Today I got to join Els (the leader of Amecet) and two other staff, Simon and Esther, as we delivered the twins, Ben and Calvin, back home. It was "deep, deep in the village" - more than an hour away from the home, along ever-narrowing tracks - I'm used to walking along windy footpaths in villages, but taking an SUV along them was interesting to say the least! I was a bit concerned when the road narrowed to half the width of our vehicle, but Els assured me that wasn't narrow yet...and we literally did drive "along" 4-inch wide footways!
we had an amazing reception there - we'd found the twins' dad at his church, and most of the rest of the congregation hopped in the back of the truck so there were about 30 people sitting around under the trees by the little round mud-huts (finally, some REAL african houses : )
passing the boys round and watching Els talk to the dad. Then they gave us the classic Ugandan gift of a live animal - a turkey this time - who is happily gobble-gobbling his way around the compound now. I just loved the excitement that the whole village shared at the twins' return - they don't even live that close together - the huts we went to are only for the dad, his other children, his parents and a few students who stay with them, and there were no other huts to be seen - they were probably a field or two away. I felt a bit bad that I'd been able to spend all day every day with these babies for the past few weeks and hadn't appreciated a minute of it - they were kind of hard to feed at times, and when they vomited or pooed, they really meant it...but now these random villagers were beside themselves at just being able to see them.
Not only did I get to be part of all this, but I also missed the usual feeding, changing, playing, blah blah blah....all in all it was a good day!
No pictures of Ben and Calvin I'm afraid, but let's see if this picture of one of my favourites, Godfried, will make it onto the page...
Sunday, 22 June 2008
Thursday, 19 June 2008
RIP Margaret
just a follow-up to Margaret's story - she passed away in the early hours of the morning. it's so sad that she never got to experience much of life, but then again, maybe it's a blessing in disguise - she won't have to endure years of suffering on this earth, and is having a great time up in heaven already! thanks to everyone who prayed, your support is greatly valued.
yesterday's email...
nothing's changed, i'm still a lazy so-and-so and am just posting yesterday's group email here for those who aren't on the email list...
I'm coming to the end of my third week at Amecet now, and feel like i've been doing this job forever! the kids are all so used to having new faces come and go that they take no time at all in adjusting to a new "auntie" and it's kinda fun having the toddlers zoom along on their hands and knees in the bid to climb on my lap...most of the time everything goes so well that i forget the kids are here because they're all sick. the biggest reminder is the skin complaints that a few of them have, but this week there's been a worse than usual cold going through everyone - all the staff have had it, and a lot of the babies have been coughing and crying more than usual. the tiniest baby, margaret, who isn't from an hiv family but has down's syndrome, has been the worst-affected. right now, she's in the hospital room on an oxygen machine as she's been gasping for breath all afternoon. her heart is pumping like crazy and the doctor wasn't very optimistic...please pray if you can. i hate to admit that i''m still not much of a baby fan - these weeks of bottle-feeding and nappy-changing have only proved what i've always said, babies aren't cute, they're hard work - but little margaret is just so tiny, i hate to see her struggling for life. in general, i'm just tired! i have a day off tomorrow, which should help - we work in shifts with an average of one day off per week, although it's only been 5 days since my last day off and then i have another 4 before katy and i go back to jinja for our friends' graduation and a break! The shifts run 7am-3pm, 1pm-9pm and 6pm-8am, so we always have some time off in the day. It's only 8 hours at a time but it feels like forever!! the work is incredibly monotonous, which i think is what makes time pass so slowly - i miss the variety of the work i used to do! however, it is a slight improvement on making necklaces and visiting people i can't make conversation with...2 of the toddlers here, Emma and David, have a fun debate of "da?" "da." "da!" which i can at least join in with : ) not long til i'm back to pester you all!! 4 1/2 weeks and counting...trying not to, but it can't be helped...
