We are coming home!! We leave from Uganda on Friday afternoon and arrive in Charlotte on Saturday night. We are so excited!!!
Happy Birthday Joshua! We love you so much and can't wait to see you. Just want you to know you are now officially the firstborn son. As of yesterday you were the only child. Can't wait for Edith and Derrick to meet their brother and future sister-in-law.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Blog from Ekissa that I wrote
"Jesus said let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
Matthew 19:14
We started our day out at Mercy Home to lead a VBS for the children of Bweya. The morning began with singing and dancing, led by the 4 African college students that we have been fortunate to have with us all week. They connect with the kids in such an amazing way. It doesn't hurt that they also speak their language! I think for the majority of us participating we would have estimated that we might have 50-100 children but as the music started the shelter area quickly filled and we had over 300 children and parents there to hear about God. It is such fun to watch the enthusiasm and love that children express to God even in such a dry dark place as Mercy Home.
I am sitting in a very familiar place having written the blog for the trip in December except this time I was looking through very different eyes.
We had a plan for our day and what we thought would happen but God had his own plan. We would all be touched in one way or another either personally or by watching our friends. It is easy to enjoy and connect with children-they are funny, cute, carefree. These children are also that same way but they are also very hungry for something deeper. Many of them have parents that are trying hard to care for them and then there are some that have no one and nothing. God has a way of placing those children in the hands of the one he knows will stop for just that extra second and realize their need. I saw this happen with Mark and Mercy.
Mercy is a precious, petite girl who smiles and you immediately smile back. I kept noticing her at Mark's feet. As the morning went on I would see them interacting and before long her little hand was in his almost constantly. I knew that he was growing to love her. That may sound strange to some but you see I recognized this immediately because in December this was happening to me with Edith. It is a beautiful thing to witness. Mark was here serving with ekissa (Mercy in Llugandan), at Mercy Home and he is now caring for a little girl named Mercy. It is so amazing how God can orchestrate such small details so that we might recognize him at work.
Steve and I are in Uganda finishing up the legal process of adopting Edith and her brother Derrick. On this very day we received the visas for both children to allow us to return home with them. We officially became their guardians.
All of us are along with the ekissa team participating today. Edith's older brother, Asharuf, is a 8 year old boy who lives at Mercy. They were both so excited to see one another. Even though many of these children are separated from their family there is still a deep sense of commitment to one another. We were serving lunch to all the children and parents. When Asharuf was receiving his plate he immediately recognized that his brother and sister were not eating. He passed his plate to Edith so she would have something. He may not have even in days but yet he was sacrificing his lunch for them. He also stuck by them all day rather than having fun with the VBS activities. We finished the lunch time and the kids began playing in the yard of Mercy Home. It was so awesome to see all these kids having fun and laughing.
The afternoon went on and we all knew it would be time to leave them. Having left Edith in December I knew what a hard time Mark would have when he had to finally part from Mercy. And I also knew that this might be the last time that Edith and Derrick would see their brother Asharuf. I had no idea that he might be aware of this reality. As we were leaving he began to hold tight to Edith's hand and my heart grew extremely heavy. How were we to leave this young boy here alone with no one to take care of him? What would we say? How is Mark going to let go of the hand that he had been holding all day? As Edith was yelling out to her brother "Goodbye Asharuf, I love you." and Mark was hearing the tiny voice say "Come back Mazungu." the tears began and I believe that inside Mark and I are still crying. But we also know that God will provide for these kids as well as provide for us.
How it will all turn out for Ashuraf and for the relationship between Mark and Mercy? We don't know. I know that when I came in December I certainly didn't come with the intentions of adopting. God does have a plan and for that I am grateful.
When we let go and let God have the reign of our hearts it is easy to love with the depth that only God can provide. He simply loved us first.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Misc Pictures
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| This picture and the one below is of a family that we stopped to give silly bands to. Apparently from the look on this little guy's face he has never laid eyes on a mazungu! |
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| This is Uncle Abbey and the kids! |
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| This is Mercy Orphanage |
Day 23- almost over!!
Good Morning my friends-
I am sorry for the delay in my updates but we have had sporadic power and water for the last two days. The city rations both at them anytime they want. It appears today is going to be okay. Just the trials of living in Uganda.
