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!

Happy Easter!

Hello all!  Happy Easter!  While my day is almost finishing, yours is just beginning.  This weekend has been full of different activities from Easter egg hunts with the kids to an all day introduction wedding ceremony (Ugandan style engagement party).
This morning, I was able to attend Calvary Chapel here in Jinja for the Easter service, which was very good!  I also got to see Dan, a little boy who was just adopted from Amani to this sweet lady who lives on Calvary Chapel's property.  It was so good to see him so happy there!  The church service was good, and just as soon as I made it back home it began to rain so hard my room was leaking from multiple areas!  So, because I was all of a sudden stuck here with my computer, I decided to update this blog! :)
On Thursday, we held a mini Easter egg hunt for the preschoolers.  We hid eggs all throughout the backyard with sweeties in them, and it was a hit!  The kids had a lot of fun!

Benja looking for some eggs

Jacob spots one!

All the kids enjoying their sweeties

Matthew

Alima showing Jemima what's inside

Elijah showing off his egg to his aunties

Jacob

On Saturday, we were in for a big surprise!  Mama Lois has invited all of the volunteers to go with her to a introduction ceremony, which is like an engagement party only very Ugandan and very VERY long!  Some of the mamas came over to help us with our outfits unbeknownst to me!  I was just ready to go in a skirt and t-shirt, but they had something completely different in mind for us Mzungus (term they use for a white person)!  They gave us each a traditional Ugandan outfit to wear called a Gomez.  After we got dressed, we headed out to the village to where the ceremony was going to be.  We wanted to arrive about half way through the party because we heard they were long and the bride and groom don't even arrive until later.  So we arrived at a little before 2 pm thinking that it had already started at noon.  I was told a typical introduction lasts about 4 hours!  But as we arrived around 2, we soon found out that the party wouldn't start until 3.  So, after some waiting in the hot Ugandan sun, the party began!  It was a very neat experience, but the only bummer was that I had multiple layers on, it was extremely hot, and it lasted way beyond what we thought it would!  Since we were the only Mzungus there, they wanted to introduce us in front of 200-300 people!  After we had been there for around 3 plus hours we decided we needed to slip out.  As soon as we did, someone escorted us inside the bride's parent's house and gave us am enormous meal way before anyone else because we were their "honored guests".  Going on 4 hours, we knew we had to leave even though the party was far from being over!  Let me tell you it was a very hot and uncomfortable day, but it was something I am so glad I got to experience while I am here!

Here are some pics from that day....some are pretty priceless!  :)

Mama Josephine, Mama Jaja, and Mama Cook helped us into the Gomez....Yes I know...we look very smart!

Helene and I on the way to the ceremony

A passing village

Yup definitely drum cakes

The bride-to-be!

The procession of the family members plus a bubble machine!

The bride came and personally greeted us after our meal

Last Week's Adventures

Here are some pictures from this last week...

I was able to take Christopher on an outing to Serjios pizza place down the road for some soda and ice cream time!  We had a great time!

On Wednesday, we took all the toddler boys out for a cowboy and indian adventure.  In this van, there were 5 aunties and 14 toddler boys! Only in Uganda!  :)

Oh Joseph

Matthew

The boys loved their cowboy vs indians water balloon fight!

Benja's chaps were a little too big for him!

Benja with his auntie

Soda and cookie time after the water balloon fight

Cutest pirate/cowboy I know!!

On Thursday, we took the preschool group over to Serjios for some sodas

Elijah, Alima, Jacob, Matthew, Jemima, Benja, Jonah, and William

Sarah and I have been teaching this preschool group for the last month, and we have had such a fun time doing so!

Awareness

I want to share with you some of the difficult things that are currently going on around Uganda.  I am staying in Jinja, a small town off of Lake Victoria and about 1 hour away from Kampala, Uganda's capital.  On Thursday of last week, peace walks and demonstrations were held throughout many cities (Jinja being one of them).  Sadly though, in this country, not too many things are dealt with peacefully.  The peace walks quickly turned into riots throughout the day.  The riots began because of the economic hardships the people face here on a daily basis.  Lately, prices have sky-rocketed including fuel and most foods such as rice, matooke, sugar, milk, beans, and maize flour.  Soldiers and police brought teargas, water canons, and even tanks to put a stop to the rioting.  In Kampala, many people were injured and I was told that a couple people had even died.  One of the leaders of this riot, Dr. Besigye, was shot in all the chaos.  He was the runner up in the latest presidential elections.  I was later informed that this man firmly believes that war will be the only answer to solve anything.  He also prides himself in following after the ideals of Uganda's tyrant and dictator of the 70' and 80's, Idi Amin, who mass murdered thousands of his own people.  The riots stopped Thursday afternoon/evening, but they will pick back up this Monday.
I will say that no one at Amani saw any of the rioting.  It was all downtown, and most of it does take place in Kampala.  I do feel very safe where I am staying.  I am writing this to you because if I was back at home in the states, I would have no idea this was even going on.  Not very many people are made aware of all the hardships that go on so frequently.

I also want to tell you about Esther.  She is the newest addition to the Amani family as of yesterday.  Her mother dropped her off because her family does not have the money to provide for her.  Her mother is HIV positive and has TB.  She does not have any money to buy her food, so the mother had no choice but to breastfeed her so that she could survive.  But sadly, because of that, Esther now has both diseases that her mother has.  I was able to play with Esther when she got here.  She is such a beautiful baby girl.  I was very overwhelmed with emotion over the whole situation.  Seeing her mother's condition broke my heart.  Sometimes, I even forget that these amazing children at Amani have come from such difficult situations.  The realization of my surroundings has been very hard to handle over the last couple of days.

Esther

I hope that in this post, you will keep the people of Uganda in your thoughts and prayers.  I am having an amazing time here at Amani, but knowing what is happening outside of our compound is very unnerving.

Again, I want to reassure you (mom and dad) that I am very safe!  I am loving my time here in Uganda!  I just want to help bring awareness.  Thanks!
Erin

Bujagali Falls + More Pics of Kiddos

On Sunday, 5 of us went to this place right outside of Jinja called Bujagali Falls.  It is located right by Lake Victoria, and flows into the White Nile.  It was an amazing site to see!  Our driver told us that this is the only river in the world that flows upwards, and it takes 3 months when the water enters from Lake Victoria until it reaches the Mediterranean Sea.  Many people raft the falls, but you could not pay me to do so!  Although, we did pay a man to float down the grade 5 rapids on a yellow water container as well as a kayaker!  That was quite entertaining!

Bujagali Falls

Brave Brave Man

And because I can't get enough of these precious kids here are more pics from today's adventure going down to the lake

William

Jonah

Me and Jonah...I thought we had both decided to do silly faces...he missed that memo I guess!

Benja boy!

Didn't mean to have Alima out of focus, but I kinda like it!

My boy again

And again...

Me and Jacob