Friday and Saturday have presented some amazing experiences
in Uganda for Team 24.
On Friday morning, we went to Welcome Home, a home for
abandoned or orphaned children. We toured the facilities (which were amazing and
provided the children with great care!) and then broke off into small groups to
play and sing with children in varying age groups from 0-6 years. In the 0-1
years, we met some gorgeous little bubs. One baby, Ivan, was 6 days old and his
presence in the orphanage was due to his mother passing away in childbirth. Another
little boy, Peter, was 4 years old but was in the babies’ space due to brain
damage he sustained at birth. His mother had also passed away in childbirth. We
met some reluctant 1-2-year olds who cry when they meet new people. But after
enough Mzungus had spent time with them, they enjoyed cuddles and times on the
swings. The 3-6-year olds on the other hand were stoked to see us, and they loved
trampoline time, singing and tickles. We got to see some teaching time with
each age group, which is an amazing opportunity they are provided with at such
a young age. It was much like Kindergarten sessions at home with singing and
story time.
For lunch, we went to Jinja Sailing Club and then went for a
boat ride on Lake Victoria to the Source of the Nile. We learned about the
history of the shores of Lake Victoria from our guide, as well as the current
uses of the land, like the youth prison. Although some of us were unsure about
the rickety boat, we made it safely to the Source of the Nile, a very momentous
occasion! We then sailed safely back to the sailing club…although we are unsure
how long Dale has to live after drinking the lake water 😊
After we made it back, we were surprised with a trip to the house of William (our
awesome driver!) to meet his newborn baby. Beautiful little Shelby was born a week
or so before our arrival and she was happily passed around the team for cuddles.
Then we came home for a dinner with the builders from the YSU site, a team of
men we had spent a lot of time with in the past few weeks and who we had built
great relationships with!
On Saturday, half of us went off to our White Water Rafting
experience on the Nile! It was absolutely awesome! Nicola, Sasha, Nathan, Greg
and Debbie were tossed and turned (and overturned!) on various rapids, some of
us even daring to go down the biggest grade 5 rapid called the Bad Place where
we were instantly flipped over and had to be rescued by guys in kayaks. It was
thrilling and we wouldn’t have changed it for anything. We enjoyed bonding on the
way back to Subi talking about our lives at home. The rest of the team spent
the day cooking special treats and dinner for us all, shopping, working at YSU or
re-visiting Welcome Home for another chance to cuddle the little babies. Dale,
Nathan and Greg even went off to surprise some little children with a new
soccer ball. They were playing in the alley ways with a plastic bag soccer ball
they had made, and they were so happy to receive a new soccer ball from the
boys after the kids defeated them 4-3 😊
Off to the Zoo tomorrow with the children from the Village
of Hope, so we’re all hoping for a good nights sleep after a big day today!
No comments:
Post a Comment