Day 6 – 29 June 2018

Today was our first day in Musima! I was so excited to see my other family and they greeted me the same as always, the warmest of welcomes. I could hear them chanting before I even saw them. As soon as our car stopped, they surrounded us, cheering, chanting and singing. The women in Musima carried me, Joseph and Tiffany all the way from the car to the community building. I think Joseph and Tiffany were a little overwhelmed, but I know they had a lot of fun. There was a lot of dancing, singing, and hugging. I always feel so at home from the moment I walk in.

After the greeting, we went to Patrick’s house, took tea and played with some of the children that were not in school. One of my favorite little ones from the village, Tina, was with us the entire time and was so sad to see us leave. A couple of years ago, we discovered that she was deaf. We found out this year that she is old enough to finally go to a school for the deaf! I am so excited to see what she learns and for her to learn how to communicate with others. 

We blew up some soccer balls, pulled out the bubbles and let the fun begin. I love watching the children in the village play, they always share what they have and look out for the little ones. We played soccer, and just sat and enjoyed being all together again.

It has been on Tiffany’s heart to sponsor one of our kids, but she wanted to wait until she met some of them, and today she found her sponsor son, Wandera. It was so sweet to watch their friendship form, at first he was quiet and shy, but quickly warmed up and was laughing and playing. Then Joseph got to meet Annette, the mother of his sponsor son Kadama. They sat and talked and got to know each other. It’s so cool to see sponsors welcomed in as part of the family. 

Towards the end of the day, the village had another celebration for 5 women that went to a 3-month school for looming. This was a big deal for the village because the women learned and perfected a skill that could generate income for their families. It was also really impressive because the husbands of these women had to take care of the children and keep house for 3 months while their wives were away, which is not common for Ugandan culture. The women were so proud of their accomplishments that they even wore the clothes they learned how to make, and their husbands were very proud of their wives.

All too soon it was time to head back into town, we’ll be back in the morning and tomorrow starts home visits!

Now it’s time for dinner.

Sula bulungi!