Reaching the End

I'm actually writing this to you from the Dubai airport at 5:30 am waiting for my 10:15 am flight.  I left Uganda yesterday, and it hasn't quite hit me yet that I am gone...maybe because of pure exhaustion.  I am not going to write about my last days at Amani because I have still not really processed things yet.  Writing in my journal has been the only way I have attempted to do so and that has led to many tears in many public areas.  So to keep myself from further embarrassment, I will keep this short.  My time at Amani was so sweet.  The memories I have made on this trip will never fade.  I know the people that came into my life were put there for a purpose.  I grew so much within the last couple of months spent in Uganda.  My heart is aching having to leave Jinja, a place that I have grown to call home.  I am so full of emotions; I really don't know how to handle them all!  Having to leave those kids was extremely hard for me to do.  My time there was incredible, but I knew it would end painfully.  Those kids have a tendency to capture your heart, and they were definitely successful with me.  I am very sleep-deprived so I think I'm going to end it here before I start rambling.  But as you read this, I hope and pray that you keep these children and the people of Uganda in your thoughts and prayers as they will always remain in my heart.  Thank you.

Some of the Best Days

Yesterday was one of those days that just summed up how amazing this trip has been for me!  It did start off by saying goodbye to the Ives family with a huge lunch send-off at the Keep.  Goodbyes are not one of my favorite things, but I am so thankful for the Ives family and all that they have done here!  They will be missed!  Love you Ives!!

After the Keep, I was able to go to the Source of the Nile with another volunteer and two of our children, Esther and Charlie.  We took a boat ride all around Lake Victoria and the Nile and where they connect.  We saw all sorts of wildlife such as monkeys, lizards the size of small children, numerous kinds of birds, and black cobras swimming in the water next to our boat (I was not a fan of that one!).  The scenery was breathtaking!  I wish that the pictures I am going to post could really explain how incredible everything really is!  We spent close to 2 hours exploring all around the source of the Nile!  And I loved sharing it with our kids!  It was funny to hear a lot of Ugandans refer to us as the kids' mamas.  But it was a nice change from being called a "mzungu" all the time!  :)

Soon we had to leave to get the kids back home for dinner.  And then it was time for the aunties to head over to our friend's house for dinner, dessert, and games!  I can't remember a time I have laughed so hard!  A dance party soon broke out in the kitchen as we were preparing Kraft macaroni and cheese and brownies (best meal yet!).  I don't think I even left the kitchen that night because that's where the party was!  I am so blessed to have gotten to know such sweet friends over here.  I have been so encouraged by them!  And it helps that we can have random kitchen dance parties to Britney Spears all the way to the Mamma Mia soundtrack!  Love it!  The night ended with an intense game of banana grams (of course on the kitchen floor)!  These memories I have made will definitely last me a lifetime!

I am so thankful for my time here, and I know I have probably said that in every post I've made!  But it's true!  It's hard to describe to you in words how super wonderful awesome incredible life-changing and amazing it has been!  But I'm trying as best as I can!  :)  But enough words for now....let the pictures do the talking!  Enjoy!

Lindsey, Charlie, Me, and Esther

Boat ride at the Source of the Nile

Gigantic lizard

So beautiful!

One of my favs!

Charlie and Esther photo shoot

Mr. Charlie loving his boat ride

James, our tour guide spotted a snake in the water

It's there I promise!  It's a black cobra to the right of the leaves

Birds everywhere...

And here are some more pictures from Amani!

S I M O N!!!

Jennifer and Hope

Richard and Charlie

I took William out to Ozzie's for some cake and soda

Moses

Joseph

Alima

Love...Me and Benja

Ahhh probably one of my all time favorites!  Me and Esther

My Esther again

Me and Richard

Amazing Memories Being Made

Sometimes I wonder what most people think of when they hear the words "Africa" or "Uganda"...

