On Friday, Ellen, Mercy and I stayed through morning tea and the introductions. My favorite part was the children, most of whom were orphans, singing and dancing as a welcome to the visitors. Mercy loved watching the children and danced right along with them. Most of the people were not sure what to think of this African baby with the mzungu parents. They watched our every move. At one point as we were waiting for the meeting to start Ellen and I were chatting with Pastor Fred. This was his first time to meet Ellen, who is usually referred to as “Mama Ellen”. He told Ellen that he was so glad to finally meet “Mama” and that he hoped her breasts were ready. Ellen and I both looked at each other to make sure we heard him correctly. He said, “The people will be so excited to meet Mama, you’ll have to breastfeed them all.” Oh my!! Then during the introductions he mentioned this again in front of everyone. He said “Mama, see all of these children. They are all ready for you to breastfeed them now.” It was so funny and so hard for me to not laugh out loud. I’m sure it was his metaphor for mothering and loving on the people, but to this American woman, it was just hilarious.
 |
| Mercy and Jaa Jaa |
 |
| Children welcoming us |
 |
| Herb's group handshake |
After introductions, Herb took us ladies to our hotel in a nearby town. We knew Mercy would not last long during the teaching. The hotel was a great place with a huge yard in the front. Mercy and I took a nap, then we hung outside the rest of the time. There were about 6 chickens running around the yard, so Mercy chased them around and looked for anyone who would bring her near them. A couple of hours later, a man came and rounded up the chickens and then we heard some major squawking and we had to tell Mercy that the chickens went “bye-bye”. They did make for a tasty dinner. The hotel also had music playing in the front, so she drug me and Ellen both up there numerous times to dance. She’d stand and motion to you to “come” and then as we got to the music she would point and say “dance”. She was getting down with it. She got so low a few times that she fell all the way down. The hotel staff was quite entertained with her and often gathered around to watch.
Before leaving for the hotel, Cody asked me if I needed any extra diapers from the trunk he had. I told him that we would be fine with the ones I had in my bad. I was wrong. About 4 o’ clock I changed a messy diaper and realized that was the last one. Hmmm, what was I going to do. I couldn’t let her run around naked, even though that’s what they would do in the village. I didn’t want her to get it on her clothes as we only had a few outfits packed. Then it hit me, I’d have to make my own somehow. With limited supplies on-hand, I took a plastic bag that is supposed to be for dirty diapers and made two leg holes in it. I stuffed a bunch of toilet paper inside of it and then cinched it up around her waist and put a pair of pajama shorts over the top. I was pretty proud of myself. Ellen and I got a good laugh out of it, but I realized it probably wouldn’t last until the guys got back, so I finally, got on a boda and prayed that the local market would have some diapers, and thankfully they did. The best part, her diaper stayed totally dry until Cody got back. Ha!!
 |
| I'm a genius... ha!! |
The next morning we got up early and drove the rest of the way to Lake Mburo National Park. We went on a couple of game drives and saw many animals. We saw lots of different types of antelope, including Impala. We also saw hippos, water buffalo, warthogs, zebras, bush and water buck, monkeys, baboons, and many birds. We even saw a dead zebra that we think was half-eaten by a lion. That certainly makes you realize you are seeing the real deal and not at a Disney Wildlife Adventure. We had a picnic lunch out on the savannah, while a water buffalo stared at us through the whole meal. Then after lunch, Cody, Mercy and I went on a boat ride around the lake. We had a great time and Mercy serenaded us with “Baby Jesus” the whole way. We even got to see a baby hippo lying on its mother’s back. Mama was all the way under the water, so it was so cute to see the little one just perched on top. As we got off the boat, we realized that Herb was nowhere to be found. He was our ride back to the camping/banda area where we were staying. I tried to call him, but there was no service. Cody and I decided we’d just walk. We knew it wasn’t very far. Yeah, we were wrong. About 30 minutes later we got to the campsite. On the way, we passed some wildlife. Then we read a sign that said because of the wildlife you should only walk through the park with an armed guard. Oops!!
 |
| The long walk back! |
 |
| Sunset at Mburo |
The next morning we had one last game drive as we left the park. Then we headed back to the village to pick up Abdul and Pastor Fred. When we went to get Pastor Fred he asked if he could bring a few things back with him for his house in Kampala. Herb agreed. That was before we realized how much stuff it was. Oh my! The heavy load could have been part of the reason why we ended up with car problems and we had to stop 4 times for a leaking radiator hose. Got to love Africa! We did get to stop briefly at the equator for a couple of photos.
During the long (11 hour) ride, Mercy did remarkably well. Somehow, Cody worked it so he always got to hold her while she was sleeping and I got the job while she was awake and wild, but it worked. The only major incident was when she got a bit annoyed and threw one of her books out the window into traffic. Herb asked if we needed to stop and get it, I said no way! We definitely got our money’s worth from that $1 book from Target. We finally made it home, washed lots of red dirt off our bodies and our hair and crashed for the night. It was a great trip. Cody was blessed to get the chance to teach, we all enjoyed the wildlife and God’s creations, and certainly enjoyed the company.
No comments:
Post a Comment