It's all an adventure!!!

This week a few of us took an adventure up Soroti rock, it wasn’t as hard to climb as we’d expected, it only took 1 hour from leaving Amecet (at 7 am) but it was a lot of fun, when we reached the top we didn’t encounter ghosts or snakes like we were warned about, however we did meet some breath taking views! Despite how easy it seemed, there was some pain along the way (Yay for my feet growing this year and my shoes giving me blisters) ad we did feel that we deserved the treat of ice cream when we’d finished!
 

Now you might be thinking Durrrr life’s an adventure for you, NEWSFLASH you’re in Africa idiot. But I was thinking last night about how even everyday things are an adventure!!!

As I mentioned in my last couple of blogs, our awesome toddlers are all on their feet, we now spend endless hours chasing them around the compound! Those of you who are parents or older siblings will know the excitement and worry that comes from walking toddlers! This week rose decided that she likes the slide, now we don’t have one of those little kids plastic slide and there’s no soft ground if you fall off. This week I’ve anxiously watched Rose climb the steps and panic as she comes to the top and doesn’t know how to make it onto the ledge at the top, as she practiced more and more she was able to do it. For her it was an adventure, that slide was her rock and she was determined, I sat and watched her and panicked every time she wobbled almost waiting for her to fall (funny how we always expect the child to fall rather than make it?)

 

I think life is like that rock of that slide, when a door is opened we walk through it, despite the pain we are aiming for the success, and sometimes we aren’t aware of or ignore the dangers so that we can make it. At the end of the day in both these situations I knew that even if an accident happened, it wasn’t going to be life or death (unless those snakes on the rock were poisonous) despite the pain and the fears we make it to the ice cream or bottom of the slide.

 

Ever thought of God as the Auntie (well uncle) or Parent watching you struggle with the slide? Ever wondered why he didn’t come and carry you? If I had gone running to Rose every time she panicked on the slide she never would have learnt herslef. I was watching her and I was ready to catch her and give her medical attention if she fell but I also had to trust her and believe in her, I knew she could make it even if she didn’t. Sound like God yet????? Many times we wonder where God is, why we aren’t flying on his wings, but he’s there ready to catch us when we fall, when you don’t notice him, it’s because you didn’t fall, we should be thankful rather than angry really!!! He was believing in us!

Many times this year I’ve felt like I’m walking into the unknown, I don’t know where I’m going, I don’t know what’s at the top of the rock or even if I’ll make it, I’ve been scared to step onto the ledge at the top of the slide because I don’t know that it’s safe and whether I’ll wobble and fall, how many things have you failed to step out do due to fear??? I’ve been reading ‘Making Jesus Lord’ By Lorren Cunningham, he talks about laying down your rights, now you might think I’ve done that, I left the comfort of my own home, culture, comforts and language and came to a foreign and different land, however you can travel and still hold onto almost everything. Laying down your rights is the ultimate test of your sense of adventure and trust that God is the loving parent watching over you. I realised I have to lay down my right to be afraid, because fear stops me doing things, it is a barrier, stopping God calling me into places I don’t want to go. Fear is me holding onto my plans instead of following Gods adventure!

Now I’m not saying this because I’ve got it all sussed, I’m not ready to walk in front of the firing squad,  I’m challenging myself, and I’m asking you to join me in the climbing the mountain to lay down your rights, because with every step we take; our burden becomes lighter, our God provides our strength and we get to see God using us in amazing ways!!!! I CAN DO ALL THINGS IN CHRIST WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH. (I just have to let him!)

There’s a plan and a bigger picture, Jeremiah 29:11!!! “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, not for disaster but for hope and a good future.”

The world tells us we have to make the plans, God tells us he already has, which path do you want to take? What’s holding you back?

 

We can make our own plans

But the Lord gives the right answer

People may be pure in their own eyes

                But the Lord examines their motives

Commit your actions to the Lord

                And your plans will succeed.

