St Paul and Rose Orphanage

I just think it is cool that we are so close to Kenya :)

This is the garbage pile in our village.
There are always children picking
through it.

Last weekend we went to the Uganda vs.
Kenya soccer match at Mandela stadium. It was
pretty cool.

DISCLAIMER: So I know my grammar and spelling on most of my posts is really poor. I should take the time to go over them and edit them but that would simply just take too much time.

Last Thursday I had the coolest experience I have had thus far in Uganda. I didn't have a whole lot planned for the day so our country director convinced me to go with her and some of the other volunteers to an orphanage in some random village. I felt kind of bad since it wasn't my area of expertise but like I said, I didn't have a whole lot going on so I figured what the heck.

We almost ended up not going because when we got to the taxi park we found out it would take 90,000 shillings (about $45) and 2 hrs to get out there. When we called Paul (the person who runs the orphanage) though to tell him we wouldn't be able to make it he just sounded heart broken. We quickly changed our minds and told him we would be there as soon as we could.

Three hours later we finally arrived in the village where the orphanage was located. Another mile hike down a desolate dirt road and we were there. Rose (the wife of paul) ran ahead to let the children know we were there. It caught all of us off guard because she started screaming like a banchee to get the children attention. All of a sudden out of nowhere 30 children came running at us from behind the house yelling and cheering. We were overwhelmed as they nearly knocked us to the ground with one huge group hug.


The village where the orphanage is Located.


Wearing the bead necklaces that the orphans
make to sell.

The children eating dinner. All they had was
matoke :( (mushed flavorless bananas)

Us eating dinner. It was our first time actually
eating with our hands. We got G-nut sauce with
our matoke.


Once things had finally settled down a little bit all the children started singing and dancing as the y welcomed us to their humble home. Tears almost started streaming down my face as I saw these children who barely had clothes on their backs and only a few pairs of shoes amongst the whole group and yet they were so excited and grateful we were there. It was especially touching as they sang about Jesus and how they always knew they could count on him to protect them.

Once the singing and dancing was over a few of the children gave presentations that they had prepared on topics such as AIDS and the effect is has on Ugandan children and what it was like for them being street children before they came to the orphanage. They also showed us how they farm their own crops and take care of their animals. I was very impressed with how disciplined they were.

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out with the orphans and assesing what we could do to help them. We are really working to find some income generating project for them so that they can better take care of the orphans they have and maybe even take in a few more. They have about 10 acres of land that is owned free and clear by Paul and Mary but since they live out in the middle of nowhere there really isn't a market for the produce they grow. Lucky they are able to feed the kids but they still need money for school fees and clothes. Lauren and I are racking are brains for some sort of sustainable project that we can implement.

I just cannot express to you how much I was impressed with the children there. They all just seemed so happy and grateful for all the many blessings they have. When we asked them what they like to do for fun they said they love to fetch water and farm the land. I thought how different that was from any sort of answer you would get from a kid in the states.

We didn't realize when we went out there that since we were in the middle of nowhere there would be no way to catch a taxi back. We were supposed to be home for curfew at 7 (when it get's dark here) but it wasn't until 6 that we even realized we had no way to get home. The kids begged us to spend the night with them even offering us their beds. We seriously considered it but we had all long since run out of water and they didn't have any purified drinking water to offer.

You shoudl have seen their faces when we told them we wouldn't be able to stay. It was heart wrenching. So after some Matoke (mashed up flavorless bannanas that are eaten at every meal) and g-nut sauce (the equivalent of runny salty peanut butter) we were on our way. Paul was able to round up a couple of boda bodas (motorcycle taxis that are kinda scary) for us to ride the hour back to the nearest town. It was dark by the time we left which kind of made us all nervous but it was sooo worth it.

This article doesn't even begin to describe the amazingness that was the day but hopefully I will be able to post some pictures later that will give you a glimpse!!

The children showing us their garden. It was
my first time actually seeing how pineapples grow.

The kids thought it was hilarious when
we gave them piggy back rides and raced.
Those are the jugs the children used to fill
with water. They walked back carrying them
on their heads. We of course were useless.

A school room at the local primary school

The local primary school

The Children's ward in the hospital.

Taking showers in the rain after having no water
for three days.

A womens group that makes necklaces and sells
them online to people all over the world.

Village Children

Our room BEFORE we moved all our stuff in.
There are seven of us in there.

The Jinja branch Primary. Cutest Kids!!

Mushroom houses (they are currently in
between growing seasons) I will be working a
lot with these this summer.


We met the most amazing person today. His name is Wilson and he is in charge of the Youth Outreach mission here in Lugazi. He seriously is on a mission to change the world. As he told us his story he explained that he felt from the time that he was very young that he felt it was his responsibility to help his people. His whole story is seriously just amazing. I felt like I was at an EFY talk or something as he explained to us that if we put our faith in God and work our very hardest we will be able to make a difference. He is only 21 years old and yet I feel like he is one of the wisest people I have ever met.

That is something that I have really be impressed with here in Uganda. As we have been getting to know people and how we can help I have really be impressed how the locals have taken matters into their own hands. These projects are being led by them, not by us. We merely have the time and the knowledge and the man power to provide them with what they need. It makes me feel so much better about working with them because if they own the projects then that means things will keep on going after we leave. I can't wait to start getting to work next week!!

