Oh Baby

kampala, uganda...the pearl of africa. known for the rolling hills. it absolutely is that and more. the scenery is different then what i imagined. honestly, i didn't know what to imagine. i wasn't expecting all the buildings. it seems a though the people of this country are more established in some areas. it's hard to explain but more people in the area we are in live in structures. i am sure we will see more remote areas as we go outside the city when we visit the other baby houses.

a couple of large buildings that can be seen from the guest house we are staying in are 2 huge mosques. both placed in the center of the city and on top of a hill. we actually heard some prayers and singing this morning before we all woke up.

our team just completed day 2 at Watoto Bulrushes. before i jump into day 2 events, i'll summarize day 1...

• orientation at the Watoto Church
• met kids from the Watoto village rehearsing for the Children's Choir. Their tour in the US begins in January
• ate lunch at the Garden City Mall where we were bombarded with waters/waitresses from a variety of places. when we sat down at our table there were literally 20 men and woman places menus and telling us what to order. we were all overwhelmed to say the least and stressed out in choosing what to eat.
• the afternoon was spent at the bulrushes (the name of the baby house here in Kampala). we met all the babies and learned a little bit more of what the next 10 days would be. we are so excited that we will be visiting all 3 baby homes...Bulrushes, Subbi, and Gulu. next week we will be traveling 5 hours north to spend 2 days with the babies up in the northern part of uganda

day 2 was a full day at the bulrushes...and it was sure a FULL day of events

• this morning we took the "elephants" (ages 4-8months) on a walk. i loved getting to walk the streets of kampala with a baby wrapped on me. i slug my little boy, taylor, up i a chitenga (a wrap used in zambia). it was great. he was so happy and loved looking at everything. we went to play at a playground, ate a snack and then walked back. taylor fell asleep on me, which melted my heart.
• the kids we had ate lunch and then had "potty time". literally all the kids were forced to poo in little baby potties. it was chaotic and an experience that affected all of us. haha. my little boy taylor is actually from Subbi so he wasn't used to the things here at the bulrushes. he didn't go in the potty so i took him and changed him to go out for play time. and as soon as i get outside and sit down he decided to go potty. little did i know that it was leaking out his diaper and onto my pants. so in he goes again to have a full changing. oh my..
• once we hit lunch time we all were exhausted. each one of us experience this "potty time" so we were thankful we were done with that. the afternoon we feed the smaller babies and then played outside until we left at 5pm. but of course right before we left, we had one little girl named patricia completely throw up all her lunch. yes it was projectile. that was a nice end to our 2 day here.

so those are our babies...it has been so interesting observing the way things are run at the baby house and how the nannies care for them. it is clear there is a need for educating and training. for medical care and treatment. but what they have is great for now. there are premies at the bulrushes. probably the smallest babies i have ever seen. some have come into the house at 600 grams (about 1.5lbs). they are much healthier and doing well because of Baby Watoto.

hopefully all this makes sense, i didn't go back and proof it. thanks for your emails, notes, and comments of encouragement. it is different, but i have loved seeing a different country. there is definitely a constant need of love for these people and these children.

mukama akuwe omukisa.

Joy