We have done many things since my last post. We attended the service at Ggaba on Sunday and it was great. I was aware that Pastor Robert wanted me to speak just a few words to them but Steve wasn't aware that he would be called on to speak as well. He looked for a moment as if he was going to throw-up but when this culture asks you to speak or eat you do it. He did a great job and Derrick thought it was so funny that he got to use a microphone. He just giggled. For the rest of the afternoon Derrick used a water bottle as a microphone and said at the top of his lungs (like he had seen at the service) Hawawuyah- Amen (Hallelujah) It was so funny to watch him. He raised his hand and closed his eyes...at least he was listening!
The service is held at Mercy Orphanage temporarily until we can build the church on the property. Mercy Orphanage is a horrible place where mostly boys are housed. It is really a blessing to them that the service is held under their shelter so that some adults will at least be there on a regular basis. This is the home where Edith's oldest brother, Asharaf, lives. When they saw each other both their eyes lit up and Edith ran to him. She didn't leave his side the rest of the afternoon, holding his hand the whole time. Steve and I both cried..it was the sweetest but saddest moment I have seen since we arrived. He has a great smile and gentle eyes. He is determined to be about 8 years old but I feel like he is more like 10. He went into his "room" area and was searching through piles of clothes to find something that he could wear to the service. Ugandans believe like the US used to, that you need to dress up to attend church. He was just looking for two socks that matched. His room is drab tan moist concrete and there were 8 bunk beds in there with very very thin mattresses and clothes hanging from a string across the ceiling. There is no power or water. There was a man cooking them a lunch in the metal part of a shovel ( which conducted the heat of the coals) in the corner. They were eating poshu (grit like substance) and what they were not eating the chickens, dogs and kittens were getting off the floor. I can hardly stand to look at this sight. I had visited here in December and I thought it was important for Steve to witness what some of these orphanages look like. It is unbelievable that there are children that actually live here day to day. Even more remarkable that they can have any sort of smile or positive attitude under these circumstances. Asharaf followed us to our car where they said goodbye. We gave him some food we had in our backpacks and he seemed very grateful. We will also need a sponsor for him as well. We have made sure to confirm to Edith that we will take care of him and make sure he has food and clothes. She was very sad when she left him. We will get to see him tomorrow when we participate in a VBS for the kids of Bweya village. She asked me while putting her to bed if we could send an airplane here to get him so that they could all be together..even Eddie. It is hard to imagine that in her 4 year old mind that she can even understand this but she does because she later told me that she had really nice clothes and he was looking and looking for something to put on. She said "Mommy he had a girl shirt on." I am not sure who felt more sad, Edith or us, for having to leave him there. We have identified him to Pastor Robert so at least someone can keep an eye on him and his condition.
We attended the worship with O'Brien, a college student that we sponsor. It has been nice to spend time with him and get to know him. He is so serious about his education and then returning to do social work in Kampala. He is hoping to work with the orphanages. He took us to meet his mother. She cried and hugged Steve and I like we were long lost family. She kept saying bless you bless you. She has raised 5 children alone and O'Brien has commented several times how strict and hard she was on them. Her discipline and love has apparently worked. Three of the five kids have attended a University and one is in the Ugandan service. They all went to school from grade school to University level through sponsorship programs. They live in Uganda and visit her regularly. She invited us into her 2 room cement home and immediatly fell down on her knees to the floor. That is a cultural response but one that makes you want to do the same. I joined her and she spread out a mat and served us sim-sim, nuts and black tea. We had just eaten lunch but it didn't matter. It reminded me of my dear MawMaw, when she said here eat this you just did it. What is so endearing is the "mom" was serving us something that is special and a treat to them. She didn't partake and sent the rest of the sim-sim home with us. Sim-Sim is a very tiny seed that almost tastes like sunflower seeds. They were actually delicious and I have eaten the rest of them. "Mom" kept telling us how thankful she was to have her son be able to finish school and then when we left she called me "Mom O'Brien" and hugged and kissed us again. She was wonderful and I told O'Brien I would like for her to be my grandmother. She had a gentle spirit and a puffy body that was easy to hug.
