Good Friday

This morning was much like any other morning. Public holidays don't really matter much when it comes to taking care of children. I wouldn't really want a break from seeing their beautiful faces first thing in the morning anyway. 

Not long after I started work in the nursery a storm rolled in. I don't think anything compares to a Ugandan thunderstorm. Even the babies watch in wonder as they hear the thunder clap and the lightning flash. 

The above photo is taken from the nursery entrance as I pause before dashing through it to get back upstairs for my breakfast. It was cold! The mamas and I rugged up the babies in woolen jumpers and little white socks. The babies always slip and slide on the wooden floor when we put socks on them:).

I spent most of my break warm in my hoodie with a nice cup of African tea as I reflected on the meaning of this day that we celebrate.

Rain means one on ones change a little. All a the kids are cooped up inside their cottages and get very rowdy. While Frank and Christopher were in preschool, I took the rest of the older ones to read stories together. It was a little crazy and I think perhaps only Joseph and Sande were really listening to the stories. Sande managed to finally tell me he needed to go su su! Hallelujah for the small things, Lord!

Then, as Paul had missed out on storytime, I took him to do some colouring. Paul's my little gangster child, he even has a pierced ear:). He appears tough, but he's really a huge softy. He's very thoughtful; he always seems to be pondering something. Very rarely naughty and is hurt easily by his brothers. His background story is both heartbreaking and yet touching. I'll tell you all about it sometime but not on here. 

Where I took Paul to colour is right next to the nursery. Thankfully the gate has been fixed now or we would have had a few visitors from the nursery. 

Elena joined us with some of her girls. 

John and Rosie looked like they probably would've liked to join us:).

We headed out to Budondo for the afternoon and I was surprised that the roads hadn't completely washed away in the rain. We did almost get bogged though. We all ended up with an inch of mud stuck to the bottom of our shoes. I'm not sure how my $5 thongs from home have held up so well. I've been expecting them to fall apart but they're still holding together! 

We did a fair amount of bush bashing this time. All the while Aaron would randomly break out in song. There is a Ugandan song called "Elena" that gets sung a lot when we're with these guys:). We always have a trail of children behind us on these visits. It's partly because we're three white girls walking through their homes but also because Aaron and the other guys are like the pied pipers when it comes to kids. 

This is Asama. While we were seated at a home she peered at me from afar. I smiled my best smile at her and then looked away. She gradually crept a little closer and after several exchanged smiles we eventually ended up hand in hand as another girl introduced her to me. The other girl's name was Annette and she's 11 years old. After asking her age, her name and school questions she asked me a question; "Do you have a father?" "Yes", I replied, "He's back in Australia, my home." I asked "Do you have a father?" She simply stated, "he is dead". So matter of fact and such a common situation yet, somehow I knew that for her it was a big deal to have a father. I felt like in her eyes I was extremely privileged to have a father. It's definitely something I have become more and more thankful for. Not that I have ever not been thankful for having two loving parents, but the reality is that being here makes you see God's blessings a little differently. 

The people are always so generous when we visit them. One place we were given a bag of probably 20 avocados and a piece of jackfruit to try. In the past I might have hesitated to eat something using my already filthy hands that had touched so many other hands already. I might have even thought twice about eating something that's been served on a little wooden stool along with a few flies. Yet somehow when something is given to you out of simple generosity and love it never feels unsafe to eat, it always feels perfectly normal. I would much prefer to partake of their fellowship and get sick than to pass up another opportunity to be a part of these people's lives.

Walking bare foot doesn't stop the mud sticking! I always come back from Budondo absolutely filthy, mostly from just holding children. 

I love the shy little smiles as they hide behind one another and giggle together. Then one child gets up enough courage to smile back and maybe even poke your arm. They crowd in to see photos of themselves and make a game out of pressing our skin with a finger to make it go white and then back to pink again. Their skin doesn't change colour when you press it. Fred said we're like chameleons:).  

This little girl had the most amazing hair! :)

This is Joyce. 

She has a similar disability to Rukia a girl at Amani. She was tiny but somehow I knew as soon as I looked into her eyes that she was older than what she appeared. She is 6 years old yet looks more like a small 2 year old. She never appeared afraid of us, but instead instantly snuggled in close to Elena, and seemed to peacefully trust our immediate love for her. 

Aaron gave me an African name today. Job had already given Elena and Londa African names, but I hadn't been with them at the time. They are all Lusoga names, the language of Budondo. Aaron asked us to introduce ourselves first with our American names and then our African names and so I protested that I didn't have either! :) So Aaron gave me one. Elena's name is Motess which means princess, Londa's name is Nakaziba which means helper and my name is Naybinga which means hardworking. Of course, I don't know how to spell any of them, I've just typed them phonetically.  

Aaron and Fred brought hoes to give to some ladies we'd visited before. The one with the big smile is Mama Aisha who works as a night mama at Amani. They were very happy to receive them and thanked us many times even though the three of us really had nothing to do with the gift ourselves. 

This little girl is the one who was given to us as a gift on one of our visits. 

I attempted to take some photos out the window on our way home but it's always a pretty bumpy ride and so a lot of them didn't turn out very well. I wouldn't be surprised if one day the van simply fell apart in the middle of the road. 

We were a little bit later than normal getting back to Amani and quickly changed to go straight back out again. We headed to The Hub for the final service for "blood week". We had a time of praise and worship, then Mike spoke and we took communion together. It was a different kind of Good Friday sermon than I'm used to hearing and struggled to follow the relevance at times, but it was nice to be with a group of Christians for the evening. Mike even singled out the three of us at the end of his sermon for a special message and then came and talked to us afterwards. He's well meaning and very sincere in his encouragement but maybe a little misguided. 

Job has recently started working as a night guard at Amani on the weekends and it's nice to come home in the dark and be greeted by a friend at the gate. We chatted for a while (Londa called it fraternising with the night guard) :D. As we headed upstairs he called, "Celebrate! He is risen!" Even though it's not Resurrection Sunday, that is what we ultimately look to on Good Friday and it was a nice end to the evening. 

As Philip said at The Hub tonight, "it certainly has been a good Friday!". 

"And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."

Hebrews 9:27-28

(emphasis added)