March 5 - Final Days….

The last couple days at The Sanctuary were bittersweet…every moment was a reminder that this was my last…”breakfast with the boys before school”….”going to church with them”….”walking with them to the local market”….”sitting in the studying room doing homework”….”sitting in my office and just talking about life”….and on it goes…even now those are the moments I miss…

Anyways, what did we do? Well…I had a lot of running around to do for different people, picking up beads and paintings and masks, and then all of the goodbyes. On an answer to prayer sidenote, I think I mentioned to all of you about Baby Justine. This lady is probably the woman that I most look up to in the world. Recently she was going through some mental issues, and people all across the world have been praying for her over the last couple of months. This month, our prayers were answered in a HUGE way! I was able to see Baby Justine 2 more times before leaving Uganda, and each time she was exactly the woman that I remembered. Full of life and energy and passion for God! I went to her place to say goodbye on Thursday morning, and she sent with me many notes for people, as well as gifts and beads, etc. She prayed with me, and was a huge encouragement to me. I can only continue to pray that God will be with her as she continues to improve each day, and live her life for the Lord.

On the night before I was to leave I had a big surprise…and early birthday party! And they actually managed to make it a surprise. Henry called a ‘meeting’…and as I walked into the room the birthday music was playing, and there was a slideshow for my birthday J The boys were pretty excited, and there was even a cake with my name on it!

Henry was super organized, so my party included games, speeches, cake, and slideshow. First, the game..essentially it was hot potato(with a football of course..aka soccer ball) but the twist was that if you were caught with the ball when the music stopped you had to take a piece of paper from the bowl in the middle and do whatever was on it.

Although SO funny to watch the boys, the whole game I was PETRIFIFED of ending up with the ball. The papers contained directions like – break dance, walk like a model, bark like a dog, sing a song in a certain language, etc. I made it to the very end of the game without ending up with the ball..but then the dreaded moment happened…the ball was in my hands and the music stopped. But for some reason I didn’t know about..i was told I couldn’t take it…when it landed on Ambrose and he read the paper I found out. The paper read “dance with Melissa”. THIS I could handle...i requested a slow song and showed them all the skills us white people have when it comes to dancing…slow dancing J lol I told them that this was how we danced at weddings and school dances…and they loved it. They see white people dancing on movies..and while they might think its lame, to see one of their boys slow dancing was a good laugh. :)

After games were speeches…as I’ve mentioned before at each birthday every boy takes a turn to talk about the ‘birthday boy’ or in this case ‘girl’ and say what they like about them, and what they wish them for the coming year. For me it was a birthday/goodbye wish…and it was humbling. To hear the boys say things about me that they appreciated or that they would miss was one of the most moving moments of the trip. About ¾ of the way through speeches some of the boys started crying…some moved away so not to be caught crying…and some just openly cried….it was a very difficult moment. After talking (or rather hugging) the boys who seemed to need it the most, we moved on to cake cutting…which seemed to lighten the mood :) After all of the tears I thought that it might be best to save my speaking for the next day…but after cake

everything seemed to be ok…so I said my goodbyes then. Impressively only with a few tears at the start! After my speaking came the slideshow that Henry had made of me and the boys and my time in Uganda, all played to the song “I’ll be missing you” bye Puff Daddy... Well..if I hadn’t been crying before, I most definitely shed a few more tears then. Although it was like 11pm, we decided to have one more movie night….although I ended up doing some more packing and talking to Mike and Robert in my room….which was so good. I love just talking and getting to know each of them. I think that is the part that I will miss the most. Just sitting and talking to them…about life, family, friends, God..and yes..even girls…:)

Anyways, this brings us to the day I leave. The mood in the house was heavy…oh, did I tell you that we decided to bring ALL of the boys with us to the airport! Lol…which was so great! We all just kind of waited around all morning…waiting until noon when the taxi was coming. At some point of time in here the boys decided to all write letters. Most to me…some to Dad, and then one for Michael and one for Michelle. This kept them preoccupied until the taxi came at noon. After 1 final picture at the gate…we were off. First stop, Kampala. I needed to bring something back to a store, so Henry and I went in…with Mike…because it was going to be his FIRST TIME to ever set foot into a mall:) It was great, he was dressed the part…but his wide eyes told a different story…unfortunately we were in a rush so we didn’t get to spend a lot of time there..but now he can officially say he’s been inside a mall. Lol.