And for those of you who read my last post.... We survived the night shift, the kids with Malaria recovered quickly, I even managed to make porridge, and get the kids dressed, medicined up and ready for school on time, PTL!!!!

A bit of a catch up

So the last week or so has been busy and exciting.

Kids wise they are progressing so much, Rose is standing by herslef lots not and  is even taking a few steps here and there, Rafael has finally made it to standing solo and Nelson is the happiest little boy!
The toddlers all love the swings and often will crawl of of the veranda over to the swings to give us the hint that they wanna swing- the beauty of swing is that often the kids smile and laugh and then fall asleep! rather than be cared for,
In the last blog i told you a little about Apio Ruth, she is doing so well, sitting without support, eating proper food at meal times, the other day she drove me crazy. Every mouth full she would shake her head viciously, then when i fnly got the food in her mouth she would put her hand into her mouth pull the rice out, look at me smile and then drop the rice on the floor!!! I've never seen so much rice all over her- however although she annoyed me, i was also incredibly proud of her fighting, it shows her growing up and taking initiative, being cheaky is massive because it shows so much brain development!

We have a new boy, he is very weak and very sick, he has HIV and TB and wasn't being looked after, we are really praying that he grows and gets strong while he is with us so he can return to his uncles. We also have 2 new babies, i don't know if i told you about Benna and Sarah, they are both too cute! They are doing really well! Unfortunatly we found out this week that one of the babies we have is probably deaf and blind- this is major, it is also scary, children here are often expected to be the carers not cared for, this little boys will need lots of time and money, his futuer is scary and he ned lots of praying for! Another sad note, is that one of the babies who went home 3 weeks ago has died, little patrick had malaria and wasn't given medicine, it's sad but it is the reality for many babies, medicine is money so they just don't get helped the way they need to be!

On a happier note, i spent the weekend back in Jinja it was good to see the girls and rest hve a screaming/crying free weekend, Friday night was fin night on the base, Me, Tss and Naomi did a tongan dance i learnt 30 mins before and had done twice, it was pretty funny, i guess i realised that beng at Amecet i had started to run on grown up sensible mode ( i didn't think i had one) so crazy dancing was a breath of fresh air! I'd missed the girls lots, but i also missed the children while i was away! The cries of "Auntie, Aunite" as i walked throug Amecets gates made me pleased to be back!

And now, i'm working a night shift, we had 2 children with malaria, lots of babies who don't want to sleep and 3 white girls who don't know how to mke porrige! I'll let you know how it goes!

38 hours and 3 hours sleep!

The last couple of days has really been about a reality that i think unless you see it, it's so easy to deny....

So, on Saturday I was working the night shift, this means that I had the day to relax and do nothing until 6pm, so I was lying in bed writing some e-mails when Rachel  comes and asks if I want to go with them to the villages (4 of the children were being taken to visit their families) at first I said no, because I didn’t want to miss out on lying in bed. But as I thought about it I was like, “really you’re gonna miss out on this because you’re lazy? How many times in your life are you gonna get to go to remote African villages?” So I grabbed my bag and ran out of the door.

Funny how being lazy can stop us from so many opportunities!

It was amazing to see the kids re-united with their families, they were all so excited to get to spend a few hours with uncles, grandparents and siblings! It also bought the harsh reality about where these kids come from though, we drove down dirt ‘roads’ ( more like footpaths) which were miles from anywhere and would take the families hours to walk to markets or main roads, and when we got there the house? Well a mud hut with a grass roof was what me us as most of the houses, but the kids didn’t care about that, it was home and that’s what was important!