I am going to visit her tomorrow after we finish our VBS. I will take her picture so I can put her on the blog.
Monday we visited the US Embassy for our final interview. We arrived at 1:30 and left at 4:30. It went well and we can pick up the kids visas on Wednesday. We are trying to find out information about a flight home and how quickly that can happen. I almost can take a sigh of relief knowing that I am seeing the end of this part of our journey. Now that the ekissa team has arrived it has made our stay more enjoyable. We are not able to join them on all the missions opportunities because it just wouldn't work with the kids. We are all getting to go tomorrow so we are looking forward to that.
This morning I received a much needed sign from God. I was talking to Sarah about adoption and how it had been as well as what our future will look like. Her advice is priceless with two adopted children of her own. As we were talking Derrick woke up and called to me from the other room..."momma." I knew it wasn't Edith and Derrick has called me that when Edith has, but not to actually call FOR me. It was the sweetest sound I have ever heard. I knew in that moment that this would be okay and that I can do this. I have to admit that these days have been hard on many levels. We are really beginning to learn about the kids and their likes and dislikes. It has been tiring to say the least and at times I have wondered what in the world we were thinking. But there are moments now that I know why we have adopted these two sweet children. They make us smile, laugh, look at life differently and will definitely keep us active. Besides I have realized that when God asks you to do something specific it is for an amazing reason.
It is not about Steve or me anymore but about giving these two children an opportunity to have a good, secure life in a family where people love them and take care of them.
I will post, if I can, as soon as we know flight information.
We are almost home!!!
Love-
Steve, Debbie, Edith and Derrickey
I am sorry for the delay in my updates but we have had sporadic power and water for the last two days. The city rations both at them anytime they want. It appears today is going to be okay. Just the trials of living in Uganda.
We have done many things since my last post. We attended the service at Ggaba on Sunday and it was great. I was aware that Pastor Robert wanted me to speak just a few words to them but Steve wasn't aware that he would be called on to speak as well. He looked for a moment as if he was going to throw-up but when this culture asks you to speak or eat you do it. He did a great job and Derrick thought it was so funny that he got to use a microphone. He just giggled. For the rest of the afternoon Derrick used a water bottle as a microphone and said at the top of his lungs (like he had seen at the service) Hawawuyah- Amen (Hallelujah) It was so funny to watch him. He raised his hand and closed his eyes...at least he was listening!
The service is held at Mercy Orphanage temporarily until we can build the church on the property. Mercy Orphanage is a horrible place where mostly boys are housed. It is really a blessing to them that the service is held under their shelter so that some adults will at least be there on a regular basis. This is the home where Edith's oldest brother, Asharaf, lives. When they saw each other both their eyes lit up and Edith ran to him. She didn't leave his side the rest of the afternoon, holding his hand the whole time. Steve and I both cried..it was the sweetest but saddest moment I have seen since we arrived. He has a great smile and gentle eyes. He is determined to be about 8 years old but I feel like he is more like 10. He went into his "room" area and was searching through piles of clothes to find something that he could wear to the service. Ugandans believe like the US used to, that you need to dress up to attend church. He was just looking for two socks that matched. His room is drab tan moist concrete and there were 8 bunk beds in there with very very thin mattresses and clothes hanging from a string across the ceiling. There is no power or water. There was a man cooking them a lunch in the metal part of a shovel ( which conducted the heat of the coals) in the corner. They were eating poshu (grit like substance) and what they were not eating the chickens, dogs and kittens were getting off the floor. I can hardly stand to look at this sight. I had visited here in December and I thought it was important for Steve to witness what some of these orphanages look like. It is unbelievable that there are children that actually live here day to day. Even more remarkable that they can have any sort of smile or positive attitude under these circumstances. Asharaf followed us to our car where they said goodbye. We gave him some food we had in our backpacks and he seemed very grateful. We will also need a sponsor for him as well. We have made sure to confirm to Edith that we will take care of him and make sure he has food and clothes. She was very sad when she left him. We will get to see him tomorrow when we participate in a VBS for the kids of Bweya village. She asked me while putting her to bed if we could send an airplane here to get him so that they could all be together..even Eddie. It is hard to imagine that in her 4 year old mind that she can even understand this but she does because she later told me that she had really nice clothes and he was looking and looking for something to put on. She said "Mommy he had a girl shirt on." I am not sure who felt more sad, Edith or us, for having to leave him there. We have identified him to Pastor Robert so at least someone can keep an eye on him and his condition.