After the mall in Kampala we headed off to Entebbe. First stop NOT the airport..but, THE ZOO! Some of the boys had been there on a class trip, but some of them hadn’t..and either way, I wanted to leave with good memories with the boys! Can I just mention that it cost them 5000 each BUT for me, the Mzungu it was 20,000! Seriously…! Some things I wont miss! We wandered around looking at the different animals, and then spent some time at the beach…I will NEVER stop loving the beach..and being able to spend time there with all of the boys was even more fun!

After the zoo /beach we went and got chips and soda at a restaurant, and then headed off to the airport. If you buy a soda you are allowed into the area where you can watch the airplanes come and go…so after they each chose a soda…we went to watch the airplanes. Now remember this is Entebbe airport….so not a lot of action going on..but we DID get to see an airplane take off..so that was fun!

I tried to sit down with as many boys as possible and say goodbye….although I DID write them all letters for them to find on their pillows when they came home..plus I bought each of them a necklace with an old Ugandan shilling on it as a memory of my time there. After about an hour of watching the planes..it was time to say goodbye. We all shuffled back down the stairs to the main waiting area. One by one I said my goodbyes to the boys…hugs, pictures, teary eyes. Now, I need to say that I did a pretty good job at holding it all together. Before leaving the house in the am I had a few moments of tears…but I held it together pretty good. And even during the goodbyes I tried to be cheerful in my goodbyes..but by the last one I was done. After the final picture and final goodbye as they all went ot leave..the tears began. I got another quick hug from Moses and David…but then, they were gone..and I was left there waving...in tears. And that was it. After 3 months of seeing them almost every day, and 2 months of living with them…it was time for goodbye.

Now…I think that i would have cried for quite some time had I not been interrupted by another man (Ugandan) walking by, asking me who those boys were..and saying that he could tell that I obviously loved them…and was wondering what the situation was. Through tears I was able to tell him about The Sanctuary, and I actually thanked him for approaching me even with the tears…we talked for about 1 hr….and then by then it was time for me to get my luggage checked in. After checking in my luggage, going through customs, etc….it was almost time for me to board my plane (145 am).

And I ‘m gonna leave it here until the next blog…:) Don’t want to bore you with too much at a time! Lol.

Thanks for sticking it all out through this journey and continuing to support me with prayers and emails! I am so glad to have friends like all of you!

Love you all!

Mel

PS More pictures to come:)

Feb 22, 2011 - A rat, a big fish, and a broken heart....

So I think that I have been putting off blogging the last couple of days because I am afraid to actually stop and contemplate the fact that I am leaving in 11 days….am I really ready to leave?? And better yet, have I accomplished everything that I was supposed to while I was here?? Are there things that I should have done differently? Hmmm…am I ready to face these questions?

Lets start by getting you up to speed on life! The boys are now all ‘mostly’ happily in school, so this is good. The elections passed without any problems, so this is also good. The boys loved having a couple of days off of school, but now it is back to business!

On Saturday a team of people from Oakville came to The Sanctuary and helped us to finish up some of our projects. They painted our inside toilet room and shower room a sweet shade of blue. They also helped by putting down a layer of undercoat in the garage! BUT, the biggest task they accomplished was helping us to plant our grass. Mind you its only about 20% finished..but now that we’ve started the task seems less daunting. I am sad that I wont get to see the yard looking beautiful, but next time I come back I will have that to look forward to:)

It was really nice to have a whole group of hardworking mzungus come and help us out. I didn’t realize how much I was missing mzungu company. They were very interested in the boys, and loved hearing what God has been doing in their lives! Now I may be biased..but there is just something about these boys that draws people in. One of the men commented that he loved how much The Sanctuary felt like a home…not just another organization. And I think that that’s is

difference. These boys are each others family. They have been through things together that we can’t even imagine. They trust each other and know that even if they have a fight or argument, just like family they will always be there for each other.

