Wowza!

Once again, it's been a LONG time! (why do I always need to open posts like that?) This must change :)

Anyhow, I never even got around to posting photos from my last trip... so here are a few! And there is no doubt in my mind that more photos will show up BUT I do have some things coming up that I'm very VERY excited about:

First, I'm taking photos of a family tomorrow that will NEED to be posted.....I'm excited for this :) AND...... Second: I've got TWO weddings booked for this summer! Woot woot. My goal was literally for one wedding, so somewhere along the way my luck doubled :) Bing Bang Boom!

(This is about the point where any photographer who shoots 10-20+ weddings shakes their head.....and likely smiles just a bit ;)

But really, TWO weddings! I'm stoked (and if you know me WELL, you'll know that I must be excited because I NEVER use the word 'stoked' ;)

Anyhow, enough! Here's some Uganda photos, and some lyrics from Starfield :)

"Let me not be blind with privilege
Give me eyes to see the pain
Let the blessing you've poured out on me
Not be spent on me in vain
Let this life be used for change...."

Beauty in Simplicity :)

Wow!

I have wanted to blog about this year's trip to Uganda SO MUCH over the past week, and there are JUST NO WORDS :) There are just too many thoughts floating around in my brain and I don't know where to start.

I love it in Uganda. I learn much in Uganda. And one thing I always miss coming back to Canada is the simplicity of the life that I experienced while away....Less distractions, less busyness, less choice (which can be both good and bad I realize ;)

This year I found some of the young girls making these AMAZING little dolls. They were literally made out of corn husks that were wrapped around plastic shopping bags and tied off with straw. THEN the girls used the pointy end of a protractor to thread through string hair (decorated with beads) and then ripped up used clothes/tshirts to make dresses for the dolls. They were the most creative and SIMPLE little dolls....and were made from the most simple and available supplies. Didn't need to spend any money etc. etc.

Which makes me think: Why don't I use my old stuff in new and creative ways? Why don't I cook something 'creative' out of what's already in my kitchen cupboards instead of buying new groceries all the time? And why don't I just go and tailor an old pair of pants instead of going and buying a new pair? Maybe I should be putting my own creative abilities to better use! :)

Anyhow, I'd love to post a whole heck of a lot more photos right now, but I'm only posting two ;) With these I assure you there will be more to come. But for now, here are two simple little photos: The first, one of the dolls and the second, a classic photo of a Ugandan mama that I find so SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL :)

Enjoy!

One Week :)

Yup! In one week from now (I haven't told a lot of people ;)....I'm off to Uganda again!

I've started to lay out all the packing. I work the next four days....which means this final week before my flight is gonna FLY by! (wink wink)

I took tons of pictures last year and although I shared a good handful, I keep finding more that I love as I look through my files. So here's a little smattering of the ones I haven't FULLY shared before, because truthfully: The next ones will be from the upcoming trip!

So here's the end to the '09 trip (or the ones I'll share at least - unless you wanna invite yourself to my apartment to see more, and I'll even have snacks ;)

Anyhow, 2010 pictures to come.....what a nice way to start out the year. I feel so blessed :)

And if you've made it this far :)

I made a little list of some random goals for myself this year.....FUN goals :) I WILL post the photos that I took of a friend a while back (along with the list of goals ;) but for now, I just really wanted to sneak in this Uganda post quick, because I leave so soon :)

Have a great week!

Hooray!

So, I've been getting the Sanyu Babies Home Newsletters for the past couple months, and I just found out that little cutie Raymond was fostered. Woot woot! I keep checking up on some of my favorites in the 'fostered' section of the newsletter....it's the first section I go to :)

And I just realized that I never did post a photo of the little man, so here you go ;)

Come to the Edge.

"Come to the edge," he said.

They said, "We are afraid."

"Come to the edge," he said.

They came.

He pushed them.....and they flew :)

-Guillaume Appollinaire

I like this. And I also like this photo. Taken with my wee point and shoot :)

Memoirs

I sit here, at starbucks, relatively early in the morning, night shift tonight.....with Uganda on my mind. I just can't believe it's already been a month since I've come back! Time is flying.....

