and how can I stand here with you and not be moved by you....

Ok, quick 10 second rant:
- Last weekend I went into town...mmm quasi-town to have some mzungu time with some of the other volunteers. We stayed in a hotel so we could stay out late and get a decent shower. We woke up to find ants in our beds...nice. I got bit 34 times. mmmhmm I counted. And it's really cute because they swell up late at night. Benadryl seems to be doing the trick though.
- I have a lovely farmers sunburn from walking 6 miles today.
- There's a scary spider in our bathroom that i'm pretty sure i remember from the travel books as being poisenous. I named it charlotte so I wouldn't be as scared of it. It's not working. No one wants to kill it and I'm too scared to.
- The baby next door cries every night until at least midnight
- A rooster wakes me up at 5 am
- And my hands hurt from overexposure to iodine, hydrogen peroxide, bad soap and washing clothes.

Ok I'm done....

The good news is that this blog has inspired people to sponsor kids and donate....generously...YAY! So I have been able to re-stock the medicine cabinet and now have adequate supplies. I haven't been able to teach in 2 days because the clinic has been so busy. Today I treated 56 children, most with 2 or more wounds. I have the cleanest hands in Africa currently. But they hurt and my nails have been bleached by the antiseptic and peroxide.

I start my day every day by taking the supplies I need down to Paul's classroom because it's too difficult to get him into the clinic. All the kids gather around to watch me and when I need or forget something they help me. My favorite girl in that class...Joyce runs many errands for me. We will be able to send Paul to a hospital in Kampala now thanks to a donation which is good because he is not getting any better. I started him on a round of oral antibiotics today but I think he really needs professional care. Today, I found out that Paul did not actually have Polio but was born with his deformities. When his mother saw him she wanted to throw him into a trash pit to burn, but his grandmother took him away from her. So Paul lives with his grandmother and has never known his mother. She has nothing to do with him or the family. I am so glad that when I heard this I was following one of our directors up a cliff so he couldn't see me sob. Ugandans don't cry unless someone dies. 10 hours later I still can't get over it. Paul is the most precious human being I have ever met....and his mother wanted to leave him to burn like common trash. God has much in store for Paul. He's already changed me.

After taking care of Paul I started taking patients from P3,P4, P5, and P6. Many of the students have terrible wounds that I have been corresponding with my mom and some doctors about. Hopefully with our new topical antibiotics we can get them under control. We're pretty sure it's an infectious disease common to rural areas. Some of them that I treated last week seem to be getting better so that is a good sign. During the breaks, many students come to watch me in the clinic, some of the smaller children drag their friends in who are too scared or shy to come on their own. Some of them say that they are ill and show me a clearly healed scar or say they have a headache...just because they want to hang out with the mzungu. I just laugh and give them a plaster (bandaid) and they are just fine. The kids that I have treated have started to bring me mangoes and guavas. I still give them a 100 shillings (like negative 1 cent) so the can buy a candy or something. haha...there is one student that I taught in P3 who was asking me what Luganda I know and one of the phrases I said was nkwagala nyo which means I love you very much. Then she said "nkawagla nyo mzungu!" and I said "nkwagala nyo mudugavu!" and ALL the kids died because they didn't know that I knew that word...it means African and people love it here when you know it.

After a long but rewarding day in the clinic we headed out on a 6 mile trek to see the families and homes of three of the children that have been sponsored by the Loncar family. Their condition is pretty terrible. One of the boys lives with his grandmother and 12 other children. Their parents are divorced and dumped the children on the grandmother. They live in a 2 room hut and all 13 children are sleeping in a room scarcely bigger than a bathroom. This boy is 9 and still in the nursery because his family couldn't afford to send them to school. It's awful. Another
boy lives with his grandmother also and his siblings. Their hut is very small and also has a grass roof with an indoor kitchen which is always dangerous because it can easily catch fire. The last child is a girl that lives with her mother and several other children. The father died of AIDS and we think the mother is HIV positive also. I had to bring her back to the school with me afterwards because she had a severe burn on her arm I had to treat. She was lighting the fire
for supper and her dress caught fire. She is in 2nd grade.

All of the children walk to school and not only is it a great distance but a good part of it is a footpath literally a foot wide with jungle on either side. (Yes, mom, I walked through the jungle with scary insects. I'm a little surprised too). These sponsorships are going to help them tremendously. And their families because YOFAFO goes in and helps the families and community to become independent through a microfinance progam.

So, it's been a long day. But guess what?! This weekend I'm camping on the banks of the Nile! I'm not sure what "camping" entails but at least I'll be able to say that I did it. It's always good to be with the other volunteers too.

I'm sure there will be more stories to come soon. I'm really going to miss it here. I'm almost halfway through my stay and already it's hard for me to imagine leaving all my babies here.
I think maybe some of the red dirt that has stained my clothes has gotten into my blood too.

and how can I stand here with you
and not be moved by you
could you tell me how could it be any better than this.....


yes, wesley, i played it sooo loud on my iPod and miss all you lake J junkies that started this crazy journey in the first place 10 years ago. like Shane says...the day I met Jesus is the day my life turned upside down and got all messed up.

would you tell me how could it be any better than this...