Anyways, enough of that for now… the other excitement was the rat in the house. Now if you know me very well..you know that I have a huge irrational fear of mice…let alone

rats!!! If there is one thing that I am scared of most..it is a rodent! (I know…its silly…). BUT, non the less, I was sitting in the study room with David and Robert helping them to finish up their homework, when I look up and see the back half of a rat and its long tail running out of the room. I immediately put my feet up and try to remain calm..ish..:) I tell David to go get Henry NOW…Henry comes..and yes, with tears in my eyes (wow, I really am lame) I tell him that I CANNOT live in a house with rats…and we MUST do something. Lol. (can you say Drama Queen??) Anyways, he and Patrick go through every room trying to find the rat or any signs of rats…but come up with nothing. What can I do but just carry on…mind you that means being super paranoid as I walk through the house. About 45 minutes later I’m in my room getting some paperwork done when I hear shouting and hollering and chasing and things hitting the floor…the rat has come back…and this time it has 10 boys chasing after it! Despite the fact that it was a RAT that they were chasing..it really was a comical thing to listen to. About 5 minutes later victory was theirs…they had beat the rat with a broom! Lol. The next day when we were preparing the lawn for grass the found another one and quickly disposed of it…but not before one of the boys took it by its tail and brought it into the kitchen to dangle infront of me...ok, its funny now..but then it was NOT!! Although apparently all the boys thought that it was…lol. Oh dear…I guess that’s the joy of being the only girl in the house.

The last couple of weeks I’ve been finishing up taking out all the boys for dinner. (They have ALL become obsessed with the idea of going out to eat 'big fish'...we found a restaurant near our house that as the best inexpensive talapia EVER)...but thats not the point..lol..the point is that I love getting the chance to talk one on one with them! To hear their stories and find out more about what life was like growing up for them. Mind out it makes me so sad to hear what they had to go through, but when they talk about it…its more factual then anything. They aren’t looking for pity, its just how life was. Things like escaping from a children’s prison…or breaking their leg with no money to repair it are just part of life.

I guess one prayer request is for one of the boys who lost their mom recently (2 years ago maybe). He’s been having a difficult time at the house ,and so I was talking to him about his behaviour…and some how the conversation changed to how much I loved them, and I was there because God loves them too, and He called me to come and show His love to them. This led to talking about prayer, which led to a broken hearted boy telling me that God didn’t hear his prayers, or his mom’s…which is why she died. I talked to him more about it, and how sometimes we don’t understand why God doesn’t do like we ask Him to do, and that even though we don’t get it, we can trust that God knows best…it was so hard to watch him struggle to take it in…and try to understand…he left shortly after to go to bed…but please please pray from this boy.

So back to the reality that is coming..that I am leaving…am I ready? Well, on one side I AM ready to see my friends and family…to have some ‘normalcy’ back in life…to not kill 30 bugs a day or eat posho and beans every single day. I am ready to have my own place..and I’m ready to eat CHEESE! I am ready to be able to stop in at Tim Hortens whenever I choose…and I’m ready to have the freedom of going places when I want….What am I not ready for….not being there for the boys each morning before they go to school…not being there at the end of the day when they come home to ask them about their day…not being there to help David and Robert with their homework…not being there when they want to talk about their family, and something that is going on in their lives…not being there to teach them new things in the kitchen, or read bible stories with them….not being there sitting with them in church…not going to the market with them to buy whatever we need for the day….those are the things that bring tears to my eyes when I think about not being here.....

And I guess that is where I am at…excited to see family and friends at home, and knowing that is where God wants me to be for the time….but heartbroken at the thought of leaving these boys with no ‘mom’ figure….

Please pray for me in this time of mixed emotions….I got an email from a friend that said to ‘finish strong’…and that is what I am focused on doing. Enjoy every moment I have here…take it all in….continue to show them God’s love from them until the day I leave.

