I don't know the best way to address what happened with my grandpa on this blog, other than to just be blunt. Unfortunately he died this past Friday. The family viewing was last night and the memorial service is today. It's hard to not be there, but I know that he understands and would approve of what Jamie and I are doing here. After so many years of being sick it is nice to know that he is at peace now. He will be missed.
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A lot has happened since my last blog. First of all we didn’t end up going to Sipi Falls because Jamie woke up in the middle of Friday night with a fever, and even though she was feeling better in the morning I vetoed the trip. There was no way I wanted to drag Jamie hiking up waterfalls and repelling back down if she was sick. It turned out to be a good decision because we went to the clinic Saturday morning and found out she has a bacterial infection. Not very fun or lucky. Though I guess it is good we were in Africa because we thought she had malaria, and in the US we would have just thought she had the flu until it got really serious. She’s on antibiotics and is slowly making her way back to 100%. Until then we’re taking it easier, because she needs to be ready for our safari trip this coming weekend.
We have a new orphanage that we’re volunteering at now. Things at our previous orphanage didn’t really work out and it was time for a switch. I miss the babies, but not the drama. The new place we’re working at is fantastic, and it’s a very nice change of pace. To start with there are less kids (16) and they’re older. They all go to school, which means that they can speak some English, which is SO nice. They’re staying at a house and have a back and front yard they can play in (complete with a dog and puppy they completely abuse). They’re living with three 20-something year olds that are fun and engage with them. Today we walked in the courtyard and all the kids were playing and laughing, and Jamie and I were struck with the fact that these kids are happy.
Not to say their lives are perfect or easy. Trevor is about 6 and their newest arrival. I’m pretty sure he’s only been there for 2 weeks. All of the kids there come from abusive homes, and the proof of this is still obvious on Trevor. He has a huge bump on his face, and scars all over his body. When we first met him a week ago you could literally see the pain in his eyes. But I guess the point is he is healing, as have all the other kids. Today we all played soccer out in the front yard with a bunch of kids and the “Aunt” and “Uncle” that live with them. There was a bunch of running around, chasing, and laughing that happened, and it just made me feel hopeful. Obviously life anywhere for orphans is hard, but it’s so nice to be reminded that their situation is not impossible. Today they were making little clay houses, complete with stone floors and a roof. Jamie and I were amazed at their creativity and inventiveness. Those houses were impressive! Jamie and I went to a Wal-Mart type store yesterday and bought some stuff for the kids to play with (paper, crayons, chalk…) but today the kids were having so much fun with the soccer ball we didn’t want to bother them.
The kids are still needing attention, which is obvious when you sit down and one of them will come up and just lay their head in your lap. As carefree as these kids first come across, they are still suffering from a past I can’t even imagine, and 16:3 ratio makes it hard for too much one-on-one attention.
The biggest problem for orphans in Uganda is the price of school. It’s about 300,000 shillings (about $140) for a year of primary school, which is a huge amount of money for most families. In order for orphans to be able to get an education they need to attend an orphanage with a school, or be sponsored. If not, school is simply not an option, which obviously negatively impacts their future. Right now the orphanage is searching for someone to sponsor Trevor, to make sure he can attend school starting in the fall.
So for the next two weeks we'll be spending our time there. We don't actually have very many days left, which is scary. It's nice to spend our remaining days at a place we actually wanna be at though.
