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| These women were dancing with 10 loose pots on their heads! |
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| Kyle enjoying the free for all dance! |
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| Our friend, Godfrey enjoying the night! |
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| Drummers from Burendi |
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| Ndere African Culture Dance Meal - Goat Meat! |
We have experienced so much. Last night (Sunday)
we were taken to an African Culture Dance called NDere and for three hours we got to
experience dance, music and narrative on the different regions in Africa
and the dance and music specific to each one. I will never throw
"Africa" again into one pot. Each people group has distinct customs and
traditions. In the end they invited all of us down to dance with the
professionals and dance we did!! I savored every moment there including
enjoying a taste of goat meat. Have I said that I love Uganda!
This
morning I was awaken again by the best alarm clock with the giggles of
the children getting ready for school below our room. I could also hear
the roosters that roam wild here doing their morning calls. I walked
the very narrow dirt road to take the school age children. Rafiki is in
the heart of extreme poverty and the walk is difficult on the eyes and
heart but the children are joyous and full of energy, holding the hands
of this Mzungu (white person) as they sang with their beautiful uniforms
and almost running with pleasure to be at school.
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| Edwin and Emma with Auntie Patty Two! |
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| Fausiya, Edwin, Isha, Emma and Cocus! |
I had
orientation this morning to learn more about Rafiki, the Ugandan culture
and my role as a short-term missionary. This staff is incredible.
This is not just an orphanage where kids get dumped, where kids should
be felt sorry for or where anyone is pitied. THis truly is a home and
all the staff are these children's family addressed as Aunt, Uncle,
Mama. Auntie Esther is an amazing Office Manager. She spent over an hour with me and I so appreciated her heart for these children. The staff are dedicated to these kids and they aren't just
performing a job, they are loving on these kids, disciplining these kids
and raising them up to be the next generation of Ugandan leaders. The
goal for this particular children's home isn't to remove them from their
culture, or teach them the American way. The founder is American but
she is dedicated to keeping these kids in the Ugandan culture and
working with their families or extended families to hopefully place them
back with them. The children are unspoiled, obedient, they help each
other and help the workers. They know how to extend love and kindness
to strangers. They laugh, they cry, they make messes, they sing but are
completely content. I couldn't get through orientation without crying
(alot). God has chosen this little place to shine His Light and shine
it does very brightly!
Our schedule changed today and we are
staying here at Rafiki. The work we have done today (with great
pleasure) is read to the babies, hang up the wash on the lines, (The
wash is endless and everything, minus underwear, gets hung to dry), wash
dishes and sweep the alley ways. We look for anything that we can come
along side the worker here and provide them a little relief for the
time we are here. By the way, I'm coming back, who is in???
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| Aunti Patti One Children including Esther! |
Prayers
needed. My luggage has not yet arrived (that's getting to be a little
tricky!). I have two large bags somewhere out there. One is full of
t-shirts for Rafiki and soccer balls and the other is all my personal
stuff. I was told today that the luggage with Rafiki t-shirts arrived
at the airport (nearly 1 1/2 hours away) but they have not quite located
my personal belongings!! It would be nice to have my luggage of
course, but then again wouldn't it be an adventure to do a missions trip
with no luggage (don't feel too sorry for me - I have Patti and Kyle
here and we are mostly sharing some things :) Most important though is
the Malaria medicine that Kyle, Patti and I are taking are causing vivid
dreams and in some case such as last night wild nightmares. Funny
thing that we both consulted with medical people that steered us away
from one of the drugs because they said that it caused nightmares, so we
chose what we thought was the right drug. Short story, pray that we
just sleep well and feel rested so we can do our best. Tomorrow, the
three of us are going to another village a couple of hours away to spend
the night (I'll describe the purpose of that in another email). Our friend Moses who will be with us the entire time.
Pray for safety along the way and where we will be staying will have no
electricity and will be more remote then the city of Kampala we are
currently in. Tonight is Water Balloon Games! More pix in the next post.
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| Our walk to school from Rafiki |
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| Walking to School with Uncle Kyle |
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| The school the kids love! |
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