Feb 13, 2010 - School...church...elections...:)

Every time I leave blogging for even more then one day, I don’t even know where to begin. Whether I should start with explaining what it’s like laying under a mosquito net at night with a million mosquitos buzzing just beyond trying to get in….or when I wake up at night with mosquito bites all up my arms and on my fingers…because apparently they still get in somehow. Or maybe I should start with waking up each morning at 6am to open the doors so that the boys can get inside to prepare breakfast before going to school, and then getting up at around 630 and drinking tea and eating breakfast with them before they head off for school, although it seems to very anywhere from 630-715…I’m not actually sure what time they are expected to be at school, but I guess whenever they get there is fine. Watching them walk off to school on their first day was a bittersweet moment. It is nice to have some space at home with them good, but I definitely miss them during the day….

In writing that I realize that I need to catch you up on some of the happenings at The Sanctuary…first of all I found out this week that I wasn’t very specific about where I live. Or why I am in a house alone in a thunderstorm if we bought the house for the boys…lol. In the house we have 3 bedrooms. One of them is mine/the office, one is a guest room/storage, and one is the study room. We also have a kitchen, dining room, sitting room, toilet room and shower. Out back we have two boy’s quarters, each with 3 bedrooms. Right now we have 3 boys each in 4 of the rooms, and Henry and Alex in another one. So when I say that I am in the house by myself it is because the rest of the boys are outside in the boys quarters.

Another new thing that happened this week is that the boys started school! We have 7 of the boys starting at St. Patrick. Patrick, Mike, Michael, Ambrose, and Saidon are all going into P7 (which is like gr 8 at home, although much more intense because they have big exams to write at the end of the year that decide where they are accepted into for Senior school) then Moses and Johnson have started P5. Ronnie is taking an IT course at the YMCA college, and David and Robert are getting tutoring at home. We’ve decided that because they would have had to start in P1 and they are 13 years old, we would try to get them tutored for a year, with the hopes that they can pass a P3 or P4 test and then start in those grades next year.

After searching for a new church in the area, we’ve decided to keep going to Calvary in Jinja…this leads to some fun times in the morning….getting 15 people up, fed, showered and dressed is actually the easy part…its finding the boda, bartering with the boda driver for a decent price, and then loading everyone up is the more difficult task. :) The first week we were about 40 minutes late…due to reasons beyond our control naturally…BUT the next week we were 5 minutes early! So we’ll see how it goes next week J It works out well going to church in Jinja because some boys have rugby at 1pm in town also. We give them enough money for either lunch or transport home and then they can go and do what they want to do..also some of them travel to Masese to and visit family. We really like Calvary for many reasons…1) The music is almost like it is at home! I love it :) and so do the boys! 2) The speaking is biblically sound AND only for 1hr. Its also really great because the pastor speaks in English, but he is translated into Luganda, so for the boys who have a harder time understanding English they can still understand the message. 3) They serve tea before/after the service…which is always a nice treat :)

I guess the other big thing right now is that Presidential elections are taking place on Friday! There has been a lot of campaigning over the last couple of months, and now it is the time for voting. Right now the current president is Yoweri Museveni and his main opponent he is running against is Colonel Kiiza Besigye. Museveni has been the president for 20 years, and is looking for another 5. Because of the results of the elections in Kenya in 2010(violence) people are being very cautious and there is a lot more security in town. The boys even get the next 3 days off of school so that people can prepare for the elections. While I have been given some rules that I need to follow due to the elections, for the most part everything is the same. Once the elections happen we will have a better idea of what is going to happen. Please pray for the safety of everyone at The Sanctuary. Like I said, we aren’t expecting any difficulties, but we are taking the precautions necessary just incase.

Anyways, that is life right now. I will try to write a more personal note later on today!

Love you and miss you all!

Mel

Feb 1 - 130am - Me?? Afraid of a storm??

