heart to leave. I'm really excited next week, but I also would not be opposed to changing our village week into a "Babies Home" week. They are not all potty trained, and they don't use diapers. They use cloths and then slip on plastic underwear type things. Yeah, they don't work. We hit them at the time of day where they ALL had to use the bathroom and only 1 is potty trained. haha. Enjoy the pictures!

Wilson, the founder of EAC asked me today if I could extend my stay. I don't think I've ever been more tempted to do something in my life. hmm .. I don't have a job waiting for me. I was going home early so that I could bring some of the BR kids from the Dream Center to camp, and that isn't happening anymore. So, I was just going to go to camp for the ozark for all session, but I've emailed a few people and haven't heard back from anyone. Maybe it's God keeping that door closed so that I can stay here, right Mom!? :)

We won't have electricity next week, much less internet, so I probably won't be posting until Saturday night or Sunday afternoon at some point. Just a heads up about that.

When you walk into the office, this list is on the bulletin board. I'm pretty sure they get very little to any money from the government. If you invested in one of the two babies homes, I would suggest this one.
Remember little Katrina from 2 weeks ago that was extremely tiny and over a year old? Yep. That's her! She is getting so big! Keep praying for her! She had an IV in her hand, so they're really trying to stabilize her. Last week she pretty much just rested in my arms motionless. This week she was smiling and holding herself up! God is good.

http://bpstewart.blogspot.com/2010/06/thursday-is-my-favorite-day-in-states.htmlThis is Michael, the other really small over a year old baby. He has grown so much. He actually laughs now. He is really sick though. I could feel the air rattling in his lungs today while I was holding him.
Another picture of Katarina mesmerized by my hair.
Maria! She is sooo sasssy! I loove it!

Fun Facts:

- I mentioned a few posts back about how people place their babies on the sidewalks to beg for money. It is illegal to give money to beggars, so the people that give the money are arrested, not the people placing their children or their handicapped relative on the sidewalks to fend for themselves. very frustrating ... Last night we went to the grocery store, and I saw an older handicapped girl sitting in the parking lot behind a car. I just wanted to start crying then and there. Ivan said that a lot of times people from the village bring their handicapped children into town to make money. The reason they arrest people is because they want the people in the village to stay in the village and live off the land, not beg people in the city for money.

- We saw a group of construction people digging a trench on the way home, and a lot of them were women. I would even venture to say that there were more women.

- One of the kids had a TERRIBLE fever this afternoon .. I would venture to say 102 or 103. We tried to tell someone, and to help him they just put a cold cloth on his feet. These are the times that I do wish Africa was a little more like America. I'm sure it works, but he was just so miserable! Most of the children there have really bad colds. Not a fun fact, but just an example of the way of life here.

- I never proofread my posts, so I'm sure there's been lots of times that some stuff hasn't made any sense, especially considering how tired I am when I write them. I apologize for that.

PRAISE THE LORD!

- Auntie Brooke

Sabbath Sunday

Olyotya from Ntinda!

This morning a small group of us went to a church called Watoto North, and I LOVED it! (www.watotochurch.com). I actually had a lot of time today to think about a lot of things, so this post is going to be a compilation of random thoughts. -- The rest of the group went to Kakumba Chapel, and this Sunday's theme was about stopping child sacrificing. I feel so naive because I had no idea that it was still going on here. They told a story of a little boy that was found right before he was sacrificed. He already had a hole in his head, so now he's going through multiple surgeries.

One thing that is so obvious here is that the Ugandans know how to worship the Lord. They hold nothing back. On the other hand, the spirit of religion is so huge here. They say they believe in God, but they don't have a relationship here, which breaks my heart because that's what it's all about. When missionaries first came here, they didn't teach what it means to have a relationship with Jesus. They just wanted to make sure everyone believed in Jesus, which is important, but still.. I think slowly the Africans are learning that they are free from that. -- At first I thought it was because it was like Mexico and Jesus is all they have. That is part of the reason, especially with the people in the village and the people we met yesterday. They have to rely on God to provide because they have no clue how they are going to feed their children and the extra kids that they took on so that they wouldn't be orphans. However, that is not the case with everyone. I just love watching them. It's so encouraging and uplifting.