Anyhow, thought I'd share three thoughts: three thoughts, three pictures.....and honestly, if you're thinking, 'Oh my! I can't believe she's writing more about UGANDA!'.....I assure you that these people are absolutely amazing and the few little posts I've written don't do them justice (literally and figuratively) in ANY way.....

So here goes! :)

Story #1: Mary Kevin

I've talked about this young lady before (here). It was quite possibly the most amazing moment to see her again. The last time I'd seen her in '06, there was not a smile to be seen on her face, but the first day I arrived back this year, she came through the throng of children, shook my hand and with this HUGE smile said 'Hello! I'm Mary Kevin'......and it was from this moment that I think I'd found my match :) And to top it off, we'd sing wierd songs to each other....Simple little greetings in a 'sing song' way ;) Maybe a little odd, but like I said: I think I found my match!

Story #2: Water
This photo doesn't do the 'water' story justice. While I can just turn on a tap in my home and drink straight from it, these kids have daily chores, one of which is to go and collect water from a tap that is (what seems) a "short" walk down a hill. I tried on a few occasions to help, and after one trip up with two of these yellow containers filled with water, it hit home to see how hard these kids work everyday to satisfy the most basic of needs. The boys and girls rotate with who collects the water.....and they fill this GIGANTIC blue basin (I think it holds about 24 yellow jugs of water). While helping one day, I asked, 'I think it's full, yah?'.....and was quickly corrected as one of the children said, 'no, not yet' and pointed to the small amount of blue basin that had yet to be filled (the water was, in all honesty, an inch from the top :) Needless to say, that blue basin was filled to the BRIM and was spilling over. Maybe a literal analogy to how hard these kids work :)

Story #3: The Mama's
What do I say about these ladies! These three women have devoted their lives to caring for the 53 children who live on the 10 acres I visited. Three children's homes, three wonderful mama's! And although they're all amazing, I wanted to speak a bit for Mama Rose (in the middle, picking peanuts :).....Rose was on the 10 acres the last time I'd visited in '06. I have never met a woman who is more open about her faith in the sense that she would be up early every morning (aka 5am-ish) shouting 'HALLELUJAH!' at the top of her lungs for all to hear. I was behind one of the children's homes taking some quiet time for myself on another occasion, and she came around the home with her bible in hand (I think I might have taken her 'spot'). She sat a few paces from me, laid down a blanket and just starting worshipping like there was no-one else around (aka "I" was no longer there). She was humming to herself and raising her hands and then she opened the word and started reading, and then she started singing again....it was just her and God and that was all that mattered right then and there. It was lovely! So nice to see a heart laid open in front of me, and more importantly in front of the "big guy"......just encouraging :)

Anyhow, I think that's it. If you've made it to here, thanks for sticking around. Uganda will likely makes it way again onto this blog......Just far too many stories (and photos) to share :) But I've also recently taken pictures of a friend who was on the trip! So maybe I'll post those next time :)

Have an awesome day! And HALLELUJAH!! ;)

Just a few More :)

So, I keep running through my Uganda photos and I keep coming across photos that I just wanna share! I took a lot and I have so many favorites......But these particular ones (the last couple posts) are absolutely PRECIOUS to me because I just adore these kids! So I hope you enjoy them too....
Oh! And might I add: Hello LARGE photos! How I like you :)

Mpigii :)

So, I am officially in Canada......but I wanted to say a word for Mpigi, where I spent the last month and a half of my trip :) There are simply things I already (and knew I'd miss) about Mpigi. So here they are (officially):

Firstly, I miss the quietness. No traffic or television in Mpigi (for the most part).

Secondly, the simplicity in living. As far as I could see, there weren't any 'Walmart Supercenters' in Mpigi. Simplicity doesn't come easy in Canada. There are just too many choices here! Figuring out what to wear in the morning or what to eat for breakfast is much quicker and less stressful when you only have the choice of a grey or purple t-shirt to wear, and either oats or toast for breakfast. And oh my! Do I ever miss the simplicity....