As I am writing this the house is shaking…and I actually do mean shaking from rain, thunder and lightening….I woke up to the sound of rain beating the roof…I can’t even explain to you how loud it was…it was literally pounding in my ears. I woke up in a haze..and could instantly feel water coming through my mosquito net…the room was flashing with lightening. I quickly unplugged everything in the outlet under the window and pulled my bed away from the wall as the rain rushed through the window….about this time the power went out…which just added to the eeriness of it all…I turned on my computer so that I could get some light from the screen, and decided to check out the rest of the house. About 3 steps out of my door I realized what a chicken I truly am..i felt like I was in my own horror movie…house all to myself…the light coming in and out of focus between flashes of lightening….the rain pounding so loudly on the metal roof that I could barely hear myself think..all I needed was to see the shadow of our guard and I knew that that would be the end of my sanity…so I quickly retreated back into my bedroom. I reacessed the situation at the window and decided that I would be best off to crawl back in under my mosquito net with my laptop and start typing…before doing this though I realized that I needed to have some human contact so that I didn’t feel so alone. After texting with Henry for awhile I am now fine. For the most part being in this house alone at night has never been an issue. I have always felt very safe, and never really alone. (it helps that the boys don’t generally go to bed until 1145 and get up at 7…J But tonight that was a whole different story….being in this huge house all alone was rather terrifying. Good thing I haven’t watched many (if any) scary movies or I’m sure getting back to sleep tonight would be much more difficult.

Anyways, I might as well take this time to keep you updated about my day. Lets see….it started off like every day does…up at 7 to unlock the doors so that the boys who are incharge of breakfast can get in, as well as anyone else who is an early riser and wants in the house. I take the bread and sugar from my room designated for breakfast, set it in the Kitchen, and then I crawl back into bed for another 45 minutes of rest. At about 745 I finally convince myself to get out of bed and prepare myself for the day. Once I’m up and about I go out into the house and greet any of the boys who are around, open the curtains, reorganize the sitting room and then sit down for breakfast…which is tea (cocoa, sugar and hot water) and 2 slices of plain bread..yum..? A friend from the States (Frank) so nicely brought me a French press (probably the best gift I’ve received out here!) so often one of the boys will prepare coffee for Henry and myself. Lately I’ve been adding some yogart to my mornings so that I am guaranteed some sort of protein. I’ve been trying to read my bible with breakfast (btw breakfast is a come and go ordeal…everyone takes it at their own time..as long as it is before 9am). Reading my bible with breakfast has led to many interesting conversations with different boys..and I want to try to be a role model to them about the importance of daily reading the word.

After breakfast I meet with the 2 boys who are incharge of cooking for the day (let me back up…each boy has a partner and a different job for each day of the week…so one day they are incharge of cooking, the next mopping the house, latrines, shopping, picking up/taking out the garbage, etc). Anyways, I come up with a list of what the ‘cookers’ want to make for lunch and supper, and then give the list to the shoppers who go and buy the food for the day. The market is just down the road, and with so many boys in the house, it is easiest to just buy much of the food daily. Although things like posho, beans and rice are bought in bulk and last for many weeks.

Many of the boys do their laundry in the morning as well. Its actually kinda impressive. Often times I will wake up and look out the front door and 2 or 3 of them will be washing their clothes. After morning chores it is then time to revise. They are starting a new school this year due to moving, so they have to prepare for entrance tests. Recently I discovered that one of the boys who is now in P5 (basically grade 5) can’t read. And not even can’t read…but he also barely recognizes the alphabet. Together we have decided that we are going to spend 2 hours a day working on his English. The problem (ok well one of the many) of growing up on the streets is that it means that you went to school off and on through out your entire childhood. Often the foundation of everything you need to learn (like ABC’s and 123’s) are not properly learned, or even well taught. Many times a child will start a term, but then not have enough money for school fees and then they will never complete the term. BUT, when it comes to the next year they we go on to the next level, having missed huge pieces of learning. Depending on the school they will have enterance tests…but often they don’t…and then end up in the wrong class. Anyways, this morning I worked with Moses on a program I found on the internet the helps with sounding words out and spelling!

