Final thoughts.

Uganda,
You have found a way into my heart,

Before I even stepped foot upon your soil. 

And now that I have walked through your dusted streets, 

In my heart you will stay 

And never be apart.

You are a mighty nation, 

One that has favour, grace and mercy on its shoulders. 

Like a warriors cape, it adorns you. 

Rising to stand tall again, 

You give hope, 

show love,

And inspire faith,

Through your pain.

The dusty streets of a city slum

I was given a rare opportunity to walk the streets of one of Kampala's slums. What an experience. As At the entrance was a big open space that had turned into a meeting place, play ground, football patch etc. There were kids playing football, but of course this stopped immediately as soon as they saw me! I was overcome by children running towards me! Each wanting to touch me, be picked up or hugged! I tried to keep walking, as hard as it was with a couple hanging off my legs! LOL. We stopped at the well, which, in 2010, Watoto had installed clean running water. More children came to the party! One started to tickle me under my arms! I felt like saying, you don't wanna go there kid on this hot steamy day! haha! Poor thing. Well I returned the favour and tickled them all back. What an uproar of giggling there was!
I continued on and was greeted by the community, each trying to make their money by selling whatever they had - from vegetables to sandles. They even had a pharmacy! Each one calling out "Mazungu, Mazungu!" I met a beautiful old lady, and when I mean old, I do actually mean old! A rare occurrence in Uganda! 50% of the population is under the age of 15!!
My heart was pounding and my mind was ticking. I felt the familiar stirring as I was walking through their little alleyways...that something was stirring inside of my spirit....
Watch this space.

First Generation of Special Needs & other stuff.

 Over this week it's dawned on me that these children I am working with, are likely the first generation of special needs in Uganda. Previously they would not have been rescued but abandoned and left to die or outcast from their village because they were 'possessed' as they were not 'normal'. The challenge now for the ones who care for them, is what happens when they reach 18 and still require full time care? What will the future look like for them? Technically when the kids in the village reach adulthood they leave the village and start their life adventure, equipped to face the big world.
But what about these special ones, beautiful souls and the biggest smiles I have ever seen? What choice do they have? There are no firm answers yet. Presently, the higher needs children are up for international adoption. But one cannot solely rely on this as an only option. So another possibility is building a 'global village' for these children, sort of like a special needs home. I have noted though that there is a huge misconception and a lack of understanding what 'special needs' means, that some of these children will 'just come right'. What has stacked up against them, especially for the older ones, is that they have missed out on the vital early intervention needed to put in place good communication foundations. This is why the special needs team involvement in the babies home is imperative. It's encouraging to see that some of their children are making good progress.

Anyways, on a lighter note! (I hear you say, yes please!) We get a cooked lunch everyday at the clinic and I have tried a few varieties of traditional food: Maatoke - is cooked/steamed banana, mashed up and wrapped in banana leaves. It's pretty average on its own but with the ground nut (similar to a peanut) sauce, its AMAZING...ok maybe just the sauce is amazing! ;)
I have had posho - what I know as 'millie-meal' - maize, which kinda looks like mashed potato but doesn't taste like it. It's hard to describe.
Kasava - a root vegetable. Nope. Not a fan.
Goat - if cooked right can be nice and tender. Better off the bone ;). They also eat a lot of beans - never have been a fan, so have quietly avoided this. And then there is the chapatis, which I've always been a fan of, unfortunately. :)

The medical team at Suubi Village: Nurses(Stella & Natalie), Clinical Psychologist(Sam), Doctor(name not known, oops!) and Occupational Therapist(Monica)...and Steven, my host, being a egg, as usual ;)

And of course, there must always be time for a lesson in Lugandan...
Wasuze otya - Good morning or oli otya (oh.tee.ya) - is just hey, hi, hello
Yakuraba - See ya later ;)
Weebale - Thank you
Weelaba - Goodbye. Yes, confusing much! Cant tell you how much I got this mixed up!
ChiChi - What's up? What's wrong?
Ssebo - Sir
Nnyabo - Madam
Mulungi - Beautiful (apparently my African name, hehe ;) )
and finally Mzungu - White person

I'm off to Gulu (heading north) on Saturday to join a build team up there and go on Safari for 2 days! Bring it on! :)

