Amani Baby Cottage

Back when I (Ashley) first came to Uganda in 2005, I wanted so badly to visit Amani Baby Cottage. I wasn't able to go on my first trip, so I said I would just have to come back to Uganda again someday and go there. My dream came true. We spent Sunday afternoon and Monday at Amani Baby Cottage in Jinja.

I think there are currently almost 2 or 3 times many boys as girls at Amani. Also, their numbers are low (35 children) because they have some success with a child sponsorship that allows the children to return to their families that couldn't otherwise support them. They like to reunite children with their families. Sometimes that is not possible due to death or mental illness, etc. So sometimes the children get adopted, mostly by families in the States.


Snack time for the boys



It's pretty obvious why he doesn't wear clothes at snack time

Hanging out with all the girls

This is Grace. She seems like such a sweetie, right? NOT! She CAN be sweet, but she is one of the most ornery children I have ever met. She pretty much does the opposite of whatever you tell her to do; and laughs while she's doing it. She's still cute though!

And now it's time for the babies of Amani! There are currently only 5 under 9 months. They stay in a different area from all the other children.


Dorothy




Simon- such a happy baby!




This was a great moment. Taylor went to pick the baby up but there was something in the seat that he said looked like spinach artichoke dip. After touching it he quickly realized it was poop that had leaked out the side of the diaper. Way to go, Precious.



"You have no chin!"



Jennifer- she always had a really cute angry/inquisitve look.



This is Enoch. How old do you think he is?  2 months? 3 months? Try 8 months!

I fell in love with Baby Enoch. He came to Amani 2 months ago when he was only 6 months weighing about 1.5 Kilos (about 3.3 pounds). They thought he was going to die. His father died of HIV and his mother was also HIV positive. He has an older sister that is also HIV positive, but he is negative. Someone told his mother that he could get HIV through her breastmilk so she stopped nursing but she didn't have money to buy milk for him. So she would go out and collect field greens, boil them, and give him the water which other mothers in similar situations also do. That's the only reason he stayed alive as long as he did but also the reason why he was as small as he was. During the 2 months he's been at Amani, he has gained several kilos and now weighs 5.2 K (almost 12 pounds). I just love that little guy! And all the other ones too!



My buddy Enoch




Jennifer giving one of her angry/inquisitive looks.

Baby Homes go through  A LOT of laundry. No washing machines and no dryers....think about those days where it rains a few days in a row. They get really backed up!




Dress up time

 

Mary; a twin to Martha (not pictured)

Here's Grace again, all happy



Esther- she was such a sweetie



Ahhh...here's Grace in one of her finer moments

The girls' room



One last picture of Jennifer


And lastly, a video of Emily singing "Aleluia, Amen" in the background. At the very beginning of the video, you can hear Grace screaming.

Church/Ekisa in Jinja

After returning from Sipi Falls, we spent a few days in Jinja. On Sunday we went to Acacia Community Church. A lot of the local missionaries go there. It was a good service and wonderful morning outdoors. The afternoon was very rainy though. We have been absolutely amazed by the weather here. It's been in the 70's and 80's all of our trip. I don't think it has been in the 90's. And there hasn't been any humidity! It's going to be vastly different when we get back to Korea. We better start getting ready!



Sunday morning service at Acacia Community Church


Saturday afternoon when we returned from Sipi Falls we went to Ekisa in Jinja. Ekisa is a wonderful children's home for children with disabilities. There are lots of staff and helpers at this home, and less than 20 children. It was heartbreaking to hear some of the stories.  Some of the children came from backgrounds where the parents said "I don't want a child that looks like that." America has come a long way in accepting people with different disabilities but the same can't be said for the rest of the world. We've noticed in Uganda, and also Korea, and other countries we've been to that we haven't seen too many people with disabilities. We know they are there, but there are social stigmas attached so these individuals aren't always seen in society. America is definitely not perfect, but it has come a far ways.

 There were 2 little ones in particular that just broke my heart. I didn't really get a picture of them. The whole time they were there, they were crying in pain. They both have Cerebral Palsy. Tasha especially was in a lot of pain, even though she is on pain meds. Keep them in your prayers. Their names are Tasha and Daniel.

This is Jane. She's the newest to Ekisa- she came about 2 weeks ago and is really afraid of people, especially Mzungus (White people). They said she had hearing loss, but nothing actually seems to be wrong. She always looks really sad though, which makes you sad to see her looking that way. :(



Rachel



She had Polio when she was younger so she cannot currently walk, but she's got a really fast crawl!

Walter

Sipi Falls

We spent a few days celebrating our anniversary (early) at Lacam Lodge in Sipi Falls.

Our banda that we stayed in

One of the falls right by the lodge

If you look closely you can see a rainbow at the bottom.

