Kampala, UgandaMay 29, 2011
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| We flew overnight on British Airline from London to Entebbe, Uganda. The jet sat two on each side and three in the middle. Rob and I were in the two seats on the right and Jan and Greg sat in front of us and had a exit seat and so had a little more leg room than us. We had a variety of movies or programs to watch on our little screens, but I was so exhausted that I did not watch a single one. Instead I tried to sleep. However, I found it very hard and tossed and turned the entire night trying to get comfortable. I used my earplugs and eye mask to help drown out the noise and light to help me sleep, but that did not help much. I was very envious of the people in 1st class who go to stretch out and sleep lying down. We arrived at the Entebbe airport and were met by Josh, Grace and Rose with the Amani ya Zion Mission which serves orphans and widows. We were not able to get all our eight suitcases and eight carry on items and the seven of us in one vehicle and so we had to rent a taxi to go to Kampala. He took us to their guesthouse for the night. It was a very nice place and we each had our own room. We shared the shower room and the toilet room. Each room had the mosquito net hanging above the bed. We cleaned up and unpacked a little and then headed off to the orphanage to have dinner. Rose’s adorable little daughter, Shanita, came over and rode with us too. We had a wonderful dinner with them and then moved outside to watch the orphans dance. There were about two boys and ten girls who were performing for us. Shanita was also dancing and was so much fun to watch. Jan and Greg also had a performance (a lame one according to Greg) for the orphans with puppets and told the story about the bracelets. We then gave each child pencils, colored pencils, shoes, balls, and some pillowcase dresses. We also gave some items to the older girls to sell at their store and beauty shop. They were all so excited to receive our gifts. The girls took us to see their little shop and beauty shop. Shortly after we drove back to our guesthouse, Lily and her sister, Janet, arrived. Lily is the beautiful little 4 year old black girl with blue eyes whose life is in danger due to her looking different than the others. We think she is gorgeous, but a blue-eyed black child here is considered to be cursed or possessed by the devil. Lily has been moved to several different places and was having a hard time because of her looks. She is being helped by Ross, a school friend of Jan’s, and is being adopted by a wonderful couple in Mandeville. We gave her some clothes and toys from her new mom and dad and Jan and I gave her a few more toys. Lily surprised me by getting down on her knees as a way to say thank you. Jan said that is typical of the culture. Lily knows some English and was very soft spoken. She was asked if she is ready to come to America and she said, yes, but I am sure she has no way to understand the true reality of it. After Lily and Janet left, we then had to pack to get ready for our trip to Murchinson Falls the next morning. |
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