Bbira Village

 Watoto: Rescue Raise Rebuild

Watoto is a church founded by Gary & Marilyn Skinner, from the USA, now residing in Uganda.
Through them this ministry has evolved.
There are 3 villages in Uganda; 2 in Kampala - Bbira & Suubi and another in Gulu (Northern Uganda). Each village has a number of clusters with about 6-8 houses in each, this mimics a traditional village set-up. There is also a medical clinic, a kindergarten, primary school & secondary school & accommodation for the teachers and nurses.
The children come from all sorts of backgrounds where they have either been horrifically abused, orphaned, abandoned. In northern Uganda they also provide trauma rehabilitation for ex-child soldiers. Children coming into the villages are referred by various agencies or other governmental homes or simply word of mouth. Most of them have transitioned from the babies home (Baby Watoto). The children are placed in a home with a new mother. There is usually 7 children in one home (culturally typical). The mothers are usually woman who are on their own (it is still extremely difficult living for woman who are on their own here) and they apply for the position.
The aim of Watoto is to provide these vulnerable children with physical care, medical intervention(incl HIV/AIDS), education (which includes vocational training), counselling, moral & spiritual discipleship.

 Today I visited Bbira Village where I worked with the special needs team, assessing children with identified speech & language difficulties. Many of the children who have difficulties with their communication will be a result of the years of abuse and neglect. So much of their communication success hinges on their psycho-social needs!
I was really encouraged today at the way the special needs team manage their caseload. Very qualified therapists! However speech therapy is lacking in a HUGE way, apparently only 7 trained therapists for the whole country who service both education and health (hospitals)!
Meeting the team initially, took a little while to break the ice! (as they 'sized' me up & down ;) ) But with my charm and wit, I think I succeeded, despite the overwhelming feeling of being out of my comfort zone! I have not worked with children's language needs since I graduated! But thankfully I found my skills overall intertwined and I slotted in eventually.

Cluster houses

 

Play area

The children I met today were so eager to participate and generally happy and very smiley! The occupational therapist told me many stories of where loads of love, attention and affection produced whole, restored independent individuals who can give back to their community!

Tomorrow I work at Bullrushes - the babies home. I'm very excited to put my pediatric feeding skills to work!

An Introduction to Kampala, Uganda

This morning I had my orientation for one...so formal and 'by the book' as if I was part of a whole group, funny (well I am - Global Medical Team, but it's just me)! Looks like I will be having a very full on week ahead with lots of assessments and trainings to be done for the special needs team and the mothers of the villages. Sarah who is the special needs co-ordinator and, who I think is an occupational therapist, is fantastic and we hit it off straight away! As you can see I had lunch with Steven. I ordered a coffee^ and that is the size of the latte! No flat whites here ( :P) and coffee is just not the same as back home...in fact we are incredibly blessed to have the coffee we do in NZ!

Driving through the city, there are many sites like this...road side businesses - every man and woman selling & making anything and everything from nothing to make his living. From chickens in cages & hanging meat to BB Modern Electronics...

Then of course every man HAS to have one of these bikes...it's a wistful notion for most and many of the men will sit on their bike on the side road showing off with their friends & chatting the morning away.

Construction

Chickens (pls excuse the massive zoom in & poor quality)

I love this photo below. Its trendy to have big hips ;) Most of the mannequins displaying the dresses have altered bigger hips!

 This is my very flash accommodation! The Watoto guest house, where all volunteers/groups stay during their time with Watoto. The ladies here, looking after me, are so friendly and so lovely! I have a four posted bed! And a much needed net curtain for the mozzies. A group from America arrived yesterday, they headed to Gulu on a building project (noted - more woman than men in that group!) and I think an Australian group arrive tomorrow. So not completely alone here ;)

A Whirlwind trip through London & Venice

10 jam-packed days in the UK = a few days with lovely Bronwyn before she flew back to CHCH, seeing a west end musical, meeting Warrens family both up in Norwich and in Cambridge for a 'proper English wedding', to 2 spectacular days in Venice (now on my best city ever list).

I LOVED being back in London - its a crazy rat race city, and getting used to the transport system all over again was both challenging and exciting! I must say though, out of all the money spent, travel was top of the list!

I met up with my long-time special friend, Anna, on what was the hottest day in London - 34 degrees! Whoever said that true authentic friendships are the ones that stand the test of time, was right! I haven't seen Anna for 15 years and it felt like we caught up only a month ago! An amazing time with her. Loved every minute.

Venice was incredible and exceeded my expectations. The food & wine, as to be expected - AMAZING! I think the photos will speak for themselves....

Now its off to Round 2 Adventure - Kampala, Uganda....

Arrival into London

Once - Musical

Lovely Anna

Cambridge

In the cathedral

Megan - Warren's sister

Warren's Family

Kings College

Venice baby!

44Euro, but oh sooooo good!

Self explanatory

Riding on the Gondola

Outside our hotel on the canal

Santa Maria della Salute

Murano Glass