This morning at church, the pastor said something along the lines of, "If you don't have a home church, we are so glad you chose to worship with us. If you do, accept our love and blessings." I feel like in America, a lot of churches focus on how many people they have, so they're always trying to take people from other churches. Some of you could be reading this and thinking, "That is not true at all." It may not be, but that is the vibe I get sometimes.

Sometimes I catch myself thinking, "Gosh, if only Africa had this or that like America does." It's just a terrible mindset to have. They are just fine without a dishwasher. They waste less water that way. They are just fine with everyone not having a cellphone, even though it does make days like yesterday frustrating. They don't need all of these things that I think, "If only they had." Sure, their roads could be paved and that would actually be something that would benefit them because their cars would last longer, but they are just fine how they are. They don't need all the expensive junk we have.

One of my favorite people here is a girl named Sarah that has been here since the beginning of May. I instantly felt a connection with her because she was the first and only person to hug me when I got here, and we all know I love hugs. I also instantly liked her because she showed me around, and then I saw her sit down to the dishes while everyone else just hung out. She has such a big heart for missions and for serving other. We also see eye to eye on so many things. When people start debating here or trying to start stuff, we just walk off together and laugh. We also have very similar taste buds. It's almost scary. Anyways, we were talking about we don't understand how someone can see the poverty and the lack of love and care that the some people receive here, or even in America and not be moved to do something .. anything. I understand that God gives everyone different passions, but still .. It says in James that true religion is taking care of the orphans and the widows. In Isaiah it talks about what true fasting is, and it is taking care of the less fortunate. I really hate when people say, "Oh, Africa is totally for you. It's just not for me." Are you kidding me?! Do you really think that I'm comfortable here and really fit in? No. Do you think I'm tired of being hit on everytime I leave the house? Yes. Am I tired of having to use the bathroom in a hole in the ground or in the woods? Yes. I could go on and on. Being uncomfortable isn't for anyone, but God doesn't call us to be comfortable. Why would we need the Ultimate Comforter (God) if we were already comfortable? Sometimes it just makes me so frustrated that people can just push people aside in society because it takes too much out of them to help or even pray for them. It's easier just to ignore them and push them aside. It makes my blood boil sometimes. I try and be open minded because we are given hearts for different things. I get that. Just remember that Jesus was homeless (And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.' Luke 9:58), and he hung out with dirty people with nasty, contagious diseases. Not only did he hang out with them, but he LOVED them! He touched them .. he made them feel human!

I got hit by a boda boda today. Don't worry, parents, I'm really okay. I was walking down the road, and some guy was walking straight at me and wasn't going to move. (Women are seen as inferior here, whether the Ugandans want to admit it or not, so I think that had something to do with it .. that or the fact that I was white). So, yeah, I moved over slightly and a good 5 or 6 seconds later someone clipped me. He didn't even stop. I kind of think it was on purpose because it was a little delayed. Oh well .. just another story to tell. I have the blood of Jesus on me, he couldn't have hurt me if he wanted to.

I got my whole head braided today for less than $10! We had to go outside at one point because the electricity went out, and EVERYONE stopped and stared because a Mzungu was in Uganda getting her hair "plated." haha. It was great. I'll post some pictures tomorrow or sometime soon.

Fun Facts:

- It is socially acceptable here to pick your nose because there is always so much dust.

- People still kneel to their elders. All of the kids that we greeted yesterday knelt for us.

So, this has nothing to do with Africa, but it's a way you can help if you have Facebook. Click this link: http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/205019981-lespwa-worldwide-inc

and vote for LESPWA! It's my friend's orphanage in Haiti. God is doing big things there, but there is so much more that needs to be done. It's really simple and only takes a few minutes. m

I feel a little bald. hah.
the sweet design they did.
Loran got her hair done too. It was actually her idea.
In the process. I think the lady that did just adds to the whole experience.

