Namatala/Pee

Well it's been a great couple of days in Mbale/Namatala! Yesterday we spent the morning at the school with the ichooseyou kids and helped them write letters to their sponsors. They get so excited at the word "sponsor" haha! Each kid had 1-3 letters to write depending on how many sponsors they have at the moment. They wrote the letter and colored a picture as well. Teacher Sarah would tell them they had to re-draft if it wasn't clear enough! It was so cute. When they were done they were allowed outside to play with the mzungus! Haha the boys had an epic game of soccer going on with booth and the girls sat on the steps with us while we painted their nails for a while. As usual, there were plenty of kids that aren't in ichooseyou around. They just like being around the mzungus, and of course probably hope to be chosen if they stick around long enough. We just need more sponsors!!! *hint hint! Sponsor a kid!*
After a while kristyn came and I got to talk to her and hang out with her for a while. Kristyn is such a sweet girl! She is 12 and very smart. I believe she had been in school but her dad passed away and now they can't afford it. Sad story but one we hear too often. Right now all I can do for her is love her and I hope she knows I do!!! It looked like rain for a while but nothing really happened. Just a few sprinkles for a while then we had clear skies again! We had spaghetti at Mama's for lunch and as usual Christopher did an excellent job! After lunch it wasn't looking like rain (finally!) so we went to Namatala. I looked for Chede on the way to mama Sarah's but they weren't home. Mama Sarah took us to see what rice looks like when it's being grown. That was pretty cool. I didn't get to see it up close but the field was beautiful! We had a flock of children following us that had to stop before we got to the field because there wasn't room for everyone. They stood about 100 feet away and yelled for us the whole time. It was cute at first but then it got old lol. After we were done we went back to mama Sarah's and helped her with her beans. After I picked some for a while my pile was done and I decided to go look for Chede again. Kady went with me and when I got to Chede's hut I saw Maria carrying Ana. Maria was trying to tell me something but she doesn't speak English so I didn't know what. Even though she doesn't speak it, she understands English pretty well so i asked her where chede was. She just started walking so I followed her. A short way away I saw some "shops" and then my sweet Chede saw me and started running to me! Her mom was there so she came and said hello. I asked if I could take Chede with me and she said yes and then started walking with us. When we got to their hut she put some things inside then came out and I asked if she knew where mama Sarah lived and if I could take Chede. She said yes again and started walking toward mama Sarah's. When we got there I was able to ask mama Sarah to ask her how old Chede is and she said she is almost 4!!!!!! That's so much better than 6!!!!!! I was so relieved and happy when I heard that. We hung out at mama Sarah's for a while and played and had a great time. :-) When we left mama sarah's hut Becky wanted to see Teko Brian's new hut. We walked to where he lives and saw his Jjaja too! She started taking her karamojong bracelets off and giving them to us. It was so sweet. Then a neighbor came and reached up her arm and started pulling a bracelet off of her bicep! Hahaha. She gave it to Becky and Becky put it on her arm! Hahaha it was so funny and so cute. Then we started walking back toward mama's house but on the way a child stepped on something and was bleeding so we stopped and bandaged his foot. While we were bandaging a fight broke out a few huts away. Some of the kids ran and watched including Teko and Maria, who was carrying Ana. I yelled for them and Teko came running back immediately. It took Maria a while longer to realize I was calling her. A mama that was standing near me noticed I was calling her and walked toward the fight and called her and sent her to me. When I had both of them with me I gave a "fighting is bad!" speech then it was time to go. I walked down the road a ways then had to send Maria, Ana and Chede home and we walked back to mamas and went home.

Today we went to church which lasted about 4 hours long. While we were in church Chede peed on me. Hahahahahaha. I was holding her and she was extra squirmy. All of the sudden she started crying and then my lap was warm and wet. I put her down to finish peeing and she looked so upset. She was still crying and looked worried that I was mad because she peed on me. I kissed her and told her it was ok and I loved her. I cleaned up my lap and then they let all the kids go from the service and I went with them. I took Chede outside and put a diaper on her then went and washed her skirt and my dress out in the well. Kristyn, her neighbor, kept telling me she as sorry and I kept telling her it was ok! Once we were both as clean as we were going to be we walked around and played and had a great time. This was my very first experience being peed on in Uganda! Haha it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. oh! And I taught Chede to say I love you! I'll post it soon. It's so cute :-)

Tomorrow is the teams last day here then Kristyn and I are moving to mamas house for our last 2 weeks. Sad to see the team leave but excited to see what God has in store for us! Thanks for the prayers and keep them coming!