As we were travelling we were asked if we could go and visit another house because there was a baby that they thought we could help. We arrived at the house, it was smaller than my bedroom and home to 9 people, lying on a mat by the door was a skeleton. Well actually it was the mother, she was dying of AIDS because she had stopped taking her ARVs (Medicines which help maintain your immune system) she really was nothing more than skin and bones, most of the time she was unconscious and she had no awareness of anything that was going on around her, her husband had also died of HIV and 8 children were left to look after themselves. In situations like this the oldest girl becomes responsible for caring for the family, in this case she was 14. She had not been in school for over a year because she was caring for the mother, baby and the other 6 children (2 of which were older boys) She was exhausted! The children, neighbours and grandfather agreed that it was best if we bought the baby (Nelson) who was 1year and 4 months old, to Amecet at least for a few months, this would enable the daughter to care only for the mother and bring her some peace and relief, when (and I say this because it seems inevitable) the mother dies, the children will receive support from other families who will help care for them, but unfortunately while the mother is still alive the children must struggle on alone!

We made the journey back to Amecet with a frightened Nelson (who had probably never been in a car before) 2 excited children and 2 chickens (presents from their families) John’s grandmother had been so excited to see him and was so grateful that we had taken him to visit, it was a beautiful, yet short time but it was amazing to be part of that experience!

After that long day I proceeded with the night shift! Nelson had a fever of 40.2 which is very high and we were preparing ourselves for a long night! Luckily it was pretty quiet and power was there however I dionly got 3 hours of no contiunous sleep and so I was exhausted I lay in bed on Sunday morning unable to turn my brain off! I was lying in bed thinking about magic stars, jam doughnuets, cheese toasties and mac and cheese! Things I still have to wait 3 months to eat! And as I lay there I thought wow mothers really do have it hard! They go through the sleepless nights having o get up every 3 hours to feed screaming babies and they have over 9 months of not eating certain foods and getting weird cravings, so I guess it’s something like how I’ve been feeling and mannn it sucks! Sorry mothers!

At 3 I headed back to work and even though I was extremely tired it was an amazing afternoon! Rose managed not only to stand up by herself but also to take her first (and only) step towards me! I was so excited and so proud of her! Rafael also stood by himself for a few seconds and Apio is starting to sit by herself and hold her cup! We also had the new shape sorter out and Rose really worked out the cylinder shape and both children loved clapping when they got one in, I was really enjoying my time until Charles bit me! Now all of these children are underdeveloped and should have started doing these things months ago, but we finally have hope that they will make it! Nelson was tested positive for Malaria and had to go on a drip which meant he was stuck in a chair for most of the day!

We had a crazy worship session after dinner which is always an amazing time! The kids were all singing, dancing and going crazy Rose and Apio were clapping along and even Nelson was out with a smile on his face!

After dinner Nelson had to go back on the drip and... it wasn’t working, nothing seemed wrong but the IV wasn’t flowing properly, there is a doctors surgery next door and we managed to get one of the doctors over to insert a new catheter, I could feel the boys pain but on the second try  it was successful and the IV worked fine! Nelson is now so much better and has been walking around with the stroller and really loves the swing!

It amazing how if you put time and love into a child they can really progress, it makes me wonder why even more isn’t being done to help them, how much is a child’s life and progress worth?

By Monday night I was certainly ready for bed, with a lot to think about!!!

p.s I still haven’t caught up on sleep and so if this makes no sense sorry! And I’m sure I’ve misses something!

It's the small things that make life so spectacular

This past week the children have been so beautiful, it’s blown me away to see such gentle, caring and loving hearts from these kids in so many situations.

On Saturdays the older children go to a HIV/AIDS support group, for going each child receives 5,000 shillings (which is a decent amount of money) to pay for transport and a snack, so Auntie Els buys all the children Soda afterwards. This weekend and lunch time both me a Rachelle were told by the children to go and get cups and they each poured a some of their coke into our cups until we had a full cup each! Now 1. As a 6 or even 12 year old I wouldn’t have thought about sharing my drink with an adult and 2. If I got a treat once a week I wouldn’t want to spare any of it! But these children willing shared out of loving hearts!

