Uganda 2023 Day 8

Uganda 2023 Day 8

This morning, Alma and I work up a little earlier than we needed to. Once we were ready, we went down to the kitchen to see Mama Esther. She was all alone cooking while Sarah took care of things in the dining room, so we helped. Well, Alma helped. I mostly supervised. Alma stirred the eggs and then both of us helped with the toast. Mama cooked them in the pan, Alma buttered them, and I handed Alma the bread to butter. Breakfast was Scrambled eggs, toast, and sausage. After breakfast we did worship. Then we had about 5 minutes to grab what we needed and use the bathroom before we left for clinic. 

On our way to clinic, we picked up our interpreters. They were walking along side the road on their way while waiting for us to catch up and get them. Today for clinic, I was scheduled with Destanie at the kids for the first half of the day and had no job the second half. We did not start with the kids right when we arrived. Because that means we would have been with them for 3 and a half hours. At home that is not a long time because we are in buildings with ac usually. Here it is so long because of the heat, the sun, and the dancing to songs we do. For the first half hour to hour, I was at church service. We were told we could start kids when they had Jodie start preaching. Before she started, the Ugandans lead. The girls w/o dance and sang yesterday did more songs and dances today. John Basco did a short (for them) preaching and a prayer. This young man is so amazing and every day I see him, I am more thankful God put it on my heart to sponsor his university. 

For kids, we sand and danced to some songs, read Bible stories, and played games. The kids love it! They get in trouble often because they want to be as close to us a possible. They do that by sneaking to the front of the group. Then the teachers tell them they have to move back and there is a lot of pushing. I am so thankful for the teachers. They help us by filling in and asking the kids what they learned from the story and also taking over when we had to get supplies. The best thing we did was bubble machines. We had the kids stand in a circle. Starting across from each other we turned on the machines and slowly went counterclockwise around the circle. I was surprised at how long they actually stayed in the circle before they followed. The first couple of kids were not very old. When I turned the machine on, they were scared. They backed away. That is when I realized they may have never seen bubbles or a bubble machine before. So I waved my hand in front of the bubbles to show them what to do. The next few kids got it and then it was a hit! Not long before the end of the circle, I was surrounded by the kids. They loved them. Some kids ended up leaving the circle and popping the bubble further away, but the kids in the circle put their hands right in front of where the bubbles came out. I kept telling them they need to put their hand further back. My machine was not completely empty, but I saw Destanie walk away. So I turned it off and told them I was empty. Then I followed her to see what the next plan was. She was actually refilling hers. So I had her fill mine too. We ended up not using them again because the teachers had moved everyone under the trees for shade. I was waiting for Destanie to put the machines back and come over, but she never did. She had sunscreen and bubbles get in one of her eyes and it was so bad she had to take care of it. I took pictures with and of the kids while waiting. Thankfully, she sent someone over to let me know. Nick and Mark came by and I told them they can help distract the kids for a few more minutes by doing selfies. Nick borrowed my phone because he did not have his on him. Then I sang the fish song with the kids that Lany taught us. Nick got his guitar and we did freeze dance then he told the story of Moses. Thankfully, Lany came over as did Yoan. I went to the pharmacy for a break. When I went back out, we were told it was time for our lunch. 

After lunch, I stayed in the pharmacy and worked on putting two packs of sugar and two packs of salt in a bag with Nick. The other person helping was Elena at first and then Destanie when her eye felt better. The kid team ended up playing with parachutes that we brought. It sounded like it was a hit. After some time in the pharmacy, which included showing off my neck hula hooping abilities, I went back out to help with the kids for the last few songs. The after lunch shift is the hard one.

On my way back to clinic, I saw Ssepuuya sleeping in his car. I took a picture of him, then a selfie, then another selfie adding Sam and Destanie. Not long after we loaded up the vehicles and headed back. Tonight we had the party bus! Our interpreters were singing and dancing in the bus and got a couple of us involved. I was not. I was sitting closer to the front between Julias (who wants to go back to be a pediatric Dr) and John Basco. We had an hour break before dinner, so some of the team took showers. We learned in our meeting after dinner that the clinic saw 454 people today.  After dinner, Jimmy showed up. Joanne send a message to the group about the opportunity to order Karamoja clothes. I was the only one on the team that did. Be brought my clothes and the Karamoja blanket/wraps to sell. I love the outfit, but I don’t think I can get the beads around my waist. I might have to figure something out when I get home. Jimmy said he would send a woman to help, but I don’t think that will help. I bought a blanket too, but I did not pick out one. I asked John Basco to pick one for me. The funny thing is he picked the one I liked the most. We took a bunch of pictures in our new look. Jimmy talked to me for a long time about Karamoja and his past. He has such a deep love for his people and God! I love seeing this in people!