Welcome to Africa



Team 1 and Tina at the airport in Entebbe.


After we arrived in Entebbe, we drove the three hours to get to Jinja. As we drove through Entebbe, Kampala and other small villages, I realized that I wan't really in culture shock. The people were beautiful, the scenery was breath-taking and even though I had only had about four hours of sleep in 48 hours, there was no way I could close my eyes for a minute. The people warmed my heart from the moment we entered the city. It was a heart swelling moment everytime I waved a child because the child would smile and wave back. My favorite moment of driving through Entebbe was when we passed a staircase and there were boys and girls playing on it. I waved at one and he freaked out. All the kids were giving him high-fives and waving back at me too. I will have a picture of them as soon as I get the pictures from the rest of the team.




Everyone sleeping on the Costa on the way to Jinja.

Surjio's Pizzarea and Guesthouse is where we called home for the two weeks we were in Jinja. It's a beautiful place just off the coast of Lake Victoria, the source of the Nile River. The first few days I shared a room with Shelby and Cate. The first night we left our light on and when we returned to our room that night tiny bugs had taken over our beds. I have bugs smeared across the top of the page in my journal. Jetlag was a new experience for me and the next morning I still felt like I was moving.


We went to church in Masese the next day. I helped a girl and her two siblings make bookmarks like Joseph's Coat of Many Colors. Ms. Lisa S. told the story while a man translated. I got a good laugh watching the translator. He knew how to tell it like it was and in a way that kept the kids interested.


Telling the story of Joseph

My first child that I really connected with was a little girl who never said a word to me but never left my side. I call her Illuminate because she loved to turn on the light on my watch. When the church service started, she sat beside me and put her chair right up against mine. Part way through the service, Illuminate left. I felt bad because I thought I did something wrong. I said a prayer to God. I said "Lord, please let me have a connection." A few minutes later, Illuminate returned with a friend who sat with us. My heart was so warm and I praised the Lord for an answered prayer. When we left the church, Illuminate and her friend didn't want to let go of my hands. They held on until I had to get in the van.




Us girls dancing with Mama Santa

From church we went to Masese 1 where we met Mama Santa. The village women performed a dance that was so awesome. The kids were shy at first but after Cate, Shelby, Claire, Paige and I got up to dance with the women, the kids sat on the orange tarp. When we returned to the tarp after dancing, the kids were more than happy to sit beside us and climb into our laps.







After we bought a few necklaces from the performers, Lynley, the H.E.A.L. intern, was playing a game with the kids. I pulled out my ADPi sunglasses. The kids had a blast wearing my sunglasses, smiling real big and then laughing at the picture I took of them.




Kids playing while waiting for us to finish buying necklaces



Lynley Playing "I Catch The Ball" with the kids




One of the girls wearing my ADPi sunglasses

I didn't want to leave Masese but we had to be at the Nile River BoatRide. The kids walked me to the van and waved as we drove away. They called us "Muzungus" and it was so funny to hear "Muzungu bye!" from all the kids as we waved goodbye.


The boat ride was beautiful. We went to the Source of the Nile River and saw birds, monkeys, a t-rex and the country's jail. Our guides were Moses and Richard. After the boat ride we went back to Surjio's. I'll tell more about Surj, the owner in a later post.


Trey and Lynley not following the sign

The girls at the Source of the Nile River