We attended the worship with O'Brien, a college student that we sponsor. It has been nice to spend time with him and get to know him. He is so serious about his education and then returning to do social work in Kampala. He is hoping to work with the orphanages. He took us to meet his mother. She cried and hugged Steve and I like we were long lost family. She kept saying bless you bless you. She has raised 5 children alone and O'Brien has commented several times how strict and hard she was on them. Her discipline and love has apparently worked. Three of the five kids have attended a University and one is in the Ugandan service. They all went to school from grade school to University level through sponsorship programs. They live in Uganda and visit her regularly. She invited us into her 2 room cement home and immediatly fell down on her knees to the floor. That is a cultural response but one that makes you want to do the same. I joined her and she spread out a mat and served us sim-sim, nuts and black tea. We had just eaten lunch but it didn't matter. It reminded me of my dear MawMaw, when she said here eat this you just did it. What is so endearing is the "mom" was serving us something that is special and a treat to them. She didn't partake and sent the rest of the sim-sim home with us. Sim-Sim is a very tiny seed that almost tastes like sunflower seeds. They were actually delicious and I have eaten the rest of them. "Mom" kept telling us how thankful she was to have her son be able to finish school and then when we left she called me "Mom O'Brien" and hugged and kissed us again. She was wonderful and I told O'Brien I would like for her to be my grandmother. She had a gentle spirit and a puffy body that was easy to hug.
I am going to visit her tomorrow after we finish our VBS. I will take her picture so I can put her on the blog.
Monday we visited the US Embassy for our final interview. We arrived at 1:30 and left at 4:30. It went well and we can pick up the kids visas on Wednesday. We are trying to find out information about a flight home and how quickly that can happen. I almost can take a sigh of relief knowing that I am seeing the end of this part of our journey. Now that the ekissa team has arrived it has made our stay more enjoyable. We are not able to join them on all the missions opportunities because it just wouldn't work with the kids. We are all getting to go tomorrow so we are looking forward to that.
This morning I received a much needed sign from God. I was talking to Sarah about adoption and how it had been as well as what our future will look like. Her advice is priceless with two adopted children of her own. As we were talking Derrick woke up and called to me from the other room..."momma." I knew it wasn't Edith and Derrick has called me that when Edith has, but not to actually call FOR me. It was the sweetest sound I have ever heard. I knew in that moment that this would be okay and that I can do this. I have to admit that these days have been hard on many levels. We are really beginning to learn about the kids and their likes and dislikes. It has been tiring to say the least and at times I have wondered what in the world we were thinking. But there are moments now that I know why we have adopted these two sweet children. They make us smile, laugh, look at life differently and will definitely keep us active. Besides I have realized that when God asks you to do something specific it is for an amazing reason.
It is not about Steve or me anymore but about giving these two children an opportunity to have a good, secure life in a family where people love them and take care of them.
I will post, if I can, as soon as we know flight information.
We are almost home!!!
Love-
Steve, Debbie, Edith and Derrickey
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Saturday of Week 3
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| On a boat at the mouth of the Nile River |
Hi Everyone- I am going to try to download some more pictures but it is taking a long time so I will just start with that one. We had a great trip to Jinja on Thursday. Not only was it the day we found out we had been officially approved but there were some beautiful sights to see. We were on the Nile with Moses! (our driver)
Friday we moved to the house where the ekissa team will join us really late Sunday night. I got a text today to say that a little bit of home was headed my way and it was right. Steve and I are both so excited to see some familiar faces. We also have some additional supplies being brought to us which will be great. I can tell you that physically Steve and I are beginning to feel the wear of living here. The diet especially. We have both had bouts with stomach issues. Tonight when we were getting ready for bed we found out we have NO water. Last night we had no hot water. The town is rationing the water supply. Thank goodness I gave the kids a bath before dinner-all you have to do is step outside and you are covered with a red dry dust film so you can imagine at the end of the day how dirty they both are.
