on the day in which I choose to enjoy...

A couple of weeks ago, I had to finalize my flight dates to come back to Vancouver. I’ve known for a little while now that my plans would be to stay in Uganda until June, and once I was able to confirm with Watoto that I would be able to get a new visa through immigration, I contacted my travel agent back at home to book my final return flights. 

When I was in the process of planning this trip, I intentionally didn’t put an “end” date on it. I knew in my heart that I wouldn’t be here for more than one year; but also didn’t know quite how long within that one year period I would end up staying. My employer has been incredibly gracious in allowing me the flexibility of leaving my return date unknown. And so I came trusting that God would have me here as long as I was supposed to be. No more. No less. 

And then in that moment that I received a very quick response from my travel agent to confirm that all of my flights had been confirmed, and I was looking at my new flight itinerary, I had this strange sense of sadness. Like there was now an official END date to this experience. 

A couple of days later, I was sitting in a coffee shop, and for some reason, I had to look at a calendar to count the number of weeks I had left in Uganda. And then those feelings of anxiousness started to hit me. I thought about how quickly 5 months has flown by; and knowing that my time here was now well over halfway finished, how quickly it would be before I had to start saying my goodbyes. 

Don’t get me wrong; there is much about home that I am looking forward to. I had a conversation the other day with one of my roommates and I was saying that it is so strange to feel like you have two worlds that “fit”. I love my life in Vancouver, but I love my life in Uganda too. 

The following Sunday, I purposely kept the day very low key, with not much on the schedule other than some much needed down time. One of those days that you spend a lot of time reflecting. My thoughts kept coming back to the word enjoy; and felt challenged not to worry about the time that I had left, but to enjoy the moments that happen in the time that I have left. 

Our volunteer flat is directly above the big toddler unit in the babies home, so it is not uncommon for us to hear the activity happening down below. That afternoon, I could hear Abeso, one of our little girls, crying. A lot. Knowing that there was still a bit of time before they would be having their dinner, I went downstairs and snuck her out of the unit for some one-on-one cuddle time. The weather was cool and rainy outside, and we sat on the ledge of the play area, just quietly, and snuggled for about 30 minutes. And again, my thoughts came back to those words just enjoy. 

And so that is now my daily resolve. Not to worry about how quickly the time is passing. Not to think about how different it will feel to be back in Vancouver again. Not to think about all of those that I will have to say goodbye to soon enough. But to live in the moments that I have left in my time here. 

Early on Friday morning, Watoto was contacted to take in a tiny baby boy that had been found near a railway track in Kampala. When he was brought to the home in Kampala, he was assessed and taken for immediate medical care. His temperature was almost non-existent, and he had suffered a severe head injury. Out here from Suubi, we had heard that there was a new baby, and that he was in very serious condition. The Watoto staff worked all through the night to do what they could medically for him. And despite making it through the first 24 hours, he passed away on Saturday afternoon. 

I never met this little one. But still, the thought of how he endured his much-too-short period of time on this earth, causes me to shake my head and ask the question why. Im thankful that he’s no longer suffering, and that in the last few hours of his life, he was surrounded by people that loved him dearly, and did everything that they could to care for him. 

So, do I always feel like having 8 toddlers climbing all over me? Nope. Do I love it when they come running up to me with a face covered in cereal and bury it in my clothes? Nope. Are there hard days? Yup. But even in those moments, I get to choose to show love to our crew of tinies. And what my heart gets back in return can’t even compare to what I’m giving out. What a privilege. 

on the day in which we went to the zoo...

This past Friday was officially feild trip day! Our group of 5 volunteers along with a handful of nannies gathered up 30 babies for a day trip to the Entebbe Wildlife Foundation. Entebbe is a small city located south of Kampala, and about 1 1/2 hours drive from the Suubi Village. 

