Greetings from Uganda!
After a 22 hour flight, we made it to Uganda! The flight was long, but we were pumped to get there. When we got off the flight, the Empower a Child staff were there to greet us (they were so sweet and excited to see us). Our first hour in Africa composed of an interesting bus ride... lets just say the roads are not paved, and no stop lights, and people drive everywhere (i mean crazy). When we got to the Empower a Child house, all of the other volunteers were there to greet us. And what a small world we live in... half of the volunteers are from Texas and have similar friends with people who graduated with Charissa. By the way, we are staying in a suburb of Kampala called Ntinda.
DAY 1
Our first day (on Tuesday) we got up around 7 am, and started off the day with devotions and praise and worship (in Luganda) with the rest of the group. We got to divide into pairs, and pray over our struggles and concerns of our life. After the morning devotions, we all split up to go to a primary school. Ashley and Brittany went to Victory (a primary school) where they played games, sang songs, taught the kids about respecting their teachers (the focus this week is on trying to encourage all the kids to stay in school), and told them how God is our ultimate teacher. Anna and Charissa went to Mengo (another primary school) that was the size of one small room with holes in the ground and the roof was flying open. We shared the same teachings as Ashley and Brittany. We also did praise and worship with the kids, as well as colored. The most amazing thing about visiting with the kids was although they had little, they were so happy. When we arrived to the schools, they ran out and greeted us with hugs, and called us "Muzungus" which means "White Person"... it was so adorable!
In the afternoon we visited a secondary school called Harvard College (which is a high school). Anna and Ashley had the opportunity to pray for these kids. We all encouraged them to stay in school and pursue their dreams (a lot of them said doctors, accountants, pilots, nurses, a model, teachers, a rapper, etc.)
When we returned back to the house, we were EXHAUSTED, but the good Lord gave us dish duty :) And its not like at home where you can put it in the dishwasher, and its only a few plates. We cleaned dishes for 30 people (twice, lunch and dinner), with buckets of COLD water, 1 bar of soap, and dirty dish towels... BUT, we had a blast doing it! It was interesting experience...
DAY 2
Today we visited a Children's hospital, called Kataelwa Children's Hospital. These kids were injured from birth defects, war, accidents, etc. We visited with them, sang songs, danced, colored, and did a skit on Daniel 3, about the fiery furnace. (Today is "Martyrs day" in Uganda, by the way...) We all wanted to take all the children home with us!
We were also able to visit Good Choice primary school, where we did manual labor, such as cleaning the rooms, picking up trash outside, mopping the floors, playing games (jump rope, soccer, tag).
After that we challenged East High School (a Muslim school) to a basketball game, where I am pretty sure we lost. But we did put up a good fight. Anna and Charissa also played a little pick-up volleyball, and Ashley (of course) went to the soccer field and ran about a million laps. By the way, Brittany is a BALLER at basketball!
Tomorrow we will be visiting a babies home, and this weekend we go on our SAFARI! So, we might be MIA till next week.
So, overall, we are having an amazing experience. Thanks to you all of you guys who have supported us for this trip, it is a once in a life time opportunity. Love you all!
-Anna, Ashley, Brittany and Charissa
This was at the Children's hospital (his name is Precious) - such a sweet little boy. His legs were bo-legged, and he had casts on them to help straighten them. He also had little crutches. What a gift from God.
This is Anna at the Children's hospital. This little boy fell asleep in
her arms while she was holding him! He was about one years old and had a
cast on his right leg. He was beautiful and she loved laughing with him!
Here is Brittany jump roping with some wonderful kids. It is just one skinny rope, but the kids love it! And so did we :)
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