May 22, 2012

Day 1 Continued - meeting kids at Canaan Children's Home

 Thursday afternoon we arrived at Canaan Children's Home where we stayed for the next 5 night. The kids were so excited for us to be there, we could hardly get off the bus.
 Bobby had a contingency of boys who follwed him everywhere he went. All the kids found him when they wanted to be tossed up in the air... some of them were too big for this, but he tried anyway!
 They were very entertained by his amazing ability to stick his stomach out.
 The kids who lived on the street outside the orphanage would stand at the gate and wave and put on a show for us. So cute.
Eva, Olivia, and Sarah were the girls I got to know the best. All the kids sort of attatched themselves to someone and would be waiting for you to come out of your dorm, walk you to meals, and want to hang out during any spare moment you had. They were sweet girls. Eva is 6, Olivia 15, and Sarah 14. Sarah and Eva are half sisters and had another sister Emma and brother Joseph at the orphanage as well. We read lots of stories from the Jesus Storybook Bible. The loved to read!

We ate almost all our meals at Canaan's. Mama Rebecca, the directors wife, cooked for us every day. She was so gracious and fed us very well.

Uganda - Day 1 - April 26th

 Landed at Etebbe. Collected all forty something bags.... what a miracle that they all made it! Got Visas. Loaded up and ready to go! Our team was made up of 20 girls and 3 guys from all over the US and 3 from Mexico.
 There were no burnt out and abandoned airplanes on the runway that I could see. This was more reassuring than what I saw the last time I landed in Africa. :)
 Uganda is beautiful, green, lush, and has red dirt roads that remind me of the red Georgia clay I grew up with.
This is a typical shopping strip on the side of the road. Most of the shop owners live in the back of their shop. Almost every child you pass on the road smiles and waves enthusiastically. The adults wave too, for that matter... Ugandans are very friendly.