Thirdly, I miss walking to where you need to get. It appears I'm back into the drudgery of driving where I need to be.....and also paying the gasoline to get there :(

And fourthly, I miss the kids. Maybe that's a given....but I just do. They sing and dance and play but are also so diligent with chores and homework. They're just absolutely incredible. And as such, I'll end with just that: A few pictures.....my ode to Mpigi ;)

Amani Baby Cottage

So, as of today I am officially finished working at children's homes ;) I've been in Jinja, Uganda for the past week at Amani Baby Cottage....and I have been able to add (woopee!!) a couple of photos of my favorite children from this home ;) I was able to take the boy in yellow to town today. We walked there with a couple other children and volunteers and he officially ate an entire strawberry milkshake, a piece of chocolate cake with whipping cream....and then proceeded to finish off half of my slice of cake, half of another boy's milkshake and a couple swigs of my iced coffee.....needless to say, he was pretty hyper afterward....it was great ;)

And then....probably my favorite moment of the week, we hopped onto a boda boda and drove back to the children's home. And if you're thinking 'a boda boda?'....that would mean that we hopped onto the back of a motorcycle, me on the back and my little yellow shirted friend in the middle of me and the driver. He (NOT the driver) was giggling the entire way home, and then would stop and say, 'my tummy hurts'....maybe because I fed him a TON of sugar......I'm not quite sure though ;) And probably the cutest thing of all: He calls me Auntie Cheryl (AKA 'Auntie Cherwuw)....at least that's how he says it. I have it on video because it's just too cute :)

And the second picture of the little girl....words cannot describe.....I just LOVE her....stories when I'm home.......

And in other news, tomorrow I'm rafting the nile ;) Let's pray I don't drown. I've been told they're class 5 rapids ;) And the day after that, I'm visiting a family outside of jinja and then the day after that....MPIGI! Maybe one more post from mpigi....we'll see ;)

In the meantime, enjoy the, uh, TWO photos ;)

Sanyu Babies Home

13 minutes for one story.....

That means that I have 13 minutes left of internet time, and because I haven't posted anything in a while, I should at least share one story ;)

I've been at Sanyu Babies Home for about 2 weeks and I've cuddled with a mass amount of children. And I could describe in lots of words what I see, but it just wouldn't do it justice. There have been 5 babies 'abandoned' in the past couple weeks and they are beautiful and adorable and 'well fed' it seems....which makes me wonder why they were left in the first place. It's one thing if you can't take care of your child and you abandon them because you can't nourish them, but when you leave a baby on the side of the road that is well fed with ears pierced....it's then that I wonder.....I just don't get it sometimes. Why some of these kids are left. And then again, I'll never know the full story either.....argh!

Anyhow, the actual story: One of my favorite children in the home is this boy named Raymond, and here's why! After we get all 50+ of the children fed and changed (aka their 'nappies' ;) we pop them in their cribs and draw the mosquito netting around the crib. WELL, I put this one boy Raymond in his crib and drew the net and then noticed about 5 minutes later that he'd climbed out.....so I put him back in there and drew the net.....and heard him laughing.....and then realized 5 minutes later that he climbed out again! Well, this time he slowly walked over to me and I picked him up and he rested his head on my shoulder....and I'm thinking, 'alright, he's tuckered himself out now'....he started to doze on my shoulder! So I ever so gently placed him back in the crib and his head flopped to the side....and then he quickly looked up at me and this adorable little grin spread across his cheeks and he started laughing!

The kid was faking it! He pretended he was tired....and at that point he climbed back out of the crib and started running around with some of the other children (who also weren't sleeping).

And there's the story....I'm off to another babies home as of saturday and then will be in MPIGI as of June 2nd.....I'm excited ;)

Hope everyone is well :)

Kibaale

Well, I've taken lots of pictures, but I've only added one to this post ;) Internet here is terrible (and very slow). Needless to say, in the past two weeks I've been to one Ugandan wedding, two clinics, two 'immunization' clinics, one banquet and a few homes in the community. I've climbed one hill (apparently it used to be a volcano if that makes it any more interesting) and otherwise have walked everywhere. I've read four books, taken about 600 pictures (I think), eaten two Ugandan feasts with my fingers (I felt authentically 'ugandan' at this point even though I'm pasty white), and I've gotten (minimum) 25-30 mosquito bites. Likely far more than that...because somehow I just got bit on the chin! What the heck? I don't know how that happened.....