I'm coming to the end of my third week at Amecet now, and feel like i've been doing this job forever! the kids are all so used to having new faces come and go that they take no time at all in adjusting to a new "auntie" and it's kinda fun having the toddlers zoom along on their hands and knees in the bid to climb on my lap...most of the time everything goes so well that i forget the kids are here because they're all sick. the biggest reminder is the skin complaints that a few of them have, but this week there's been a worse than usual cold going through everyone - all the staff have had it, and a lot of the babies have been coughing and crying more than usual. the tiniest baby, margaret, who isn't from an hiv family but has down's syndrome, has been the worst-affected. right now, she's in the hospital room on an oxygen machine as she's been gasping for breath all afternoon. her heart is pumping like crazy and the doctor wasn't very optimistic...please pray if you can. i hate to admit that i''m still not much of a baby fan - these weeks of bottle-feeding and nappy-changing have only proved what i've always said, babies aren't cute, they're hard work - but little margaret is just so tiny, i hate to see her struggling for life. in general, i'm just tired! i have a day off tomorrow, which should help - we work in shifts with an average of one day off per week, although it's only been 5 days since my last day off and then i have another 4 before katy and i go back to jinja for our friends' graduation and a break! The shifts run 7am-3pm, 1pm-9pm and 6pm-8am, so we always have some time off in the day. It's only 8 hours at a time but it feels like forever!! the work is incredibly monotonous, which i think is what makes time pass so slowly - i miss the variety of the work i used to do! however, it is a slight improvement on making necklaces and visiting people i can't make conversation with...2 of the toddlers here, Emma and David, have a fun debate of "da?" "da." "da!" which i can at least join in with : ) not long til i'm back to pester you all!! 4 1/2 weeks and counting...trying not to, but it can't be helped...
Monday, 16 June 2008
6 weeks to go...
this is me trying not to count down the days...but I think it's always harder when the end is in sight! the last 2 weeks have gone by quite fast, considering the struggle it was to get used to the changes in environment, people and work while fighting off a cold and then a tummy bug...let's just say they weren't the most enjoyable weeks of my time in Uganda. But the people here are great - we just said a sad goodbye to Kerry from Cork (Ireland) who came to the end of her time here yesterday. There's still one more muzungu besides Katy and me - a girl from Virginia called Lauren who got here a couple of weeks before us, and was a great help in getting started...has anyone seen me with a baby before?! thought not...that's because i was terrified of them til now - and while i wouldn't say i've learnt to love them, i can at least bottle-feed and change nappies without being in constant fear of killing them in one breath! the kids here are really anything but delicate - i haven't yet got comfortable with carrying them by the customary one arm, but it doesn't bother me now to hear them scream about a slight bash - they quite often scream for no apparent reason anyway, so i know now that whatever happens, they'll get over it : )
if only i could get photos up on here...there's one boy, david, who's just hysterical - whenever he's particularly happy or excited (when a new person comes in, or he sees food...) he sticks his tongue right out and squeals! and mealtimes are a generally entertaining time (as long as you avoid the food + drink that finds it way everywhere but their mouths) as the terrible threesome (Godfried, David and Emma) engage in a thrilling debate of "da?" "da." "da!" makes a change from "how are you?"" "fine.""how is here?""fine.""how is there?........" i can tell you!
there are 9 babies and 6 toddlers here, and they keep the 20 or so staff running around 24/7...we have 3 shifts, 7am - 3pm (A), 1pm - 9pm (B) and 6pm-8am (D). So every day we get some time off! The only difficult shifts are the night shift followed by a B and then an A - it seems like the inbetween times are barely enough to catch up on sleep! i do quite like the night shift though - the toddlers are safely tucked away, so all we have to do is feed babies and watch movies...we usually have power and there's a tv with dvd and video machines! it's a harsh environment indeed...
i do have a newfound respect for parents and anyone who's involved in childcare now - kids are hard work, not just because of the constant need to be on your toes, but because of the sheer monotony of the tasks...give me cows anyday!
if only i could get photos up on here...there's one boy, david, who's just hysterical - whenever he's particularly happy or excited (when a new person comes in, or he sees food...) he sticks his tongue right out and squeals! and mealtimes are a generally entertaining time (as long as you avoid the food + drink that finds it way everywhere but their mouths) as the terrible threesome (Godfried, David and Emma) engage in a thrilling debate of "da?" "da." "da!" makes a change from "how are you?"" "fine.""how is here?""fine.""how is there?........" i can tell you!
there are 9 babies and 6 toddlers here, and they keep the 20 or so staff running around 24/7...we have 3 shifts, 7am - 3pm (A), 1pm - 9pm (B) and 6pm-8am (D). So every day we get some time off! The only difficult shifts are the night shift followed by a B and then an A - it seems like the inbetween times are barely enough to catch up on sleep! i do quite like the night shift though - the toddlers are safely tucked away, so all we have to do is feed babies and watch movies...we usually have power and there's a tv with dvd and video machines! it's a harsh environment indeed...
i do have a newfound respect for parents and anyone who's involved in childcare now - kids are hard work, not just because of the constant need to be on your toes, but because of the sheer monotony of the tasks...give me cows anyday!
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