For me, I think of beauty.  Beauty in the land and in the people.  I have fallen in love with Uganda and everything in it.  The memories I have already made on this trip are going to last a lifetime, and now I want to share a few with you all.  Memories such as:  

• The children saying their prayer:  "Hands together.  Eyes closed.  Dear Jesus bless our mamas, bless our aunties, bless our uncles, bless our food, in Jesus name, Amen."
• Seeing poverty everywhere but also finding joy in the midst of it
• Hugs and kisses before nap and bedtime that never seem to end
• Tickle fests
• Preschoolers singing songs that I use to sing when I was their age
• Being able to hold a newborn who has already been through so much more than anyone should ever experience
• Laughing with the mamas
• See a child crawl or walk for the first time
• Having a child speaking gibberish to then have them start to call you auntie
• Roasting marshmallows in a bonfire with the kids and mamas
• Teaching a mama what a raccoon is when watching Disney's Pocahontas
• Trying posho and matooke for the umpteenth time
• Making amazing friendships halfway around the world
• Living right by the Nile
• Riding a boda boda side-saddle and trying not to fall off while holding an armful of groceries and the boda man tends to hit every pothole possible
• Karaoke at the Keep on Saturday nights
• Shopping in the markets
• Holding a child when they get sick
• Experiencing a wedding introduction in the Ugandan sun for 6 hours wearing a traditional gomez
• Experiencing riots firsthand (and once is enough!)
• Game nights of Puno and Tripoly
• Having my best friend meet my kids via Skype
• Knowing I will someday come back to Uganda when the time is right (and hopefully have my parents experience it with me!)  :)

Just to name a few!  Although I knew I would be greatly impacted by this trip, I never knew to what extent.  I love this beautiful country and its people.  My heart will break when I leave Uganda, as I leave pieces of it here.  But though there will be heartache, I know I would do it over again a thousand times if possible!

"Now that I have seen, I am responsible

Faith without deeds is dead

now that I have held you in my own arms, I cannot let go till you are

I am on a plane across a distant sea

But I carry you in me

and the dust on, the dust on, the dust on my feet"

Albertine lyrics by Brooke Fraser

Thank you all again for your love and support!

Erin

All Quiet on the Ugandan Front

Hello all!  Thank you so much for your prayers and support in last week's events.  It means a lot.  Things are definitely quieting down here.  One or two riots tried to start up here in Jinja this week, but they were quickly put to a stop.  Everyone was pretty on edge last week with the all of the excitement going on, but now things are getting back to normal and will hopefully stay that way for a while!
All is well at Amani!  We now are close to having a full house of volunteers.  When I first came to work here, there were only 2 of us, and now there is up to 5 with 3 more coming in a couple of weeks.  I am still helping out with the preschool group, and it is really exciting to see all of their progress since I first began working with them.  We always have 2 preschool sessions every weekday morning, which start with prayer, singing songs, and reading stories.  The songs that the kids know are like a blast from my past!  One of their favorites now is an awesome song about a hippopotamus and it is all thanks to my kindergarten teacher!  They've been working hard on their numbers, learning the days of the week, the months of the year, the weather, and there are always many many crafts!  Luckily, the other volunteer helping with preschool is great at crafts because I don't think they would get much help out of me in that area!
The kids here are such a blessing and always put a smile on my face!  I love waking up and walking into their room to have a sudden rush of 5-10 toddlers running up for a hug yelling "Auntie Erin!  Auntie Erin!"  They bring me so much joy!  Ah I love them!!
Here's a hilarious story I want to share with you that happened just the other day.  It started out in the morning with myself making my usual cup of instant Starbucks coffee.  I grabbed my favorite coffee mug because for one it's the biggest one we have and two...it is definitely a Spice Girls mug!  Only in Uganda we would have a Spice Girls mug!  So, after getting my coffee, I head down to see the toddlers.  As soon as I sat down to drink my much-needed cup-o-joe, I was greeted by a couple of the boys in preschool.  They were looking at the mug to see who was on it.  I asked who they saw on it, and they began pointing to the Spice Girls and said that each one was a specific auntie.  To a couple of boys I am either Posh Spice or Sporty Spice!  And I'm pretty sure I prefer the latter!  It had me laughing so hard!  These kids make me laugh so much!  Like when seeing Silas run around with his shirt over his head or Siouxanne laughing her mischievous laugh or even Christopher waving to me with our secret wave that I taught him!