In the past couple of weeks a few more westerners has arrived on base and we have been trying to work more with Apio, she has experienced extreme trauma, neglect and abuse, and as a result is so underdeveloped, where other children her age are starting to walk she cant even sit! However this week she not only managed to sit on her own for a little bit, she also started to use her arms to pull herself up, and even by herself from a half lying down position she managed to sit up all by herself! This is so much progress because she is so weak and previously would just be propped up in a chair! This week she even took her cup from my hands and tried to feed herself although she wasn’t strong enough to old her cup for a long time her determination to progress and the smile on her face when she succeeded was nothing short of beautiful!

We’ve also been trying to get the kids off the veranda more and so we’ve played in the swings and on the trampoline lots this week. However Rose went from peacefully sleeping in the swing to projectile vomiting! I had to lift her out of the swing, getting vomit over me and the take her and wash her off which was easier said than done due to the lack of water. Now that doesn’t sound like a spectacular event, but for me it said a lot, these children are innocent and helpless, and the work here shows caring hearts off the Aunties who clean up vomit, diarrhoea, and work their butt off for these children. There’s such a beauty in the way that God breaks your heart for what breaks his! 

Us girls had a nail painting sesh! They were so excited by a small thing, that made them feel spectacular! We had hour of fun choosing the colours, painting, decorating their nails and stopping Rafael eating the bottles of nail polish! The children weren’t bothered about perfection, they were just excited about having something that was them, that was individual and they could be proud of! Something I feel like we’ve lost, it’s all about perfection and opinions for us in the west, we almost stopped caring about our own dreams!

The outward beauty of the children was shown by a massive photo taking morning, which was so much fun as we thought of lots of crazy poses and generally loved on each other!

Yesterday Julius (one of the babies) got to go home, to his young, widowed, innocent father who clearly didn’t have a clue how the look after a baby! This boy has the opportunity to bring joy and healing to his father’s life, but he’s gonna need a lot of prayer that his father has wisdom and help in bringing him up!

In other news, 2 very important girls have entered and re-entered my life this week, Rachelle (Rachel) is my new room-mate, she is Dutch but her English is amazing and we’ve already spent a lots of time laughing and getting sunburnt! She’s already thrown up all over the floor, so she sure is my type of girl! Haha! Double trouble were reunited this week and Becca arrived in Soroti, our team work has already gone to use and we have the kids making a wall display of Noah’s Ark!

Becca and Beatrice enjoyed stabbing my toe with a needle to see how many different liquids they could get out of it! (No I don’t know what I’ve done, but it hurts and is red and swollen right next to my nail, any ideas?)

And I was awake for a while last night chasing the world’s biggest mosquito round my net, I haven’t worked out their role in making life spectacular yet! However I am now fully recovered from my Malaria, Thank you for your prayers.

                                                                                                                                                

life's unfair?

In the last 2 weeks a lot of stuff has happened, and it’s got me thinking how much we say life’s unfair, but is it???

In the 2 weeks 2 newborn babies arrived Stephen and Blessing, they were both less than 1 day old when they arrived at Amecet and both lost their mothers shortly after birth- now that not fair. This however meant that for a week now I have had the privilege of holding feeding and changing newborn babies, not something you get to do on an everyday basis. In a couple of months hopefully these babies will go back to other family member who are willing to love and care for them.

2 Tuesdays ago I took a trip into the middle of know where to see a girl who used to live at Amecet. We had to make a 2 hr journey part of which was along a dug up mud track and the cars wheels on the left were on ground at least 50cm higher than the right! The journey was bumpy and exhausting because there isn’t the development of proper roads, now that doesn’t seem fair. However Naome who we visited is doing well she is enjoying school and getting a good education and was super excited by our visit and the gifts we were able to take her!

A week ago Catherine was adopted, she had been at Amecet for a couple of months after she was almost killed due to the neglect and abuse of her family, she was starved and poisoned. Now that sure isn’t fair.  She now has a home with a family who love her very very much it was a happy to see her go however I will miss her little face!