Our morning was off to a busy start as our goal was to be ready and on the bus by 8am. Morning milk, bathtime and breakfast took place at a rapid pace and then we got everyone dressed and ready to go. Not too bad; we were loaded and pulling out by 8:20am :)

The ride out was a little rough, but the babies handled the bumpy dirt roads like little champions! After our almost 2 hour drive, we arrived at the zoo and promptly unloaded to get set up for snack time. Within minutes of getting everyone sitting on the grass, we were surrounded by 7 or 8 monkeys, who were extremely interested in the biscuits and juice that the babies were about to enjoy. They also discovered that we had bananas on board the bus, and a couple of open windows proved to be their ticket to a free meal! Intially we laughed becuase it was kinda funny watching them raid our bananas. But clearly they are used to visitors, because they started to get a bit aggressive when they realized the babies weren't willing to share their snacks. We spent the rest of snack time warding off the monkeys with large tree branches. 

After snack time, we packed everyone up and headed on inside. We walked around with the babies for about 2 hours, and they really enjoyed the sights and sounds of all of the animals. The zoo has a pretty good representation of local animals; lots of different types of tropical birds, monkeys, lions, zebras, hyenas and snakes. It is located right alongside Lake Victoria, so the setting was beautiful. 

For a sneek peek into some of our pictures from the day, click here.

After our tour, we headed back to the bus and chose to have lunch ON the bus and AWAY from our monkey friends :)

Most of the babies fell asleep on the bumpy ride back to Suubi village. Not gonna kid ya, us volunteers were pretty close to needing a nap too. But all in all, a great Friday with the kids! 

on the day in which I play catch up...

I can’t believe that it’s almost the end of February... already! Time is certainly flying by much faster than I would like, and I can now say that I’m just past the halfway point of my time in Uganda. Crazy. I have been very blessed to continue to live out in the Suubi children’s village here in Mpigi, and am just heading into my 4th month here. 

Every month as volunteers, we wait (sometimes not so patiently) to hear where we will be posted the following month. Watoto moves us around depending on the needs in the varying babies homes as well as the number of international volunteers in Uganda, as people are coming and going at all times. Last month I had a complete change of roommates and am currently living with 4 lovely girls all from different parts of Western Canada. We have gotten along great, and are having lots of fun living together. So needless to say, we were all happy to hear that we will be staying together here in Suubi for the month of March. 

The past two weeks there have been LOTS of power outages. Mainly power has been on only in the overnight hours, so lots of evenings have been spent by candlelight; playing games or reading, or anything else that does not require electricity. Unfortunately the evening power outages have gotten me a bit behind with responding to emails or posting pictures, but am hoping to get caught up on all of that in the coming week. 

This past month I have been spending much of my time working in the office at the babies home, helping the new inventory supply manager set up some systems and create some form templates for managing the numerous supplies required to run this facility. When the babies home is at full capacity, they can use 900+ diapers in one day, so I’m sure you can understand the importance of keeping a handle on all of the day to day supplies. I’ve definitely had to try and wrap my head around the way different cultures operate a business, so it has been a good experience for me. 

On the days that there is no power to run the computer, or if there is a nanny shortage in one of the units, I get to sneak back downstairs to hang with the kids. Gotta admit, after a few days straight in the office, I miss their little faces and having them cling to my leg the moment I walk in the door. 

We’re gearing up for a big village move at the beginning of March, and the majority of the kids in the big toddler unit will be moved to one of the surrounding children’s villages. It’s a bitter-sweet thing, because after seeing these kids day-in/day-out for the past 4 months, you get to know them well, and they will certainly be missed! However, they will grow and thrive and be in a new family once they are moved, and that is a good thing too. 

I’ve also had the privilege of helping out at some of the worship practices for the village worship team over the past month, and have really been enjoying the opportunity. The team at the church is made of up mostly youth and young adults from the village; some just learning how to play various instruments and learning how to lead the worship service on Sunday mornings. I’ve been working a bit with one of the keyboard players; teaching him how to use some different sounds with the music that he plays. Yesterday at practice it was like a whole new world opened up to him... and he was loving it! 

We've been asked to try and take the babies out of the home as much as possible, so there has been lots of walks duiring the morning, and today we all decided to take babies to church with us. The behaved like perfect little angels too! 

This next week ahead we have a very full schedule, with a painting project currently underway in the babies home, our monthly international volunteers meeting, and hopefully squeezing in a field trip to the zoo with some of the toddlers. 

