Amani Update (by: Alyssa)

Hello All!

Again, Em and I are writing at the same time, so repetition is pretty much guaranteed :P

It is VERY hot in Jinja today! I'm not sure how hot, but the past few days have been hotter than the hottest day in Canada, I think! Or at least pretty close!

Today, I will go on my first outing! Em already had one on Friday, but I haven't gotten to go on one yet. Basically, we just sign out a child and then dress them in "smart clothes" which are basically clothes that are nicer than their everyday stuff. They look so cute when they're all dressed up! And then we bring them out of the Amani gates, either into town, or swimming, or on a walk. The point of it is just that they get to go out of the gates of the orphanage, and have some one-on-one time with a child.

Last night, we said goodbye to three Canadian volunteers that have been here for 2 months. And tomorrow night, we have 3 new ones coming! So, that is exciting, but it makes me realize how much changeover the kids experience in volunteers. And it makes me understand why they test us, especially at the beginning, just to see what they can get away with. :P Preschool for the past few days has definitely been interesting! We've learned some more Ugandan phrases which seem to be useful, although I don't think they kids will ever listen to us as well as they listen to the mamas!

Speaking of the Mamas, they are great. They always have so much joy and are singing and dancing around, and asking us how we are doing. And they work SO hard here - never slacking off, but always giving everything their ALL. I've been thinking a lot about work while I'm here, and about how God wants us to be working hard, with our whole heart, and the mamas are definitely an inspiration and encouragement in that area.

Yesterday, we went to our first Uganda church service, which was really cool! It was a Ugandan pastor who was speaking but he was speaking in English and he had a translator to translate every sentence he said. All the music was pretty familiar to me, although there was one Ugandan song at the end that I didn't understand at all, haha! We got to take a kid with us too, and they are very excited to get to go to church! I brought a little girl and she did really well - listening quietly and flipping through the pages of my bible, pretending she was following along with the service :P On the way home, we passed a huge group of children who were from a village right beside the area that the church is in. They were SO excited to see some Mzungus and were all crowding around trying to get their picture taken by us! And then of course, they all wanted to see the pictures.

After church, Em and I and two other volunteers decided to go into town to explore and get some souvenirs and such. We also decided to attempt to go to the central market here (because we really wanted some fresh fruit!), and that was DEFINITELY an experience. We walked along a little pathway through the market and there were many different stands on either side of us, selling everything from raw meat (with flies all around, YUCK!) to salted grasshoppers, to dried mini-fish, to more normal things like cucumbers and tomatoes. Finally we found the pineapple section and bought two pineapples, one of which we ate last night, and the other we will eat today. Fresh pineapple is SO delicious!

Poverty is becoming so much more personal to me being here. We are meeting people with such incredible stories of hardship, and it definitely puts things into perspective. I can't believe the burdens that most of these people have - and yet, they are SO joyful. I heard that A LOT before I came to Africa, but since being here, it just makes a lot more sense. I strongly encourage anyone who is considering travelling and seeing how other people live, or mission work, to DO IT! I know I have a lot more to learn while I'm here too.

I was a bit sick this morning, but nothing too bad, in comparison to some of the other volunteers that have really not been feeling well! I've been told that a little sickness is just a part of the transition to this culture, so I can take it!

With MUCH kwagala, (I think that means "love", haha, I know that "Nkwagala Nyo" means I love you!)

Alyssa