Hiking through a cabbage patch

We greeted these people in their local language (the only phrase we knew was hello) and it's amazing how they opened up to us. Normally, people here don't like you to take their photo, but they actually told us to come stand by them and take a picture. I learned a good lesson that day.

Taylor and our guide from the lodge, Thomas

This little girl was so cute in her tattered dress

This was our transportation down the mountain. 1 hour on a motorcycle. I had my eyes closed some of the time.

One last view of the biggest waterfall

Jinja- the source of the Nile River

Jinja


Thanks to Tim, we met a Danish family that is living in Masaka and running a children’s home there. We mentioned that we would be going to Jinja, and we were planning on staying in a backpacker’s hostel. The father of the Danish family, Carston, offered his home in Jinja. They have a second home here so we are able to stay for free. The house-or more accurately- cottage is awesome. It’s very quiet and peaceful and it overlooks the River Nile. Here in Uganda we say “River Nile” instead of “Nile River.”

View from the cottage

We’ve had a full and exciting day in Jinja. After we stopped by Carston’s house and dropped our stuff we headed to Ozzie’s Café for lunch. Pastor Kintu warned us that the lady that owns it is one tough lady. We didn’t know what he meant but we soon found out. I don’t think we ever saw her smile, but her food was good!

The little old lady in the left corner is Ozzy.

After lunch we went to Lake Victoria where we got in a boat and headed to the very beginning of the Nile. I took a video, but that will have to come later on. Uploading is way too slow here. We saw the exact spot where the Nile River starts.

This is where the calm waters of Lake Victoria start to turn to the rapidly moving water of the Nile.

After seeing the source of the Nile, we went to Bujagali Falls.

Our adopted son, Shammer (pronounced "Shamma")

Bujagali Falls is listed on Trip Advisor as the #1 thing to do in Uganda and the # thing to do in Africa. After seeing Murchison Falls, Bujagali wasn’t that spectacular but the thing that makes it most famous is the jerry can guys. I don’t have a picture because Taylor took a video of the event, but basically you pay a guy about $2 to risk his life going over the falls with only a jerry can. We did pay a guy, despite Tim’s warning that our consciences might not be able to handle it. And we are happy to say that he lived through the event!

After Bujagali Falls, we headed back to the house for some great sunset views of the Nile. As we were walking down to the banks, we saw monkeys in the trees above us, but they wouldn’t come close enough for a picture.


We’re gonna buy some bananas tonight and hopefully lure them close.

Tomorrow we head to Sipi Falls in the Eastern part of Uganda to celebrate our 2nd anniversary about a week or so early. We have yet to spend an anniversary in America. Our first anniversary was spent in Korea. Our second will be in Uganda. Maybe on our 3rd we’ll be in America.

Kyabazaala Village

On Sunday, we left Masaka after church.

Taylor, Ashley, Jackie, Pr.  Kintu, Rebekah and Blessed, Tim, Bekker, Jireh, Shadai, Nisse, and Shammer

We dropped Tim and Rebekah off in Kampala for their journey back to America . We stayed in Kampala for the night at a hotel with Pastor Kintu and his son Shammer. Monday morning we headed east to the village of Kyagazaala. Pastor Kintu has started a school in this village because there is a stronghold of witchcraft and children were being abducted and sacrificed. This village is where the current chairperson of witchcraft in Uganda was born. There are many witches there and they often abduct children and cut off their private parts, limbs, and heads and offer them as sacrifices to spirits.

So he started this school to prevent children from having to walk too far. Some of the children even live at the school where there is a guard to watch at night. He has asked us to consider being sponsors for the school. There is no support of this school so sometimes the teachers don’t get paid. More about that later.

We did a lot of speaking- we spoke in the school, the Bible school, and the local church. We’ve found that Taylor is an excellent teacher of the Bible, while I am more of the preacher. We are beginning to operate in our strengths which has been wonderful and fulfilling. We’re excited to go back to Korea, refreshed, and see what God has for us this next year.

Our bed at the school in the village- it basically took up the whole room

They were fascinated by Taylor clipping his toenails. He took his pants off right before this because he literally got ants in his pants when he was using the bathroom. Biting ants!

We brought a bag of stuff for the children, so they are about to receive the gifts.

There weren't enough shoes/supplies for all the children so we made sure that each child at least got a sticker.

New shoes!

Ashley speaking in the village church.

Sugarcane!

Eating sugarcane- the African candy.



Taylor learning how to take a shower in the basin.



In Africa things are not easy. Clothes are handwashed and hung outside to dry. Then you have to iron them so the heat from the iron kills the larvae of a worm that will crawl into your skin. In the village, they didn't have electric irons. This one was super old-fashioned with coals inside to make it hot.



Someone went overboard with the stickers.



Some of the members of the Mountain of the Lord Church in Kyabazaala Village.



This little bucket was our overnight bathroom so we didn't have to walk outside to the outhouse. You don't want to see a picture of that.