We met 8-year-old Ibra when we were here in May, and fell in love with him. He is a very, very enterprising and hardworking young man. Smart too! He and Raelee have really hit it off, he doesn’t seem to mind her bossing him around – I guess it doesn’t hurt that he has 4 older sisters so he is probably used to being told what to do! So far this week, he shows up right at dinner time and sits and eats with us. The other night we had green beans and I caught him giving the cat all his, but the cat didn’t like them either! He swept the pile up when he was done.

Christian asked him how many chickens he has now, he works for a little bit of money and buys a chicken. Here, having a few chickens is like having money in the bank; they don’t have the cash to spend frivolously and know if they need money they can sell a chicken. Ibra tells us he had five chickens, but he ate one so now he has only four! He goes to boarding school, many of the kids that are able to go do this, so he will be leaving Sunday and won’t be back until the end of November or first of December. We will miss him greatly!

Just before we left the States, we found two kittens under the house. Raelee and I brought them inside and “tamed” them for a week, and then gave them away. We also had to leave our Minature Schnauzer behind and we were a little sad, but were praying that we would EVENTUALLY have pets again. Little did we know what was in store for us in Uganda! There was already a kitten waiting for Raelee when we arrived. Then a day later, a very nice lady – haha – at the supermarket asked her if she would like to hold the tiny kitten running around the store. As soon as it was in Raelee’s hands the lady said “It is yours, take it”! Great, now we have two kittens, one eating on its own, the other was being fed with a baby bottle! Oh the joy! I know Raelee is already known around the village as the crazy cat girl…here, they do not have pets, they have mousers, and guard dogs. It is very unusual to them to see someone holding the animals like a baby and kissing on them! But, Raelee is Raelee and I am partly to blame, animal lover that I am. Apparently it has become endearing to the people around us, because whenever the little kitten wanders off, someone brings it back to us!

Smokey sleeps most of the day.

“Smoky”

Raelee & “Rosy”

Next door to our home is the orphanage. The children are in and out, most go to boarding schools and when they are on break they are here. There is a Matron – she watches over the ones staying and does the cooking. Now she has a lady that has been helping her. Neither of them speak English, but the new lady has two adorable children and a little baby boy. The two children never fail to come hug on me, and I think the boy is smitten with both Raelee and me! He is always carrying on and trying to get our attention, and loves bathing right out in the open. Even though he and his sister don’t speak any English, that hasn’t seemed to matter when they are playing with Raelee. She orders them around and they do whatever she tells them!

It has seemed like a long trip back since May, but finally we are here! We have been here a little over two weeks, and trying to get into a routine.

The first week was exciting, exhausting and at times overwhelming. A lot of things came at us at a pretty rapid pace, but it is now finally settling down a bit. We first painted and cleaned our new home, then shopped for furnishings and all the household items you need to set up house. We didn’t bring any of that with us, so that was a challenge, getting at least enough to get started! The previous tenants had written on the walls with permanent marker and it was a challenge to get it all covered up. Many many coats of primer and paint has covered most of it but there are still a few places you can see some of it, I think with a couple more coats of paint it will be gone.

Almost everything seems to be challenging here – getting water, heating water, cooking, internet! And then there is a culture so very different from our own, and the different language! My body aches, and I am ready to go to bed by 6pm every night! The last few days have been restful, and we are so thankful for the people around us that have been so much help!

Before & After:

Here, the people are taught to show respect by bowing before the person, on their knees.
On our first day at the village, this little beauty held her hand out to me to shake, and when I took her hand she dropped to her knees. It made me cry, and want to take her home with me. Today is the first time I’ve seen her since then, and I even got to hold her awhile!

The bathrooms here are odd. There is no shower stall, just a drain in the floor, and a squeegee to push the water towards the drain! So, yes, the entire bathroom floor gets wet!

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