So all in all, life is busy, but life is good. I’m reminded daily of how blessed I am to have the opportunity to live over in Africa for this short season of time. Having the chance to see our babies growing up into little people. Celebrating their milestones like standing on their own, saying new words or taking their first steps. Getting concerned when I look across the hall from our apartment and see one of the little toddlers in the clinic and knowing that they’re up there cause they’re not feeling well. And best of all, my heart gets all warm and fuzzy when the babies run up to me and call out “mumma”. I know I’m not their mom; and they know I’m not too, but it still puts a smile on my face. 

on the day in which he's got some joy...

Seriously... if this boy doesn't make you smile, I'm not quite sure what will. He was singing this song non-stop the other day, and I kept laughing everytime he would sing "whe-yah"? Translation... where?
:)

Thought I'd catch him on film to share with you. He played a bit shy at first cause there where a bunch of visitors within ear-shot touring the building. But I love how he totally gets into it at the end. Just one of those daily moments that makes me grateful for this season to be over here...

on the week in which we step it up a notch with the physio...

So the majority of my time here at Suubi is split between the big toddler unit and the special needs unit. After a big move from Kampala this week, we now have 15 children in the special needs unit, whose ages range from infants up to age 10; each with varying degrees of medical conditions and physical challenges.

Part of my focus while I am here is to do one-on-one work with a few of the children in this group; mainly to provide developmental opportunites to the kids that their very busy nannies do not have the chance to do on a daily basis.

As of right now, I'm working primarily with Nicole and Bethany. Both of these girls have been at baby Watoto since 2007 and have made huge strides in their progress over the past several years. Nicole, who has had mulitple surgeries to correct a hydracephalus condition, is VERY active; walking and talking (always and to anyone that will listen...)

We've now implemented a weekly walk down to the lower Watoto village (Suubi II) for a visit with Makeda and Moses; two former special needs kids from the home that were moved into village houses last year. The walk is quite the trek for her (about 1km each way with a hill included on the way home), but as our route takes us through the rurual Suubi village, she takes every opportunity to chat it up with every person that we walk past... children, storekeepers, Watoto village security...

Here she is pictured below on last weeks visit. Hard to get these three to look AND smile at the camera at the same time, so inspite of the very serious look on Moses' face, they have a great visit each week!

Bethany, who has CP, is a very bright little girl, inspite of her daily challenges to freely move about and communicate with those around her. We are working very hard at her walking right now, and it takes daily convincing to get willing participation for her physio time.

Last week she had the measles, and was in quarantine in the clinic for several days. Once she was on the mend, I busted her out for an hour, and we worked together to create a special walking chart to use as an incentive to complete her physio exercises each day. She adds stickers to the chart after each session, and when she has completed a full week, she has special "Bethany-only" rewards (art projects, manicures... all things little girls love).

Today I had a meeting with her physio therapist who works with a number of Watoto children in both the babies homes and children's villages. As it turns out the routine that I was having her do was way too easy, so as of today, up goes the intensity... much to her disagreement :)

Here she is pictured below working on squats to help strengthen her leg muscles. The goal is to have her in-time walking completely un-assisted.

A proud moment... standing all by herself! 

And her "favorite" part... walking up the ramp with her walker. This one took a lot of convincing. But 5 days a week, and a few months down the road, and I have no doubt that she'll be walking this ramp like a champion! 

Reaching her target... touching the light on the wall! 

on the week in which it was Christmas and New Years in Africa...

It's still a bit strange to think that we only just celebrated Christmas and New Years. I'll admit that living near the equator in 30 degree weather made it almost seem like the holidays were only happening on the other side of the world. This was the first time that I ever celebrated Christmas away from home, so it certainly took some special effort to make it feel like it was happening here too.


We generally have our international volunteer meeting on the last Thursday of the month, but instead, this month Watoto hosted a Christmas lunch for all of the international staff and volunteers. It was great to meet all of the “internationals” as well as spend time with all of the baby home volunteers in one place... we’re a bit spread out across the country most of the time. 

