Live from Tororo

Hello Everyone! Sorry for my delays in updates. We encountered problems with the internet cafe and we had to purchase our own internet. Now I will be able to keep you more updated. My time here in Uganda has been very interesting. I work at Smile Orphanage every Tuesday and Thursday and I work at the Smile Womans Center on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Its a good balance for me to break things up. At the Orphanage we stay VERY busy. There are children running around at all times and our biggest challenge is learning the language. There are 5 languages spoken in Tororo so it's very hard knowing what to speak to who and when, but I am learning. :) I love spending my days at the Woman's center because it is a place for woman to learn trades so that they can create a business some day. They teach sewing, bead making, bag making, weaving of palm and banana leaves and so on. So far I have learned everything they do except for basket making.....hopefully that will come next week. The elder woman come on Monday and Friday afternoons and they are the ones that teach of the weaving, and the bowls. Today was very productive because I saw Claire (my teacher) make a skirt that was fitted just for me, and from there I was able to make a skirt for a child, then I went on to begin making hand bags. For those of you who know me, you know I LOVE using my hands so this is a great experience for me. I will be bringing many trades back with me. Mama Anna is the one teaching me the weaving and she was shocked to hear that PA does not have banana leaves and palm tree leaves....she said "but how will you get these to make your own" and I told her I wouldn't be able to, so she said she would gather leaves for me because she wants me to continue my craft at home. She is so sweet and I have also been given an African name and the Jap language. My name is Achen and it means Sunshine. :) Very fitting if I do say so myself. Ok well I am off to dinner Rice and Beans again...woo hoo! I will be back soon to update you on the children, but please do keep them in your prayers because all the kids are getting sick and passing it around so we need to get them them feeling better but its hard without the proper nutrition but I know that with prayer God will heal them. Have a wonderful evening and I will be back soon!

Mzungu Mzungu Mzungu!

We left Saturday morning at 6am to come to Tororo and it took us 5 hours by post bus and we eventually made it. Evelyn the missionary out here met us and took us to lunch. On Sunday we rested and today we finally made it to the orphanage. All the children come running shouting "mzungu mzungu" which means white people. They were so excited to see us they just cling to you, 20 kids at a time could be attached to you in some way, shape or form. They are beautiful children who are in need of a lot so I pray that we are able to do what we came to do. Time is running out at the internet cafe so I will be in contact with you all again soon.

Fun in Uganda. We met some girls who wanted to escort us around. The girl in blue is Percie, the little girl in yellow is Ratisha, and the girl in white is Marcia. We walked to get our water for the trip and bought some coke in the glass bottles, but they poured it into a cup for us and gave us HUGE straws. We got the girls a drink too because they were too cute and then walked back to the main road and we met the rest of their brothers and sisters. When we got back we walked around our compound and we found this amazing swing. It took me a few tries to get on but I finally did it.

Day two in Kampala, Uganda. Tomorrow we leave at 6:15am on a Post Bus. It stops at the different towns to drop off mail as well at take travelers to the towns. I'm excited, except for the fact that its a 5 hour bus ride and we may not get a bathroom break.

Below are the photos of us at Matoke Inn on our walk into town to buy water for our journey.

Beautiful plants everywhere I look

Jambo!

I've learned my 1st Swahili word....Jambo! It means Hello. Actually that is the 2nd word I've learned. Mazungu means white person :)

Photos from the plane. They gave us menus to have options on our dinner and breakfast it was pretty nice. They even gave us little pouches with a wash cloth, socks, and a tooth brush with toothpaste since our flight was so long. I felt special I can only imagine how first class got treated!