Anyhow, my time in Kibaale has been good. I feel like there's a lot to say but I'm at a loss for words now that I'm writing. I really love the weather. It doesn't rain for days on end (even though it's the 'rainy season' here right now) and the people are really friendly. I'll be honest. I was checking out one of the clinics here and this child was just crying away across the hallway from me, but then he looked over and peered at my "dazzling" white skin (that likely looked much whiter given that I was in the direct sunlight)....and stopped crying. Amazing! Needless to say a bunch of mothers started laughing at the situation. I'll admit: I laughed too. I mean, I can make children stop crying just by looking at them! Granted, I also made another child START crying when she saw my whiteness. You win some....and you lose some ;)


Oh! And this is random, but to further the record, I've also counted one 'dead' snake...thank goodness only one....and already dead ;)


I'm heading to Kampala tomorrow and then on to Sanyu Babies Cottage as of Saturday (I'm there for two weeks for those who are following along). Looking forward to cuddling with some babies.....and I've also heard that there's a resort in Kampala that has an olympic sized outdoor swimming pool. So if I find some other travellers willing to sit in the sun with me, I will most definitely be doing that on weekends ;)


Otherwise, enjoy the one picture that I've added. I sat there for 7 minutes for it to upload, so I hope it's a good one! It was the second picture that I took of a child in Kibaale and I looked at the LCD screen on the back of my SLR and a little smile made it's way across my face. I then proceeded to show the girl. I think she liked it ;)


Anyhow, that's it. I apparently wasn't at a loss for words in the end ;) Hopefully I can find some way to get more pictures on here. We'll see about that. Hope everyone is well back home!

Surreal :)

So, I'm in Uganda! I have been anticipating being here for a LONG TIME now....and now I'm here and it's totally surreal. There are a lot of things that I've forgotten since the last time I was here. The children are much cuter and more beautiful that I remembered.....and I keep looking around and just stand in wonder that I'm actually here......and I will be taking pictures but I know that the second I get the camera in my hand, it'll be attached for good :) So I took the last couple of days off.....

Anyhow, just a quick update. I'm really enjoying it so far (it's been two days ;).....but given that it's been a good start, I'm looking forward to the rest as well :) Pictures to come with the next post I suppose.....

And there you go: my first greeting from Uganda :)

Spring Cleaning...

So, I was recently looking at a short devotion from 'Our Daily Bread' (yes folks, I definitely picked one up and tossed it in my purse!).....needless to say, one of the 'messages' that I came across intrigued me. The devotion held the title 'clearing out the clutter' and as I read through the words, I found myself thinking more and more about the baggage that each of us carries on a daily basis and how we need to let it go....

Here's what I read in 'Our Daily Bread' (yes, that rhymed ;)

"My garage serves as storage for things that don't have a place in our home, and, frankly, there are times when I am ashamed to open the door. I don't want anyone to see the clutter. So, periodically, I set aside a workday to clean it up.

Our hearts and minds are a lot like that - they accumulate lots of clutter. As we rub shoulders with the world, inevitably, perhaps unknowingly, we pick up ungodly thoughts and attitudes. Thinking that life is all about "me." Demanding our rights. Reacting bitterly toward those who have hurt us. Before long, our hearts and minds are no longer clean and orderly. And while we think we can hide the mess, eventually it will show...."

So, I'm moving. I have spent at least one day a week for the past couple months packing up my belongings and then, once a week, having them taken to storage. And it's funny (and I think that my roommates might agree), but it's actually nice to live in an apartment with less clutter. I mean the place looks empty....the walls in my room are now bare, as is the wall in the family room....but the clutter is disappearing and I feel my breaths easing with every box that leaves the house.

And it seems wierd, but I feel (and maybe even know) that this is how my life is going to be the next few months. I feel God prying at my heart with some things, and just encouraging me to let go of others....and it's hard to let go, but at the same time FREEING because I realize the relaxation that comes from looking at the bare walls all around me. I don't feel that God can work within the clutter (I mean, who can?), but that open and presumably empty heart....OH! I know he can do his work there :)

Anyhow, just felt like sharing. That seemingly small 'Daily Bread' manual really had it's way with me this time!

Next time Daily Bread....you're mine!

(And because I feel it necessary to include a picture, here you are: I will officially be seeing lots of Ugandan sunrises in the weeks to come! Booyah!)