On Christmas Eve we decided to head into town to take in the Watoto Church Christmas Cantata. They put on an amazing show every year, and people from all over the world actually fly in to see it annually. Typically you wait for hours in line outside, and that was our intention. We arrived just as the 3pm concert was starting and got ready to spend the next 2 hours in line. However, much to our surprise, we were immediately escorted into the auditorium and brought to the front and were given 2nd row reserved seats! What a treat! We had an incredible view for an amazing performance. 

After the concert we headed out to Java’s for dinner with some of the volunteers currently living in Kampala. 

Christmas Day was spent back at home in the Suubi village. I took one of my favorite little toddlers, Arafat, to church with me in the morning. He handled the walk up the hill like a champ (oh no wait, he refused to walk at that point, so I carried him...), and was a perfect angel all through church! The cookies and juice that I fed him throughout may have had something small to do with that :)

After coming back home, I delivered hand-made cookies to the staff that were working at the babies home on Christmas Day. It’s probably safe to say that none of them had ever tried peanut butter cookies before, so I had to explain what they were. But they were very appreciative and seemed to really enjoy them. One of the nannies came to me later and told me that she saved them so that she could give them to her mom as a Christmas gift. So sweet. 

The evening was finished off with dinner with two of the other volunteers (we decided against the very expensive turkeys and went with mexican), followed by a lovely visit with Peter & the kids via video skype, and a couple of phone calls to family and friends back at home.

The following weekend saw the close of 2011 and the start of 2012! Wow. Hard to believe another year is upon us. I stayed home over the weekend while my other roommates travelled back into Kampala for a couple of days. A little out of character, we had almost no power for 3 days here in Suubi over that weekend. We typically lose power every day at some point, but it’s usually back on within a few hours.  This particular stretch though, was a problem with the village generator, and made for a very quite couple of days. 

Lots of time for reflection on all that happened in 2011... and there was much. And lots of time to start thinking ahead for all that is going to take place in this coming year. Gotta say, as different as this "start to a new year" is, I'm kinda thankful that I get to say that I kicked off 2012 living in Africa! 

on the day in which we had visitors in the village...

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in church when they announced that there was a group of people visiting from Kenya from the Mully Children's Foundation. The village was invited back to the top of the hill on Sunday afternoon for a special performance from the group that had come.

I first heard of Charles Mulli shortly before coming to Uganda in 2009, when a friend back home gave me his book to read while I was over here. Hands down, one of the most powerful biographies that I have read; "Father To The Fatherless" is the story of how he was abandoned as a young child in Kenya, and forced to find his own means of survival. Through years of hard work and determination, Charles becomes a very successful businessman, but one day feels called to give up his business and start to care for abandoned street kids in Kenya.

Through this, the Mully Charles Foundation was started, and to date they have taken in over 6000 orphans, providing house, care and education for them. You can read more about their organization here.

A group of their kids came out to Suubi last weekend to connect with Watoto and find out more about the way that Watoto operates. The kids were hosted in numerous Watoto village houses; their amazing choir sang for us in church on Sunday, and then in the afternoon they put on a very entertaining performance, complete with music, traditional dance, and acrobatics.

Here are a few pics from the day...

on the day in which I show you around my neighborhood...

Welcome to the Suubi Children’s Village!

So I’ve been living in the middle of nowhere now for the past 3 weeks. Well, okay, not nowhere, but out of the city and in the village! Can I keep saying over and over how much I love living out of the city? What a contradiction from home. Nonetheless, hopefully this will be “home” for at least the next couple of months. 

The Suubi village is located about an hour outside of Kampala, but with road construction these days, a trip into town is sometimes averaging about 2 1/2 hours. Good times. We keep that to a minimum of about once a week. This particular area is full of big beautiful hills, and the Watoto Children’s village that I am now living in, is located right at the top of one of them. Makes for a very peaceful environment with stunning views of sunrise, sunset and the storms that roll in to the surrounding areas. 

The village is built on several levels running down the hill. At the very top, is the primary and secondary schools, along with the fabrication unit. This is used as a trades school for many of the older students to teach them woodworking and metalworking skills, and serves as the source for all of the furniture that is used in the Watoto houses or the babies homes. There is a community hall that is used for the village church on Sundays as well as housing for teachers and several boarding students that attend the Suubi secondary school. 