Thought of you, Hope, when we sang this! love you!

PRAISE THE LORD!

-Auntie Brooke

Picture Post!

Here are some pictures from my friend's computer! I decided to do 2 updates in one day since I slacked off yesterday. :) So, don't forget to read the post before this one

10 day old baby!!
sunset over the Nile!
baby giraffe!
so beautiful!
storm was definitely brewing!
adolescent elephant that trumpeted at us.
the old male water buffaloes get pushed out of the pack, and then they make their own.
Our group on the Nile
they love Mzungu hair
these birds make holes in the rock to lay their eggs
there were so many babies!!
I was at the other end of the bench. It was so funny.
One of the few pictures of a lion we got.
we have so many pictures of giraffes!
PUMBA!
our first elephant
good ole Henry
We rode this way the whole time.
gosh .. these were so neat!
more sunrise pictures
Sunrise over the Nile River
Murchison Falls
Melissa's favorite picture -- a face only a mother can love
Me and Melissa
Yes, the statue is of a woman breastfeeding

PRAISE THE LORD!

-Auntie Brooke.

Adventure Saturday

Chi Chi from Ntinda. Sorry for not posting yesterday. We went to the village, and when we got back we had to go for dinner, and we didn't get back until 11. After doing construction all day in the village, I was extremely tired.

So yesterday we went back to Zirobwe to build the walls for the squatty potty. I was on the construction crew, and it reminded me so much of Mexico. The only bad part is that there weren't enough shovels and tools for everyone. We had to make mortar to put the bricks in place, and the Africans were impressed that I already knew what I was doing. We didn't get it all done, but we'll have time next week. I looove the kids there. They are sooo, so appreciative if you even just look at them and smile. We got to see the newborn baby again, and I can already tell that he has grown so much. There were about 6 girls that went to see him. One of the girls said, "Can you imagine 6 foreign women coming to hold your baby and then talking in their native tongue while taking tons of pictures of your child? Because that's what's going on right now." haha. Last night Wilson brought us to this fancy Indian place in Garden City that was on the roof. It was cool to be out on the town because Ghana played last night. Our neighborhood was ROWDY! Imagine that ..

So, I was really dreading this Saturday. I'm just going to be real honest with you. They are supposed to be our free day, but we had to split up in groups and go meet with sponsor children. It was fun for the first little while, but it got a little frustrating. Everyone but 2 teams left at 9, and I was in one of the groups that didn't leave until 10:45. Most of the teams had 4-5 children to visit, and we had 8. Our leader only knew where the first person was. It was interesting being in that part of time because it is so poor, and a lot of Empower a Child's staff grew up there. We actually walked by 3 of their houses. I couldn't help but watch those little, dirty, malnourished, half naked children playing in the street and try and picture some of our staff members there. If it wasn't for a sponsorship program, they would not be anywhere near where they are today. If they would not have been empowered as a child, they would not be empowering hundreds of children today. If any of my stories or pictures the last few weeks have tugged at your heart, and you want to make a difference in the lives of some of the children we come in contact with every week, please e-mail me (bstewa9@tigers.lsu.edu). Here are some pictures of the children waiting to be sponsored: http://www.empower-a-child.org/eachome/SPONSORACHILD.html -- Your $30 a month will provide all of the following:

