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:)
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