on the day in which I’m thankful to be back in Uganda...

So I’ve officially arrived... well a couple of days ago now. Got in just before midnight on Sunday and was met at the airport by a Watoto staff member. There were two other Canadian teams on the same flight, so we were all taken into town together. One team is from Saskatchewan and the other is from Newfoundland. They are both here to work on infrastructure projects at the children’s village. 

My first full day here had nothing on the schedule. I unpacked a bit, and then headed into town to sort out a phone and internet connection. It’s been 2 years since I was last here, but it still feels the same. I am temporarily staying in a guesthouse in the Kabalagala area... so about 10 minutes drive from where I lived last time, and about 30 minutes outside of the city. 

Watoto Guesthouse 1 - my temporary home :)

One of my first priorities was to make a couple of good connections with special hire taxi drivers. As I’m the only babies home volunteer staying at this house, I’m doing all of the transportation on my own, so it’s important to have a couple of good drivers that I feel safe with and that are reliable. I quickly learned that the cost of petrol has increased significantly since I was last here, and the cost for transportation has pretty much doubled. A couple from New Zealand gave me the numbers of several drivers that they have been using, so for the most part, things have been pretty simple. Tonight’s ride home proved to be a bit of an adventure, as the driver that I have been calling was in an accident, and the other two were already busy. So ventured home with a local taxi company, and between me and phone calls with my regular driver, managed to explain how to get home. Not gonna kid you... there was a bit of prayer involved, and I now know that I live just off Gaba road :)

I went in for a meeting at the babies home on Tuesday. It felt strangely familiar to be back. Saw a few of the nannies that I worked with last time I was here; in some ways it’s  as if no time has passed. The facility in Kampala has changed with the addition of the other two babies homes, so there were a lot fewer babies than the last time I was here. This home is now used as an intake facility as well as a special care facility for babies that are premature, malnourished, or need specific medical attention. Within about 10 minutes of playing with the kids, fell in love with one little guy, who has the absolute best little personality!

Today was a tour of the Watoto villages with 3 other volunteers that arrived last week from Norway. Although I have been to all of the villages before, we had the opportunity to visit the medical clinic at Bbira, along with the production unit at Subbi. My first trip to Uganda was in 2007 as a part of a building team, and while we were at Bbira today, we stopped at that home for a quick visit with Mama Mary and two of her children that were home from school. Her oldest Watoto boy, Eric, has now graduated from University with a degree in computer  sciences and is now employed. Love hearing about Watoto success stories! 

When we headed over to Subbi, the majority of our time was at the Subbi Babies Home, which opened in 2010. What a beautiful facility! They currently have 92 babies in their care, and in the majority of cases, the babies move straight from this home into a house in one of the Watoto villages. There are a few of the special needs kids that I worked with in 2009 still in this home, but it was nap time, so all were in bed with the exception of one. The Suubi village is located on top of a large hill, so the surrounding view is really quite amazing. Although I didn’t take too many pictures today, here is one from the rooftop of the home. 

My first official work day is tomorrow (Thursday); so time to get into a daily routine and get to know some of these little kidlets! By the sounds of things, I should be moving out to Subbi within the next few days; which I’m very excited about! 

A dear friend from home sent me a lovely email today, and these words really stopped to make me think. “... some people dream about doing this their whole lives and never get on the plane...” And amidst so much change to my normal “every day” life, and in the sometimes frustrating moments of living in a whole different culture, those words bring great perspective. What a privilege it is to be here.