living the epitome of Africa

This past week has been filled with adventure, hard work, lots of smiles, and even more laughs.

Sunday we headed back out to Zirobwe where we held church at! Working with the kids in children's church is such a blessing. You can just tell that they love to hear the stories, sing the songs, and hold our hands. We also hand out chapatis and juice afterwards. They all come running up with their little mugs and are all so eager! The children's choir sang a few songs for us and words do not begin to describe how cute they are. The little boys try to act like they don't want to be up there, but secretly they love it :)

The new volunteers were introduced in the church, and let me tell you it is quite the experience. Everyone starts screaming, clapping, laughing, and making noises that I could not begin to imitate! After church we headed back to Kampala where we met up with the two new volunteers. They are actually from Richmond and go to Virginia Tech. Such a small, small world. We headed to an African coffee shop near the house and hung out there. African tea and coffee are made with milk instead of water, and are literally to die for. After the coffee shop, we headed to the cultural center and watched performances from tribes all over Uganda! Who knew someone could shake it that fast, for that long. Literally mind blowing. The way they beat the drums so effortlessly with the African beat they seem to be born with.

Monday we headed back to Zirobwe where we would set up camp for two days. The idea was to set up camp and start working on building the temporary church, fetch water, and do some renovations, but that is certainly not what happened. When it rains in Uganda, the entire country seems to turn into a red mud covered ditch, and that is exactly what our van got stuck in. So we were stuck, no problem we get stuck everyday practically. But then the wheel popped. The only thing we could do is walk to camp, which wasn't terribly far away. They then got the work truck to try to get the van unstuck. The work truck got stuck. So, the day was spent getting unstuck, re-stuck, and then unstuck again. That evening we did get to do a children's program for the village. Seeing the kids get so excited for songs, games, and stories will never get old.

Tuesday was filled with wheel barrows full of sand, carrying bricks, fetching water, and sweating in the Ugandan heat until the heavens opened up. Apparently the Equator runs through Ugandan... that explains why five minutes in the heat about takes the energy out of you for a week. The rain was coming down fast and hard, and so were our tents and covers. As mud and water covered the terrain we all gathered in the tent and played go fish until the metal polls threatened to topple down on us. Once the rain let up, we held the children's program under the shelter where church is held on Sunday mornings. That is where one of the most joyful moments of my life was held.

Let me explain. When I was thinking about coming to Uganda I had a certain picture in my head. You know, drums beating, people dancing, songs sung in Luganda, and children all around while in a village. That dream literally came to life. After the children's program came to an end, the children's choir came up to sing, which led to drums magically being played by men in the village, which turned into the women coming into the hut, which led to dancing, which led to fabrics being tied around waists (including mine), which led to children teaching me dance moves, which led to the most joyful moments of my life. I wish more than anything I could relive that moment over and over again. Rain pouring down, and the villagers dancing like no one is watching all to the beat of the African drum. Beautiful, and something I will never forget.