Crying Babies

It started off a nice cool day today but got really humid in the afternoon. Then just before the mamas headed home it poured rain again.

Jane had a bit of an off day today. She cried about everything and whined just because she felt like it. She could be sick I guess, but she has also been very spoilt recently. David is still sick too, meaning lots of stinky nappies to change!

Paige has also been sick today. Everyone seems to get sick when the weather changes.

I was late finishing up before lunch again today, but not because I was busy with the babies. Instead I stayed and talked to Florence, Becky and Bernie about fashion:). I know, I know, who knew I could discuss stuff like that, huh:), but it gives us something to talk about. 

Jane; not happy that Rosie has already claimed my lap. 

Elena, Katelyn and I went into town on our lunch break to post some letters and buy milk. We also made a quick stop for milkshakes:). At the moment my favourite is the peanut butter milkshake.

There was a staff meeting today which means us volunteers look after all the kids. I helped get all the boys dressed, out of their cottage and into the front yard before heading back to the nursery to look after the babies. They were really noisy tonight and weren't happy about being put to bed. 

I feel like I can see these babies growing before my eyes! 

“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

Down to 5

It was strange being in the nursery this morning with only me and the mamas. Nicole left just after 9 this morning and so we are down to 5 of us. She said goodbye to the babies and each of the cottages and left teary eyed for her long drive to Entebbe. We will be together again Nicole, with all our African babies, in this life or the next! In the meantime I’ll be praying for you!

Rosie said “aunty” today! She came to show me a book and said “Aunty!” I thought maybe I had imagined it and so asked her what she said and she repeated it clear as day, “Aunty!” That’s my clever girl! :)

John’s skin was so much better today! Danyne said today that she touched an elephant once and that John’s skin normally feels exactly the same. Hopefully it will improve with time and consistent care.

We had a group of ladies come and help out today which was nice. The babies got to spend time with some grandmas for the day. Since Nicole is gone now I was glad to have a few extra hands while I bathed all the babies before their naps. Even so I was still a little late for lunch. I like bathing the babies and I always end up smelling sweet like baby lotion afterwards:). Of course, there’s very little about taking care of babies that I don’t like:). Jane didn’t want to go down for her nap after her bath so I stayed to sing to her for a little while. Zion’s cot is right next to Jane’s and she kept laughing at my singing like it was the most hilarious thing she’d ever heard:).

Salim and Katelyn

Katelyn and I had activities together this afternoon and a friend of ours, Jessica, came and helped us out for a few hours. 

Me and Hope

Jessica, Josephine and Godfrey

Caroline was happily singing all the songs she knew at the top of her lungs. 

Dorothy decided to change "Jesus Loves Me" into some sort of rap or something:).

Nursery was a little hectic tonight. David wouldn’t stop crying so I went to get him up early from his nap and discovered he’d vomited all over his bed sheet and had managed to get “ka, ka” (that’s poo) all over himself as well. No wonder he was upset. So, I gave David his second bath for the day while Mama Betty kindly changed the sheets for me. He didn’t eat very much of his dinner tonight and fell asleep as soon as he hit the mattress, so he must have a bit of a bug. It just seemed to be a ka ka night for the babies. Every baby made a mess of itself right before bed. I told Mama Betty that I think they do it just for me; she just laughed at me:). 

I was late coming upstairs again and decided to take a quick shower to get rid of the smell.

Paige asked me to run down and get chapatis to add to our dinner, as the other girls weren’t up yet either. So I walked down the road to the little wooden stalls as it was getting dark and the lightning began to flash. Elena came down to keep me company once she’d put the girls to bed and it wasn’t long before it started to pour rain. Our chapatti guy told us to come inside his little wooden stall but I said I’d be fine under the nearby tree. Elena just stood right out in the rain, enjoying the refreshing change from the heat. I don’t blame her and I might have done the same except I had my camera with me and didn’t want it to get soaked. By the time our chapatis were done Elena was soaked and I was standing in a mini river. I put the bag of hot chapatis under my t-shirt in an effort to keep them dry and we ran home through the deepening puddles. We were both soaked to the skin from our short dash home but it was worth it! The chapatis were none the worse for wear and neither were we. 

