Finally!

Finally I have time and internet access to write! We have been in Uganda for a week and a half and we have already done SO much! Uganda is beautiful. The land is green and lush and the sun shines then it starts raining out of nowhere. I feel so blessed to be in this country and meet such loving and warm people.

Mengo Youth School
This morning we visited an informal school for orphans who can’t afford school fees but the community wanted to set up a place for them to go and receive some kind of education. You cannot imagine where their “school” is – right in the middle of a slum- a one-room shack raised four feet off the ground in the middle of a construction site. Every few minutes sawing, banging, and jack hammering would delay our teaching. While we danced with the fifty children, I thought that the floor was going to fall through. One girl cried for over an hour because she lost her pencil, her only possession, during all of the commotion. I couldn’t stop thinking about how an American child would think of a pencil… as meaningless and easily replaceable.

There were about 8 boys between the ages of 9-11 who were refugees from Congo. We don’t know much about who they traveled with to Uganda but I did get to speak French with them. Of course the kids were still so joyful despite their condition and loved playing games and singing and dancing. Their teacher, Ron, told us that most of the children are only getting one meal a day, they have all lost their parents, and over 50% are affected with HIV/AIDS.

The culture here is so fun and different. We have been learning African dances and songs, playing the bongos, eating lots of rice and beans, and thanking God for the beauty of the people and nature.