Today I was taking Michael out for lunch at Two Friends (a lovely restaurant in Jinja). Henry and I had taken another one of the boys out there before and he ordered a WHOLE Talapia fish….this is now the standard of all food…they all want a whole fish. Michael and I have been talking about going out to eat for about a month now..and different things keep coming up whenever we plan to go…so I was glad that it was finally happening. We headed into town on boda and arrived at the restaurant. It looked like it was about to rain as we arrived, but I figured we could wait it out while we ate. We ordered our food, him the whole fish, me a chicken burger. About 5 minutes later the waiter comes out and tells us that they are OUT of whole fish…lol. Needless to say we left..seeing as that was the whole point of going there with plans to come back another day. We went into town instead and grabbed a rollex off of the street and headed to meet Henry at the Keep. Just as we got on a boda it began to POUR!!! He pulled into a gas station under a little pavilion and the heavens let loose. This time it was with huge pellets of hail…it was actually kinda fun being stuck out in the middle of a hail storm with a boda who barely spoke and English..and Michael…we even took some picturesJ About 10 minutes after is started, it let up enough for us to take a still very wet ride through the streets to The keep.

After the keep we went out in search for chocolate cake mix. I have done searches like this before..but for some reason today it was a impossible task. After about 5 shops, all carrying either NO cake mix…or only strawberry or orange cake mix…we finally came across a vanilla cake mix which we decided to just add coco to. Shortly after that we were on our way back to Bukaya.

So back to the school situation…while I was in town I was noticing that there were many children in different school uniforms around….Let me explain something to you…here, school seems to start at any given time…this term, because there are elections taking place in the middle of February it turns out that some schools are starting early…meaning we had missed the first day of school. Being the Muzungu that I am..this seemed to me like a really big deal…When I got home I was on a mission to figure out what was going on with the school we were looking at going to. Alex and I talked to the boys, and then headed out to St.Patrick’s Primary School to find out what was going on. When we arrived we noticed that there were no children there…and only a handful of people to be seen. We were immediately escorted into the Head Masters office where we learned what was going on. Techinically, school has started…but people were not well informed, and so many students were not prepared for school, as well as many parents do not yet have the money to pay for their children’s school fees. Why do I worry about things like this..to me (and I’m thinking many white people), not being enrolled/missing the first day of school seems like a big deal…here…its just the way it is…..i need to calm down…lol.

Afternoons/early evenings are the most relaxing at The Sanctuary. Most of the boys are out playing football or in their room reading….so this is my chance to get some office work done…or even email! (and if I’m really lucky..blog J)Around 7-730 they all start to trickle home and whoever is on supper starts preparing the meal (yes…930pm is a normal time to have supper here…:S). After supper is more revising, listening to music, and for me working with Moses on his reading. After the I’m done with Moses I spend some time with the rest of the boys in the house…and then kick them out so that I can get some sleep (usually this is around 1130pm).

And that’s a day in the life of Melissa at The Sanctuary….although its never really the same…that is atleast a general idea of what its like. And, if I haven’t mentioned it earlier…I love it! Yes its insanely busy, yes its tiring, yes at times the boys make me SOOO VERY frustrated…but despite all of the not so fun parts…there is no where else I would rather be right now.

Jan 29 - YIKES!!!

I whole month without my writing ANYTHING! At first it was because life was so busy…then the thought of trying to catch up on a whole month’s worth of happenings just seemed a bit overwhelming. BUT, tomorrow is a big day for The Sanctuary, so here it goes…I am going to do my best to fill you in on the happenings of the last month.

Where to start….lets start with the Hen House…

A volunteer named Frank from the States (actually, he is on the board of directors for The Sanctuary) came down and the fun began! The boys loved having him here, and he brought a lot of good times. He is kind of like the grandparent for the boys…spoiling them, taking them swimming, buying them soda’s, etc. BUT, it was good. The main reason for his coming down was that he had raised a bunch of money with his church and friends from home so that he could build a hen house for The Sanctuary! So, we now officially have a hen house in our backyard! We actually just ordered our layers today..and they are due to arrive in the middle of February (I believe 100 of them). Then we are going to be getting broilers sometime in the next week or so.(I have only JUST learned about the types of chickens you can get in the last month or so…broilers for eating, layers obviously for their eggs.) The cool thing about the chicken project is that the boys got to be part of every step of it. From seeing Henry design the house, to buying the lumber, to digging the holes to constructing the floors, walls and roof, all of it was done by them (under supervision of courseJ). The goal of the hen house is 1) sustainability, to help be a source of income for The Sanctuary and 2) teaching the boys life skills…not only on how to build the house, but how to take care of the hens, learning how to come up with a business plan, figuring out how many eggs they need to keep for us, how many to sell, bookkeeping on the money that we make…etc etc. Its exciting to have a project like this in our own backyard that will provide the boys with so many different skills.