Silas

(:

Me and Alima

Christopher

Jacob, William, and Alima

Definitely singing karaoke at the Keep

My Henry

Siouxanne

Silas and me

It's slowly starting to sink in that I only have less than 3 weeks left of my time here!  Time has flown!  I have made so many amazing friends here in Uganda, and the kids here have already taken a piece of my heart with them.  I am cherishing every moment I have here!  Thank you all again for your love and support!

Erin

oh and Mom...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!  I love you!!!

Keep Uganda in Your Thoughts and Prayers

So I had somewhat of a crazy adventure yesterday...I never thought I would ever experience the things I saw driving to and from Kampala.  There were 4 of us Mzungus driving into Kampala for the Friday markets.  It took us about 2 hours or so to reach the city, and we made a pit stop in a local shopping center before heading over to the markets.  As we reached the markets, we noticed that everyone was already beginning to pick up shop even though it was still morning time.  But of course, as soon as they saw 4 Mzungus step out of a van they immediately started unpacking their merchandise.  We thought nothing of it, but after we had been there for about 15-20 minutes we started hearing popping noises in the background.  Gun shots were being fired in the streets near to us.  Now we realized why the people were packing up everything...the riots had continued over from the day before.  We got word that the rioting was quickly spreading through the town so we thought it was wise to head back home to Jinja.  We got in the van and started heading out of town.  Pretty soon we saw many cars turning around and going back the way we had come from.  So, we had to find another way out.  Soldiers and policemen were coming out of the woodwork, and roadside shops were closing up.  We ran into many traffic jams and man-made roadblocks.  The stretch of road going out of Kampala was filled with smoke, but it was the only way out so we continued on our way.  Soon we came upon burning tires, telephone poles, trash, and everything else piled into the middle of the streets.  The protesters had begun to throw all of this debris into the roads to make it difficult for the government vehicles to get through as well as everyone else!  For the next however many miles, we zigzagged around the burning material until we reached the city limits.  Overall, it was a pretty scary experience, but we are all okay.  It was later learned that up to 5 people were killed and over 100 were injured in Friday's rioting.  We were a little shaky when we returned home mainly because there were rumors going around that Besigye (leader of the rioting) had been killed.  If that were to happen, it would be advised that all of us volunteers should move our flights up early because things could escalate quickly.  But soon after we got back, those rumors were proven false.  More rumors began coming in via the radio, phone calls, etc.  But latest we've heard (that we are pretty certain about) is that Besigye is just in his home healing from pepper spray that was sprayed in his face.
Right now, we are still waiting and hoping to see whether or not things will die down.  So what I ask from all of you is to keep Uganda and its government in your thoughts and prayers right now.  Hopefully, the president will be meeting with Besigye in hopes of peace talks.  Things in Jinja are much much more peaceful than in Kampala.  Riots tried to start up yesterday morning, but they were quickly stopped.  Everyone at Amani is safe and doing well.  Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I will try to keep you all updated on the upcoming events.
Here are some pictures we took from our drive through Kampala...

 

More Easter Pictures

Here are some more pictures from our Easter egg hunt at Amani

William and Benja waiting for the hunt to begin

All of the toddlers waiting for their aunties to let them start

Jonah found one!

Mary enjoying her sweetie

Moses

Eric

Jacob

Christopher

Richard

So cute,...Henry, Esther, and Charlie

haha Brian ate all his sweeties so is now going after the egg itself!

Precious girls...Jemima and Alima

Benja is too focused on the sweetie

Same with Jonah

It was such a fun-filled day!  To top it all off, afterwards, the aunties went to Ling Ling's Chinese Restaurant in Jinja for an awesome Easter dinner...gotta love it!