There’s nothing quite like being out in the thunder, lightning and pouring rain and then changing into warm dry clothes and eating hot food with friends. I do feel for the mama’s though who have to walk home in this weather with nothing but a poncho.

“You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples.”

“The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook.”

Psalm 77:14,17-18

Video

Some of the videos of the kids. I got some really funny ones but only the ones that are less than a minute will upload. 

Joseph on his elastic band guitar.

Alex talking on the phone.

Salim learning to say my name. 

Bald Headed Boys

Another Sunday morning in Uganda!

We went back to Calvary Chapel again this week. The people are very friendly there. The music was great and we sang "10,000 reasons" to finish. The minister spoke on Romans 9 and kept contradicting himself during his sermon. It disappoints me when such a theologically rich chapter gets misinterpreted and made to fit a person's own viewpoint. I've been blessed at home with Godly men who seek to challenge our limited views with what God really has to say to us in His Word. 

Elena and I rode a boda home sidesaddle from church and I thought I was going to fall off the back! Riding sidesaddle isn't quite as comfortable when there's two of you, but long Sunday skirts often make it a requirement. 

Mama Cook made an extra special lunch today and even had chapatis for us! 

Londa's turn for a group photo with her cottage. She didn't take one yesterday because Charlie was out. He's now the only boy with hair! :)

Salim. 

Londa and Philip

Alex pretending to talk on the phone:).

Edmund

Lydia with a g-nut (that's pretty much just a peanut).

Paul, wanted to see what his tongue looked like in a camera:).

Paul also wanted to see what Aunty Alicia looked like in a camera. 

Frank wanted to get in on the selfies too!

Judah

Edmund

Richard

I love to go and visit my boys and ask them all sorts of questions about what they've been up to during the day. I took lots of short videos this afternoon and I'm hoping that I can load them in a separate post, but it will probably take all night. 

We had a short downpour just after dinner but that's all the rain we've had this week. I guess the rainy season is running late this year. I'm not complaining, I think the weather has been beautiful! 

"The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, a prayer to the God of my life." 

 Psalm 42:8

Bed Bugs and Bible Study

Wow! Has it been 4 weeks already? I can't believe another week has flown by and it's Saturday again! I have a feeling it's only going to go by faster from now on. 

Today our project was making sure the cottages don't get bedbugs. This involves taking out all the mattresses and sheets and spraying them down with insect spray. Then we pour soapy hot water over the bunks, flip them over, pour more soapy hot water on them, then clean all the water off the floor. Once they were dry we dragged all the mattresses back in and put sheets back on them so the kids could take their naps. 

We've been told that we're allowed to take kids on outings on the weekends now. So, if we want to do some shopping in town or something we can take a child with us. We decided to do a special outing to The Source Cafe and then do some shopping, so we each took a child with us. I decided to take Alex with me. I couldn't choose between the boys so I took Alex because he's never been on outings before. He also knows me very well and I knew he'd be calm and behave. When Alex gets in trouble he does the cutest little fast blinking thing before he starts to cry. I always struggle to remain stern while trying not to laugh at him, he's so cute:). 

He clung to me on what was probably his first boda ride. Wide eyed and taking everything in but not afraid. Completely trusting in that he was with his aunty so everything was fine. 

I bought Alex an icecream and let him chew on some chips. He loved it and I enjoyed spoiling him a little bit. We had an issue with one of the girls we brought and ended up having to take her back to Amani because she was naughty. We continued shopping with just the four kids. 
We get enough looks from people being a group of mzungu girls but add a child per person and you get even more stares. 

Alex is a fairly calm quiet little boy. When he wants something he never cries he just says "Eh!" I enjoy carrying a child around with me until they get tired and relax right into you, comfortable enough to enjoy the ride:). On the way home, he again just held on tight and took in everything that flew past.

We got back and decided to take some group photos with the cottages. 

The boys from cottage C. 

Back row: Christopher, Paul, Eric, Alex, Judah, Frank, Joseph

Front row: Babu, Isaiah, Edmund, Sande, Michael, Richard, Jay

All the boys got their heads shaved today. Some of them look great, others are barely recognisable. 