1. School Needs

school fees

meals at school

school supplies

2. Basic Needs

blankets

mattress

mosquito nets (to prevent malaria)

shoes

soap

3. Medical Needs

basic health check up (every 3 months)

doctors visits covered

dental check

skin check

4. Spiritual Needs

monthly Bible studies

mentoring programs

weekly outreach programs

counseling from Ugandan volunteers

So, a day I was dreading turned out to be a little frustrating simply because of culture differences, yes, but it opened my eyes to so much. People always say that you can change a life by sponsoring a child, but yes, you really can change a life by sponsoring a child. Please consider it and pray about it. The kids we visited today were so very thankful. I can't even begin to tell you. The guardians were also more than thankful. Some of the kids are orphans, so they're staying with friends or relatives. EAC doesn't want the guardians to have to put them on the streets again because they can't afford to take on another burden. Yes, burden, any extra children here are considered burdens. On the way home we rode a boda boda. Sorry, mom and dad. It was one of those spur the moments things because we didn't want to wait around for our ride. It was already 3, and we still hadn't eaten. It was soo fun! One of those things you just have to do before you leave Africa. Our drivers had a huge smile on their face when they realized they were driving Mzungus home. Benon had to walk in front of us a little ways so that they wouldn't see us and charge us any extra shillings.

I'm off to go spend some relaxing time in the hammock and try and enjoy the rest of the beautiful afternoon we have here.

Be praying for our team as we prepare to spend a week in Zirobwe. We leave on Tuesday.

Fun Facts:

- I officially experienced Africa. We stopped at Sempala's JaJa's house, and I had to go to the bathroom. I knew it would be a squatty, and I was totally okay with that. Well, it was a squatty with no door, curtain .. NOTHING! I was like surely a child is going to round this corner and be in for the sight of their lives... a Mzungu attempting to squat in their potty. Thankfully no one did. I just told Ivan, and he said next time I need to ask for a towel. I was nah .. I used my skirt for that purpose. He got a good laugh about that.

- No wonder the Africans are always outside. There is zero ventilation in a mud hut. I think I sweat more today than the whole time I've been here, and we've been "inside" all day.

- I may have already mentioned this, but Africans always sit with their legs to the side. I thought it was because women wore skirts, but the boys do it too.

- I am actually learning to not only appreciate skirts, but actually enjoy them .. well, long skirts.

Lauren and I with our boda boda driver.
The kids in the slums make their own toys. Howcool is that!
There were soo many kids walking down the street as we were leaving the village.
Sunrise over the Nile
Mama J and I in front of Murchison Falls on the Nile River.
yyyummm! goat on a stick!
haha. Jayan had to go to the bathroom really bad after drinking a liter of apple juice .. yes, a whole liter.

The video on the left is one of the clips I have of the Nile. I wanted everyone to see how strong it was. The video on the right is one of a baboon eating an apple that he stole from the trashcan.

PRAISE THE LORD!

-Auntie Brooke

Experience of a Lifetime

Oh. My. Goodness. Words cannot explain how amazing the last few days have been .. definitely the experience of a lifetime. Tuesday morning we left and drove all the way to Murchison Falls. Jayan and I each had a HUGE box of Splash apple juice (so much better than in America), which is a liter. Then, I had half a liter of water at lunch. I regretted that .. a lot. Anyways, so we went to Murchison Falls, and saw 2 of the waterfalls on the Nile. Wow.. I took some videos just to show how forceful it was. Then we got to hike down to the bottom and touch the Nile. The hike wasn't really that, but the lack of oxygen because of the altitude made it pretty rough. The fact that I was still recovering from being sick made it a little more tough. It was more than worth it though. It rained on us the whole time, so we all got in the car so cold and smelling like nasty, wet dogs.

The meals we ate the last few days have been phenomenal. I'm about halfway through my time here, and the main thing I miss from home (other than my family) is the food. The food really isn't that bad here because I'll eat almost anything, but we have the same things over and over, and that's what gets old. So yeah, the food was great.