I did my second night shift, it was busy lots of the children had fevers or weren’t drinking well so by morning I was exhausted. Now what’s not fair, the fact that I’m tired or that the children are sick? What is exciting though is that I got the (somewhat scary) task of deciding to give a child medicine and hearing the peace as they slept the rest of the night!

The girls here have been asking me lots about England recently and what it’s like, they want to her all about the machines we have that they believe we use for everything (well we almost do) and they love hearing about family life and out houses. Then I compare what I left to what I’ve come too, the fact that my bedroom is bigger than houses that I’ve seen, now how is that fair?

And these past few days? Well I’ve been sick, I got malaria and it sucked, I vomited and had a fever, I had injections that mad me feel I was being stabbed again every step I took. I thought I was better and realised how much I’d missed being with the kids, so I let Rose sleep on my hand (so clearly I had to lie on the floor with her) and Rafael climbed all over my back- a bit like a massage! And then mu stomach got worse and I ache and I’m back in bed. Now this doesn’t seem fair!

But because I’ve been lying in bed I’ve had time to reflect and think about it, and yes it does seem like life is unfair, the world is unfair and it’s all just this big mess. But unfairness creates these wonderful opportunities and lessons to learn. We view unfairness as negative but instead grasp the opportunity to make a difference and see the joy that can result when we step into try and make sense of even the tiniest part of that mess!

week 1 at Amecet

So the first week of my new adventure has begun, I am now living in the town if Soroti (still in Uganda) and working at Amecet n'ainapakin (shelter of peace), Amecet is a children’s home primarily for HIV affected and infected children. There are currently about 20 children ranging from just a few weeks old to about 14 years. In the last 10 years of Amecet over 400 children have come through the doors. Amecet takes in those who need a safe place, medical attention and care. Often the aim is to restore children so they can be returned to their families or villages, although where that is no possible, the children are either adopted out or stay on a longer term basis.

My life in Soroti started after a very bumpy 6 hour journey, I am staying in Amecet’s staff house, there are currently 18 staff that work here. My first shift was last Sunday, I was working an A shift which is from 7am-3pm. The morning shift consists of Bathing, changing and feeding the Babies, the playing out of the veranda with the 1-2 year olds, the older children go off to school. The babies have to be regularly fed and changed so as you can imagine in the past week I have learned how to fold, change and clean cloth dypers, I have changed 45 nappies in the past week and fed 14 bottles, without killing anyone!!! (good start)

The second shift is the B shift, this is from 1pm-9pm and the routine is similar, meal times are crazy but so much fun and after eating the children gather around an African drum for a time of worship, with much dancing which is so much fun! I spent some time with the older children during my b shifts this week, and had great fun jumping on the trampoline with Christine 2. (Where more than one child had the same name they are numbered)

We saw the first rain in a long long time this week and the kids were loving it!! All out on the veranda with their hands out in the rain, excitement really was in the air!

The great thing about working with children you don’t ever have to grow up, you get to play and do all those things you’re meant to but never really grow out of, and it’s perfectly acceptable to dance round like an idiot!!

Friday is my day off so I went over to the sports fields for a walk, I watched some football games (boys and girls) saw the Ugandan version of the walk of witness and almost got charged at by a bull (I was generally scared for my life)

Unfortunately my Saturday morning shift started with some rather upsetting news that baby Jabeth dies during the night,  he was only 6 weeks old, he wasn’t sick and it’s all a bit of a mystery however we know that he is safe in heaven now. Jabeth was wrapped up in the way they do here then he was put into a coffin which was carried out by some of the older children (precious) and then he was returned to his village for burial. The power was out (maybe in sympathy) and some of the children were very frightened by it, as you can imagine when a perfectly healthy baby dies how much that scares a HIV infected child! So your prayer are so much needed for here right now.

Tonight I work my first night shift, 7pm-8am, I have no idea how I am going to stay awake but it’s all part of the adventure!

If you want to know more about life at Amecet you can check out the Amecet blog:

http://amecet-soroti.blogspot.com/