Today was day one in Africa and it was absolutely
amazing. I woke up at like 11:30 which
was great but I still wasn’t even ready to wake up. I probably could have slept like another hour
or so but everyone was leaving so I had to wake up. Got ready and boy did I look great haha it
was really hot today so I was like sweating as I was getting ready and it was
miserable. But after I got ready I ate breakfast which was Chapati (basically a
tortilla but better) and honey and it was delicious!
We left the house and I had my first Boda-Boda experience. A
boda-boda is the main transportation and it’s just like a motorcycle. You bargain with the drivers and then hop on.
My leader Todd bargained for us because we were all new-bees and then we got
on. It was a little scary because the roads
were so bumpy and it seems like the drivers all think it’s their own road so
there is no order, but it was a great time haha We went to the bank first to
exchange our shillings (money) for smaller bills because it is easier to pay
for things. After the bank we went to
the Namatala slums.
The Namatala slums were a little sad but it was great experience
going there. So the slums are basically
the “ghetto” but worse, if you can imagine that. I don’t really know how else to put that.
There were homeless people everywhere, trash everywhere, it had a bit of a
stench, people were dressed with very raged, dirty and ripped clothes, kids
were half clothed or even naked. It was
sad. Like I knew beforehand that I was
going to see stuff like that so I was semi mentally prepared, but I didn’t
realize the extent of it. On a good note
though, once again there were cows, chickens, and goats wandering everywhere
haha
Once we got off the boda-bodas and actually started
wandering around, children started flocking towards us. At first they were going to everyone in the
group but me and I started getting really sad.
But then I thought about it and was like I’m black. Hahah these kids
think I am probably just a local. This
was only the case though for maybe like five min, after that the kids were
flocking to me as well and I was in HEAVEN!! They are so adorable!! Also the kids
walk around saying “Muzungu” which means white people and follow us. Haha and I
would ask the kids if I was a “muzungu” to be funny, and they would say no and
just laugh. Haha It was sooo cute. They are just so happy. They live where they live and are still so
happy. I met a lot of new friends but I
don’t remember anyones name haha one
friend I do remember was a little kid named Chuttte, that’s probably not how
you spell it but whatever. He was so stinkin
cute and wouldn’t let go of my hand, and he seemed to be bragging to his
friends about me haha he would say something to them, point at me, and then
like hug my arm. I felt so special.
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| My friend Chutte |
We took so many pictures and let me tell you that those
kids looveeee pictures!!!! Like I thought I loved pictures but not as much as
them. You take a picture and then they
want to see it and then they want to keep taking more. I think we probably spent like 30 min just taking
pictures. And once you take one picture
more kids see that and want to hop in too. I just love it!!
So we walked around the slums for a while and then found
some more kids who were playing futbol or soccer and joined in. It was way fun!! We danced, played soccer,
and I met some new little kids who loved playing tag. I was exhausted after that haha these kids
play some serious tag. I was going easy
on them because that’s what you do with kids but they were fast. I had to actually run to catch them. I got a good workout in for sure. We played, took some more pictures, and we
were off.
Our next destination was to the Child of Hope School in the
Slums. This school is for like 1-7th
grade boys and girls but not everyone gets to attend which is sad. They take one child from each family and
that’s it. If the families want more of their
kids to go they have to pay for it or if they are lucky someone will sponsor
their kids to attend school. The grades are set up p1-p7 and today we got to
meet with all the girls. One of the
girls in our group (Brady) set up a thing called Girl Power. It is pretty much an all-girls confidence
class, which is great. Unfortunately,
today was the last day of it but I think we are going to do it at different
schools, so I hope that they we do that.
Today we talked about what they were good at and how we are all good at
something, and the girls loved talking about their talents. It was so
cute. One girl wrote she was good at
singing so I made her sing me a song and then like 6 other girls started singing
and it was wonderful. They all had these
huge smiles on their faces and it was just great. After we had the lesson we had dance time and
it was so much fun!! We danced for maybe 2 hours or more and I was
exhausted. This day had a lot of
exercise involved!!!
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| Kids at Child of Hope |
After the schools we rode our boda-bodas to the market to
get some food. We are responsible for
our own lunches because we are never home so all the new people needed to stalk
up on some food. Also this market is not
your typical grocery store. It was like 4
different stores: a grocery store, jewelry store, a home store, and a hair
store all in one. Who needs all kinds of
different stores when you can have one store with EVERYTHING you need. Haha
Also there is no line system in the market which is weird. When you’re ready you just go. People were
trying to cut me but some random guy had my back and told people to back up and
he unloaded my cart for me, so that was sweet.
I feel like there is no real organization here and it stresses me out a
bit but hey, it’s just a different way of living that I am not used to.
After the market we went home and had dinner. We have a cook that makes us dinner every
night and her name is Jemimah so that’s kinda cool, a little home away from
home, shout out to Mimah!! J
She made us Rolexes which is chapatti and egg rolled in the middle. I have never had chapatti with egg so that
was a different combination but it was actually pretty good. After dinner we had team meeting and just
kinda talked about what happened today and we went over what we are doing
tomorrow. Some of the newbies and I are a little lost when it comes to the team
meetings. There are people in our group
that came down May 15th so they know everything that is going on and
have all these projects they are in charge of and people they know and we know
absolutely nothing. Kind of a dear in
the headlights moment. I know we just got here but it still kinda sucks, I just
feel so lost and I don’t like it., but hopefully I will be able to catch on
soon!
Tomorrow we are going to the top of some mountain to go to a
clinic so that should be interesting!! I will continue to repeat this
throughout my blog, but I just want everyone to know how amazing this has been
so far! I have one day in the books and plenty more and I can’t wait to
experience more!!! I have been so blessed to have this opportunity and I am
just so happy!!
Also here are some random side things that I forgot to
mention:
1. When we go to the schools the kids call us auntie and
uncle
2. The girls at the school loved my hair! They all have
really short hair or none so seeing a black girl with a lot of hair was
fascinating to them. They kept saying I
had Muzungu hair haha I sat there for like 5 min and let them play with it and
they were in heaven. It was so cute
cause it started looking a little cray cray and it was time to go this so
little girl came up and was like “we need to stop messing up aunties hair” and
like pushed it all back and tried to make it look better. It was precious
 |
| Just getting my hair done... I look crazy |
3. The kids kept telling me that I also talked like a Muzungu. They would listen to me talk and then laugh.
One little girl whispered into her friends ear and said “she talks like a
Musungu, she should be speaking Swahili.” So that was cool haha this trip makes
me really regret not letting my mom teach me how to speak Kinyarwanda. I know it is not the same language but I know
it’s a little similar so I am sad. I had
them teach me how to say “how are you (Orriena) “ and “I am fine (Bolyee)”
though so I am trying to learn. You know
what they say, better late than never.
4. My little friend
that wore me out playing tag, walked with me to the Child of Hope and on the
way he was being very selfish with my arm haha a little girl wanted to hold the
same hand and he pushed her away and hit her and was like no leave. I had to remind him that sharing was caring,
but that didn’t really make a difference.
Let’s just say I had five kids on my left arm and the selfish little boy
had my right arm all to himself. Hahaha It
was funny but I felt bed.
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| My selfish little friend |
Wanyala (goodbye) my
friends!!
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