NicolesLetters.org

Day 2 Tuesday & 3 Wednesday

(For the pictures you can put the curser over the picture and it will show the title.)

On Monday night I only had about three hours of sleep between the insomnia and the barking dogs.  For that reason I was too tired to post yesterday.  The last two days have been very busy meeting new children for profiles in addition to visiting with the kids already in the school.  They are very happy to have us here and they look forward to the extra attention.

Yesterday, Tuesday, Michele and I learned new information about a few of the children.  One young girl in the sponsorship program is about 5 or 6 and is taken care of by a woman that has no relation to her.  Turns out she was three months old and her mother went to a store and asked the shop attendant if she could leave her baby there for a minute that she was going to use the restroom……and she NEVER returned!

One of Michele’s boys, he’s a great kid…. He’s older than all the other children but is determined to get an education so he sits in a class being 10 years older than all of children to make a change in his life with education.  He invited us to a prayer Tuesday during their lunch it was the P-5 (primary 5) or fifth grade’s lunch hour prayer.  It was very special for them to invite us, they sang and prayed for us.

I met a little girl yesterday for sponsorship and she is so sharp!  I asked her what her name is and she said it but I couldn’t understand it until she spelled it.  “ D, I, double Z, Y” she said. Dizzy is her name. It was so cute and she just talked away and told me with pretty good English small things about her.  It’s interesting some children can speak and understand English a little and others might know it but they are so shy and afraid of saying the wrong thing that they can barely get out a whisper to say anything.  I have no idea how the people that help translate can even begin to understand what they are saying.

Joyce Kayaga (I know I spelled it wrong) Emelie’s girl, came to see me today.  She stops over to the office ever once in a while to say hello.

I got an idea of where the kitchen will be.  It will be in the central yard at one end.  It will be so nice when they get it built.  The other thing is that they will build a dining hall for the children to sit at tables to eat.  It will have a ceiling for a barrier from the sun and rain.  It’s so hot here in the sun when it’s blazing because Uganda is directly on the equator, the sun is so strong.  Currently the children sit outside in the dirt or on the concrete outside of the dormitories to eat.  The problem with sitting outside the dorms to eat is that they bring ants and bugs near where the children sleep and that’s no good!  On the other hand it’s the only place to escape the hot sun.  We were actually hoping for a little rain today to cool the temp a bit but no go.

I saw Samson today, he came for a visit and he was telling me about how he has a debate class in his 6th grade class.  Godwin helped me communicate with him and Samson said they debate if it’s better to live in town or in the village.  He said the village is better because they have more fruit and you have more land.

I saw Namubiru Jane today and met her mother.  We came back from lunch today and Jane ran to me but I didn’t know whom the woman was.  Jane ran to me and was a lot more expressive to me.  I think she was proud that her mother came to meet us “muzungoos” (sp?)  I learned that her father died in a car accident in 2003 and she never knew her father.  She loves to play with her dolls and her other favorite activity is to play house and pretend to cook.  Her mother sells charcoal and in a good week she will earn $2.  Luckily Jane’s aunt allows them to live with her.

Ali did the pictures today of the children receiving their Christmas gifts… you will get pictures in the cards that come for Christmas. The kids are so excited to get their gifts.  Michele took update pictures of kids already in the sponsorship program so everyone can get an updated picture this year.

I know I am jumping between yesterday and today in this posting but they are blending together and I’m just writing as I remember things…

I visited the “Top Class” – kindergarten this morning when I walked in all of the children stood and gave me in unison a welcome message thanking me for visiting their classroom.  I walked around and took some pictures of their class.

I saw Herbert and Angella today, they are doing very well and Jovia also, she’s doing great.. Last year she was so quiet and shy.  In the summer she had broken out of her shell and now she is all over the place with friends everywhere.  Pictures of both in the posting.

Christine and Isaac came from Kampala today.  Their oldest brother brought them as he raises them and their other three siblings since both of their parents died.  I still had some gifts for Christine that I couldn’t fit all during the summer and she was happy to get some goodies.  Isaac was also happy to get a letter.  I spoke with is brother and learned that he really needs a pair of shoes with the money that was sent.

Little Gideon Mugabi was running around as usual.  He’s so cute. I also say Jimmy Kayondo today, he always has a smile on his face.  It’s amazing how these children have so little but here being in school they know this is their opportunity to have a better future and to have a better life. One child I met today for a profile said their one wish is to have a good job so that they can support their parents.

If you remember, last year I met a little girl named Latifah.  I asked her, “What is your name?”  She said “Queen Latifah!”  It was the sweetest thing. I thought where did she get that. She said that her family nicknamed her that.  I asked her if she knew who Queen Latifah was and she said no.  By the way I did email Queen Latifah and tell her that a little girl in Uganda thinks that her name is Queen Latifah but I never got a response.   So today I met a girl for sponsorship and her name is “Queen” … that’s her whole name.

This afternoon I was showing some of the kids pictures of my family and friends on my computer…they are very interested to see what people look like at home and what America is like.    Then we started looking at pictures for the trip here over the summer and the kids were so excited to see the kids from Santa Fe.  There were pictures of large groups of people for example from the opening/announcement of the well and you can hardly see the people in the picture but the kids picked out all the Americans by name and very quickly. They were so happy to see pictures of all of them.  Betty found Cammie in a picture in about a half of a second.  She said, “There she is” and pointed.
They picked out Freddie, Travis, Chris and Grace from the few pictures I had on my computer.  They love to see pictures of themselves, as it is such a privilege because they don’t see pictures often.

All of the children are asking about the students that visited over the summer and wondering how you are all doing.  They are all wishing you well and enjoying the flowers and plants that were planted during the summer mission trip.

I saw a boy named Marvin (Christine’s Boy).  One year ago his one wish was for friends and a backpack as everything he had was gone due to a fire in his grandmother’s hut. I saw him again today and after being at the school now he is happy and has many friends.  His wish came true!

That’s a wrap for today time to go to bed!  Hope you all enjoy the pictures and short stories..

Nicole