Mirako

This is Mirako. She's the youngest of the orphans and she's so cute!! She's the girl we took to the hospital last week, but she's doing much better!

Kids on the Camera

This is a [not so] lovely picture of me while the kids were playing with my camera. The light in the background is kids who have come back to the school to study more in the evenings.

Toy

I love this toy. It makes me laugh when I see the kids so happy to be pushing this "car" down the path. Not sure if you can tell, but it's an old plastic can, with wood sticks and wood "wheels" attached. I tried to take a picture of the boy pushing it, but he ran away crying. His mother laughed. The kids don't see Mizuno's (white people) much, so we're a little scary.

School

These are the classrooms. They are made of cement with Wood dividers and Tin Roofs. Needless to say, it is very loud. There are 5 teachers for 7 classes. But, the kids love school. In fact, they usually come at 7 (class starts at 8), and come back after dinner to study under the lantern light. I made the mistake of showing up early to class to write on the board, and the kids were already there and ready for me to start.....so I had to turn a 2-hour lesson into a 3-hour lesson. I don't go to class early anymore.

Landscape

This is the beautiful landscape of my village--it's very thick of trees/bushes/gardens. Although, I stay on the path because I am scared of snakes .

Food

Ugandan food is very good. They can grow anything here. People really do not go hungry because they all have gardens full of vegetables and fruit. This is a typical meal of potatoes, rice, vegetables, cabbage, and avocado. I haven't had any problems not getting enough to eat--in fact, they usually take the portions down for me. I discovered something fantastic called Jack Fruit--it is a tropical flavor-oh so good!

Although, I have to admit, yesterday, I snuck into the city with other "Westerners" and had NY Pizza.

Proud Artist

This is my contribution to science class--diagram drawing. This is the first of many. Liz, the school director, is smiling in the background. I never fail to look VERY white--in more ways than one--always caking on sunscreen, wearing sunglasses, and this lovely sunhat.

Bed

Double the Mosquito net for me! This is my home away from home, my little sanctuary (away from the kids). I haven't any troubles with creepy spiders or exotic insects yet.

Shower

This is my new shower. It is so dirty here, though, that I think I actually shower more here than I do at home. Oh, how I miss hot showers,....

Toilet

This is my hole (toilet). This one is actually quite nice compared to others I've been in. The covers keeps the smell down and flys to a minimum. The first couple tries were a little ugly, but I've got my aim down now.

Hello Friends, I'm finally contributing to my blog. Things are good here. I have now been here for 8 days. I have to admit the first three days, I was asking myself "How much would I pay to be on the next plane home?"...and it didn't exactly start out smoothly either...The first day at school, we had to take a little girl to the hospital, so I got to experience a Ugandan hospital...ugh, I was sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours with dozens of coughing sick people. Hypochondria set in quickly and I developed several symptoms immediately. During our visit, we saw a girl come out screaming (her mother died), and a lady my director (Liz) knew came in with a snake bite. Of course, no representative from the hospital was there to help her in, so Liz had to help her in. The good news--the girl we took in is doing much better!

The next day, we learned that the lady with the snake bite died (btw, I've been ASSURED that snakes are not that common, and I haven't seen any yet). So, on Wednesday, we went to a burial. People from the whole village were there.

More to come....

A quote from Father Hogan in Missoula, "We should focus our energy on a life full of love, service, and a life of adventure. Life is a celebration."

I want to thank my family, friends, coworkers, and employer for all their support in my volunteer adventure to Uganda.