Koloa Hospital

Today we visited the hospital where we will be doing a lot of work this summer. It was definitely an interesting and sad experience. The childrens ward was the most depressing their methods just looked so archaic it reminded me of something you might see in an old school movie. I wish I could post some pictures but internet is sooo slow! I'm not sure if I will be working in the hospital much since it isn't really my area of focus but I might go every once in a while just to help out. I would especially love to go on their outreach projects to different villages.

Speaking of... Andrea asked me to explain to you guys what it is like where I live. We are living in a little town called lugazi. I think the population is about 35,000 so it is pretty rural. We seriously live right in the thick of the poverty which is a humbling experience. Our house is obviously the biggest house in the neighborhood by far other than our next door neighbors. (It would still be considered a very small house in the states maybe about twice the size of my apartment at college) We all love it though.

The electricity and water where we live is a bit iffy. The electricity only works about half the time and the water works even less. Before today we went three days straight without any water. Luckily our drinking water is all in jugs but still, we didn't have any water so shower with or even to flush the toilet with. That is what I was going to say last time that was so gross... since we couldn't flush the toilets for like two days some of the people in our group finally resorted to using the restrooms in trash bags placed in small buckets. I was grateful I never got that desperate :) It was pretty bad not being able to shower either. It finally rained last night so a few of the girls and I went outside in our bathing suits and showered in the rain. It's the only shower I have had since last Saturday. Luckily the water turned back on today though so as soon as we get home we will all be able to shower.

Everyone in town knows who we are and were we live. The other day we got lost in some other neighborhood and all the little street children showed us how to get home. It made all of us laugh. The kids here are so precious here. Everytime we walk up or down the street they all run out and grab our hands and just walk with us until we finally insist they go back to their moms. They are too shy to actually talk to us but they love just holding our hands and walking. If all our hands are taken the other children stand on the roadsides and shout "hey mzungo, hey mzungo" (Hey white person, hey white person) over and over again while doing a little dance. It is so cute!!

For the most part we will do our work here in Lugazi which means pretty much everything is within walking distance. Every once in a while though we will be branching out and going out into the more remote villages which will be cool.

The food has been pretty good so far except it is all fried and they don't really eat meat other than fish. I know meat isn't my favorite but I could never be a vegetarian.

So things are moving along. We are spending this week looking at all the different projects just so we have an idea of what the needs are and how we can help. Next week we will start dividing up into groups according to our interests and go to work. I can't wait!!

I hope all is well back home!!

Love,
Carrie

Well, I finally made it to the internet. I planned on my blog being a detailed travelog but I can already tell that there just isn't going to be enough time. I've only actually been in Uganda for 3 days and already there are hundreds of stories that cool be told. Unfortunately I guess I will just have to keep it to the basics.

It took longer than expected to actually make it to Uganda. After waiting 5 hours on the plane to leave from London to Entebbe (Uganda) the cabin crew came over the intercome and told us we wouldn't be able to fly that night and we would have to wait until the next night. Obviously we were all dissapointed but I was impressed how well all the kids travelling with us just kinda laughed about the whole thing. It helped the the airline was required to put us up in a hotel and pay for all our food. Ufortunately our hotel was out in the middle of nowhere so it didn't meant that we got to spend any extra time in London.

I finally arrived in Uganda last Saturday with the 5 other girls who were on my same flight. I'm not going to lie, I was super tired but grateful for the change to hit the groud running. The house we are renting actually wasn't ready for us when we arrived so we spent all day Saturday trying to clean it up and put everything together. It was a good bonding experience.

Church yesterday was AWESOME!! We went to a little branch in a village that is about an hour away. They had stake conference the Sunday before so this week was fast and testimony meeting. I was so impressed to hear the testimonies of the people. They were so simple and to the point but you could honestly feel that they just know it's true.

After sacrament meeting a couple of the other girls and I decided we wanted to go to primary just to spend time with the kids. We went in there and sat with the kids patiently waiting for the teacher. We had been sitting there for about ten minutes when finally a man came in with a container full of lesson manuals and pictures. We asked him if he was a teacher. He looked at us quizzically and responded, "No, you are" We were totally taken of guard. We had no idea what to do with 30 kids for and hour and a half. We held our own though and the kids were sooo precious! I have never seen such beautiful children in my life! One of them was crying so I just held her in my lap and she clung for me for the rest of church. My heart just melted!!

Today we worked on our first project: Adobe stoves. First we went around and checked out all the people who had received stoves last year and how they have benefited from them. Then one of our partners showed us how to make them. It was lots of work but oh so fun. We had to stomp the clay ourselves. At first I was nervous to be trudging around in the mud barefoot but at least if I get some parasite we are all going to get it together.

One thing I have learned in Uganda is that if there is something to go wrong it will. We have adopted the phrase "If life gives you lemons make lemonade" each time something goes wrong we call it a lemon and just laugh about it. The funniest was last night. . . actually I probably shouldn't write about it, it's kinda gross but if you want to hear a really funny story let me know :) Even with everything going wrong though I have really been impressed with our groups attitude. I haven't heard anyone complain about anything, most of the time we just find ourselves busting up laughing. It's a good thing because we have 16 people living in a three bedroom house (plus a garage which 7 of us our sleeping in). It would definitaly be a challange if we weren't all so easy going.

Man, I wish I could tell you all everything but there just isn't enough time. I guess I'll just have to give it to you piece by piece. For now though I hope you will all find it comforting to know that we are all safe and having the time of our lives!!