Heading down the hill, is the start of the Children’s Village. There are currently over 1000 children and moms living in this village, so although it is  a little quiet right now with many people away for the Christmas holidays, it is generally a pretty bustling place. 

The children’s homes are built in what they call clusters; 9 homes in a circle with the first house being the “senior” house of that cluster. The houses hold 1 Watoto mom and 8 children (usually 4 girls and 4 boys) with ages ranging from as young as 2 up to university aged students.  They are completely furnished with a living area, kitchen area, dining table, bathroom, 2 children’s bedrooms and a bedroom for the mom. There is power in the village which is run by a generator, but not on too often in the homes. Food is delivered and distributed weekly, and there are large water containers onsite; the children take their water jugs and fill them up so that they can have running water in their homes. 

It's safe to say that there are not a whole lot of us mzungus (which means "white people" in the local language) living in the village. So needless to say, we attract attention whenever we are out and about. I go for a long walk through the village on most days, and anytime you are up by the children's houses, a little crowd always comes up to you and says  "HIYAAA MAZUNGOO!". It's not uncommon to end up with the occasional tag-a-long on my walk :)

Throughout the village there are many pockets of vegetable gardens and fruit trees; all part of Watoto’s ongoing sustainability projects.

And this picture below is the road that I live on :) The building off to the left in the distance is the Suubi Babies home, and it is located just on the edge of the property. 

on the day in which I take a look at the then and now...

Oops... I see that it's been a little while since my last update... :)

One week ago I moved out to the Suubi Children’s Village, which is located about an hour outside of the city. I knew that a highlight in moving out here, would be the opportunity to see a number of babies (now toddlers) and Watoto kids that I have met over the past several years. As soon as my first shift finished, I headed out for a walk to the lower village to see if I could see a couple of special little ones. What a joy to see them growing up, happy and healthy!

Makeda was a baby that I worked with in the Bulrushes when I was here in 2009. At that time she was a part of the special needs group of babies and I spent the majority of my days working with her. She could not sit up, and could barely crawl, but was a very bright little girl! We’re probably not supposed to have “favorites”, but wow did I grow attached to her. Missed her desperately after I came back to Canada... kept a picture of her on my desk at work. This is a picture of her taken just before I left Uganda in 2009. 

Now she is living down in Suubi II and looks so so good! She is walking, talking, singing and will start school next term. Can you tell by the smile on my face how much I enjoyed that moment? 

Next up is Rubi... also one of the Bulrushes babies from 2009. Here she is in November ’09. 

A couple of dear friends back home now sponsor her, so they sent along a birthday gift for to me to bring her. Here she is the day after her 3rd birthday and looking all grown up! 

One I my favorite volunteering opportunities with Watoto is working with the choir teams that travel to Canada once a year. I have been volunteering with them since 2009 and have really enjoyed getting to know the kids as they arrive in Canada and start their tour. The team that came to Canada was in the BC area for an extended period of time due to the 2010 olympics, so I had the chance to really get to know that particular group of kids. Here is a tour shot after they had just arrived to Canada! 

Now living here in Suubi, I am right down the road from 4 of the girls from that group. I loved going to their houses and hearing their girly teenager screams when they saw that I had come to visit! Looking forward to many visits with them over the next few months. 

I am currently working in the oldest toddler room at Suubi (ages 18 months +) and the other day I realized that Patrick and Patricia, a set of twins that I met back in 2009 are still living here. This is a picture of them as little Bulrushes babies. 

And here they are today. Crazy how much they look (and act) alike... great little personalities on these two. 

And last, but certainly not least, here is a very special little girl. Many of you would have heard me talk about little Meg. She came to Watoto as a very premature baby, weighing in at only 760 grams. When I left to come home to Canada, she was around 3 months old, and doing very well thanks to the incredible care of my friend Sarah and the rest of the Watoto team. This is a picture of her within a few weeks of her arrival to Bulrushes. 

Today she is living in one of the Watoto villages and looks AMAZING! Here she is with her new mumma. She still has the same feisty personality and definitely knows what she wants! 

I feel pretty honored to be able to see so many of these kids again, and it certainly makes my heart happy to see how well they are doing thanks to the care and investment that Watoto has made into their lives!