Not everyone is happy about having to sit for a photo, but it's the best we could do. 

Girl's from cottage B and mamas

Hope

Josephine

Londa, Freddy and Philip

 Philip got his cast off this week! He's happy but still not sure about walking yet. 

Michael is very ticklish:).

We had bible study tonight on Acts chapters 3 and 4. It was great to be challenged together by the apostles boldness and God's faithfulness in our day to day obedience. 

And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. 

Acts 4:33

Nicole's Last Supper

It was nice to be back in the nursery this morning! 

Nicole, Rosie and David.

Nicole was tired this morning, so she simply laid on the floor and let the babies climb on her:). 

Florence, David and Jane.

We decided the babies would enjoy playing with water today, so we filled up a little pool with warm water and plastic balls for them. They loved it!

Rosie decided it would be fun to see how much water she could drink and kept sticking her head under water!

Jane

Joanne and David

David

This Aunty got a little wet with all that splashing!

John

Joanne

Me, Rosie and John

Me and Rosie

Katelyn and I had activities together this afternoon and so we took each cottage to the preschool area to play for 20 min at a time. It was fun for them and a bit more manageable for us taking one group at a time. 

Ann, who never closes her mouth:)!

Michael

I was back in the nursery again for the evening and we finished up early tonight. I had enough time to go and give all my boys a kiss goodnight. The big boys were still eating and asked where I was going. I said, "upstairs to have a shower!" They asked why and I said, "because Aunty stinks!" They thought that was pretty funny:). Working with babies now, I tend to be covered in more than just dirt at the end of the day:). 

We went out to The Keep for Nicole leaving on Monday with all the volunteers, Mary, Sandra, Kaity, Kaity's cousin and his girlfriend. They had live music tonight too. 

We'll miss you Nicole!

 May God bless you and guide you wherever He leads you to serve. My prayers go with you:).

Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgement, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.

Sole Hope

Today I went to Sole Hope for the morning.

 I spent the bus ride discussing the new homosexuality laws with one of the Ugandan men volunteering for the day. I often get asked what my views are on the new laws by Ugandans. It's a sensitive topic here at the moment and often gets brought up in Sunday morning sermons. 

They took two bus loads of volunteers and staff to a school about 30min away. They've only been to this school once before and did two grades. This week we did the next two grades. The set up an assembly line of people to wash feet, to carry kids from each station, to take out jiggers, to write down details and to fit shoes. I volunteered to wash feet. I loved it! Towards the end I went and watched some of the others take jiggers out. Poor kids. Some of them are in so much pain and they mostly sit there without a sound. It was hard work on a hot day and I'm a little bit sunburnt as a result. This evening, when I went to the nursery, Mama Esther said, "Aunty, you have had too much sun!" It's not that bad, it's just because my skin is more sensitive from being on the malaria medication. 

Unfortunately I didn't get any photos from Sole Hope, as my hands were in soapy water most of the time.

I was on activities for the afternoon which pretty much just consisted of swinging kids on the swings and singing songs together. I was so flattered by some of my boys. Joseph asked when I was coming back to their cottage and I promised I'd visit. 

Michael asked if he could go on one on one with me and when I said I was working with the babies now he just frowned and laid his head in my lap:(.

Richard asked if I was going to read a bedtime story tonight and if I could please come back to his cottage. I said I missed him and promised I would come visit them. 

Nicole, soaking up as much Hope as she can before she leaves on Monday. 

Singing with Londa and Mama Josephine. 

Smile Godfrey! "Cheese!"

Nicole made tea tonight and I fried some capsicum, garlic and onion to go with it. It's one of my favourite dishes that we often do together. Freshly made chapatis top it off nicely!

Nicole had asked a little while ago if we could put a photo up of ourselves and a child on the wall in the guesthouse. I couldn't choose a favourite child but I don't have many photos of myself so I just chose one with me and a child. We spent some time after our meal making our photos all pretty. Thanks Elena for letting us use all your paper!

Nicole shared this with me and I liked it enough to share it with you all:).

I'm looking forward to being back in the nursery tomorrow:). 

"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."

John 13:14-17