Wednesday morning at 5 we woke up (well, it was the 4th time I woke up ... long story) to get to the Nile on time to catch t he ferry. We got to watch the sunrise over the most beautiful African landscape. God's power and majesty were so obvious the last few days . wow .. If you ever get to go on a safari, don't even hesitate - GO! So, we went on the safari and saw so many animals! I didn't take very many pictures because 2 girls on the trip with me had really nice cameras, so they are just going to let me load them on my computer. I can post some later when I get them. My favorite were the Jackson heartbeasts and the GIRAFFES!! The giraffes are by far my favorite animal now. We even got to see some baby giraffes!! ahh! so, so cute! The heartbeasts were just so cool looking. I can't wait for y'all to see a picture of them. They don't have any zebras in that park, which is disappointing, but we saw enough giraffes to make up for it. Seeing a lion is really rare, but we got to see a female lion for a few seconds, which was so cool. It almost sent a wave of fear in me because she looked vicious! I wasn't really expecting that. We also got to see 3 leopards! They hide in the trees, so most people never get to see them. Our tour guide had a really good eye for them, which was so cool! After our first safari was over, we headed back to the other side of the Nile where we ate a delicious lunch, and then went on a boat tour of the Nile. There were a lot of baboons waiting at the fairy that were sooo funny! One (with a little baby on his tummy) ran into a car, grabbed someone's box lunch and ran out to eat it. It was so hysterical! I have some videos of them doing some really odd things, which I can post later. We saw sooo many hippos and crocodiles. We even got really close to the waterfalls that we saw the day before. It was so beautiful!

After the boat tour we went back on a safari in search of more elephants (we only saw 1 sleeping elephant on the firs tone) and another lion. We didn't see another lion, but we saw lots of elephants!! We saw one adolescent male elephant that was a little ways away from the rest of his family. We startled him, and he didn't know what to do, so he turned, faced us (keep in mind that he is like 10 feet from us), fluffed his ears out, and I thought I was about to die... literally. I just knew he was going to charge us, but instead he just off and then stopped again, looked at us, and trumpeted. One of the girls got it on video. I almost died when we saw it because one of the girls yelled, "STOOOOOP!" So, Sempala did..very fast .. and I almost flew over the top of the car. (sorry mom!) I was scared for my life multiple times because Sempala is a crazy driver, but it was so worth it. I feel like we saw more animals in general because no one else was out on the land. We sat on top of the car the whole time, and all the sudden the heavens opened up, and it POURED! It didn't last long, but the storm brewing was sooo amazing! My friend Melissa got a really cool picture of a giraffe with the storm in the background. I'll probably end up framing it.

We sadly had to come back this afternoon. One the way home we stopped for a snack, and we were BOMBARDED by people selling us stuff and asking to marry us. haha. We ate pineapple with our heads out of the window because it was so juicy. It was still so, very, very messy. We also got more goat on a stick, which was wow, so, so good. I'm sad I just now discovered it. It's really not like me to really like something like that, but it is just so dang good. The other girls in the car tried to gross me out by telling me that it was the pieces of meat that they couldn't sell. It didn't work. If it's good, I'll eat it.

I finally got a shower today too. It was pretty cold there in the morning and at night, so we did not shower. It was much needed, especially because I had pineapple juice all over my upper body.

Sorry for this one not being very exciting. The safari was incredible beyond words, so I'm not even sure what to tell you. Hopefully the pictures will speak for themselves.

We're headed back to the village tomorrow to build the walls to the squatty. It's the same village where we will spend all next week building a home for some goats.

So on the safari, I was in awe of God for so many reasons. I was talking to a girl here about it, and I was like I was just speechless of how incredible God is, and she said, "And to think that this is what God thinks about us." It really caught me off guard, and it's still kind of sinking in. I'm really not that cool. That's what I keep wanting to tell the little kids that think we are just the best thing that ever happened to them. Yet, God loves me unconditionally and is so proud of me...weird.

Well off to do some bonding. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can.

Be praying for the team .. that nasty virus is spreading like wildfire, but thankfully no one has gotten as sick as I was.

Fun Facts:

-When Ugandans want a snack on a roadtrip, they stop for bananas, goat meat on a sick (yummm!), grilled plantains, and pineapple. Americans stop for McDonalds. Reason 402 Americans are overweight.

- Sometimes instead of saying "yes," they just nod their head with no smile or anything. It would be so rude in America. It actually still throws me for a loop. I have to just remember where I am.

PRAISE THE LORD!

-Auntie Brooke