Oh, another big event, my dad came down for a month! Having him here has been fantastic! Its exciting to be able to share everything that has been going on here in Jinja with him IN PERSON! I have to say that it started off a bit rough…he had $300 stolen from in on his 2^nd day here…but amazingly enough he actually got it back! (thank you God) I would say that I am thankful for having my dad here for 3 main reasons…1) Its just nice to have your dad around…to have a dad that actually cares enough about what I am doing to come all the way to Africa to help! That’s pretty amazing! 2) He is an expert painter/site manager at the new house! I don’t think that we would be NEAR as far as we are on the house now if it wasn’t for my dad! PLUS he wasn’t afraid to tell the boys if they needed to do a better job..lol..which means our walls will look much nicer then they would have had I been incharge. 3) For him to get a chance to build a relationship with the boys! All the boys love him! David always refers to my dad as ‘the gentleman’..lol.. Ambrose left this week to go and see is Jaja (grandma) up north..and he talked to my dad on the phone the night before he left, and then again called in the morning to say goodbye, and to thank him for everything he had taught him. Then there is Michael who doesn’t often open up and talk to many people (atleast Muzungu) and he talks with dad all the time when they are walking home…so that part at been the most rewarding. I love when people get the chance to really get to know these boys, and to understand why they are so special…to hear their stories, and know why I am here. Love it! J

I completely forgot about the Safari! All I can say is wow! When I went on my first safari I prayed (and had other people praying) that I would get to see elephants…and I saw SOOO MANY of them! This time, my dad LOVES giraffes, so that was what I was praying for, and I kid you now, we saw ATLEAST 60-70 of them! Some alone, some in herds…often a few adults and then some babies, it was truly breathtaking. So quickly, the morning of the Safari we were supposed to leave the house at 6am…until it rained…and the other 3 people we were going with (Frank, Henry and Harrison) were coming to us from out of town on boda’s…they finally arrived sometime after 7…and then we were on our way. In the end we were only about 10 minutes short…but for my muzungu mind…getting up that early..and leaving so late, and then having to rush and sit in traffic…I started the trip frustrated.. lol In the end it all worked out though! The first day you just drive and drive up to the part. We stopped for about an hour at the top of Murchison Falls to check out the view. It was beautiful. I think I’ve said this before…its almost more amazing then Niagara Falls..not so much in how big or how powerful..but its in a natural setting..not with all of the lights or show…just a Falls in the middle of no where…big and powerful all on its own…without the hype. Or atleast that’s my opinion! After the falls we went to the Red Chili campground were we got supper and then went to bed. The next morning was the land safari…we had to get up at 5am to catch a Ferry and head out on our game drive. Nothing compares to seeing animals in their natural environment! We even saw a leopard up in a tree sleeping!! I should mention that in the middle of our drive our car overheated and wouldn’t start….yep…really not so surprising… we gathered all the waterbottles in the vehicle and poured them into the radiator…then we found some sort of random sheltered area with an air strip and a WELL! We refilled our waterbottles and pouring bottle after bottle after bottle again into the radiator…after some time we were good to continue our tour! In the afternoon we headed out on a boat tours…where we FINALLY saw elephants!! (I was still praying for this too! ) At first we only saw 2…but then on our way back we saw a whole family. We actually even saw an elephant with no nose! Apparently it had been caught in a trap set for crocidiles..and it came off completely! The tour guide assured us though that the elephant lived a normal happy life…even without its trunk. It was definitely a strange sight to see though. Oh, as well as a hippo with no ears…apparently it’s a genetic thing…and I gotta say, a hippo without ears just isn’t as cute. Anyways, that’s the safari in a nutshell. The next day we packed up and headed home. It was a great time spent with family and friends, enjoying all of God’s beauty in nature!