Steve and I had the opportunity to go on Friday and visit Bweya-the area where ekissa will be doing the mission work. I was so excited to show Steve where Edith had lived and where we worked in December. We met with Mr. Robert-he is the gentleman that ekissa bought three acres from. It is also the sight where the future church will be constructed. Robert is a jolly man who has an amazing smile. I was so excited for him to show Steve the way he farms. He has a fully functioning farm with 9 dairy cows and many chickens. All of these animals are located in about 1000 square feet. It is in his back patio area and is all concrete. I know this sounds really bizarre but he has done this in an ingenious manner and it is clean and very organized. He uses all the natural resources he has around him for feed. The waste from the animals is being used for bio-fuel to cook and heat with. His farm was chosen as a test site for the bio-fuel and he was so excited that he had been the given the opportunity. He is very aware of the ever shrinking tree and land resources that Africa has available to them. He let me help his son milk a cow which I had never done and then he knocked some fresh mangos out of the trees in his yard and we enjoyed those. (That just might be the cause of my stomach issues). We left there and visited Bweya Children's Home where we will be apart of a medical mission on Monday and Tuesday. They house around 80 orphaned children. He said that 90% of his kids have no family at all.
We had a nice afternoon. This was the first time that we had been away from the kids. The Ggaba house where we are staying has lots of young kids that belong to the helpers at that house. I met them all in December and the kids were thrilled that they could stay and play with them. I have to admit we were excited to be by ourselves for a few hours! They greeted us both with "Mommy and Daddy" and ran to us when we returned so they missed us as much as we missed them.
Today we enjoyed having Edrine with us to play with Derrick and Edith. Edith was sad to see him go tonight and keeps questioning about his coming to America. Derrick doesn't show much emotion but I have noticed that when people come around from his "old" life he tends to stick close to Steve or me. I think he must not understand that he is not going with them. He hesitates to hug on them and generally wants us to hold him.
We were all exhausted from last night. Ggaba church holds an all night prayer vigil every Friday evening. Our room faces the church and with the windows open at the church and in our bedroom for air circulation it sounded as if we were in a concert hall. The loud drum beats and chanting lasted until 4:30 this morning. Steve and I hardly slept at all so this day has been especially hard. At one point we were laughing hysterically at nothing. Edrine and Edith were trying to tell me that they wanted something from upstairs and I thought it was "bug" spray. Of course Derrick follows them upstairs and as I was trying to make sure that he "hit the hole" in the bathroom I turned around and they were taking their clothes off. They wanted to take a bath not put on bug spray.....That shows how our language differences can confuse everyone....I sent them back outside. Two young men from the church came over and we visited with them most of the afternoon.
Tomorrow morning we are headed to Bweya to attend the church service with Pastor Robert. He is the minister who is helping to build the church with ekissa. He was originally holding the services in a chicken coop but they have moved to a facility at Mercy orphanage. Edith and Derrick's older brother (Usher) is at this home so I am sure they will be excited to see him. I have to speak about what we are doing here and about the upcoming mission week. I am a little nervous about that.
We go Monday to the US Embassy so we will know more about when we can head home. We are beyond homesick and ready to be home. Please pray for our health as we have both battling some stomach issues. We don't want to get sick here I can tell you-
Happy Father's Day to our Dad's- Wish we could be there to celebrate! We love you!
I will try to send some pictures tomorrow when the computer isn't so slow.
Good Night!!
Debbie and Steve
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Halleluijah! Thank you God! We are approved!!
Who would have ever thought that we would have been riding in a boat at the mouth of the Nile River when the attorney called to tell us that we had been approved. We were all so excited and relieved. Now what? Well we go the attorney's office in the morning to pick up the stamped approval and then from there we go to the US Embassy on monday morning to drop off our paperwork and then we go back on monday afternoon at 2:00 for our official interview.
We are having a fun field trip to Jinja today and are actually eating lunch at the Jinja Hotel on the Nile!
Wow I have forgotten I was in Africa. We are eating a buffet lunch (still traditional african food) but by a pool and it is gorgeous. I am typing this while a monkey eats my trail mix off the ground about 5 inches from my feet. Derrick and Edith on on the swings so it feels safe. Actually it just ate out of my hand. That was amazing.
Ok back to my initial reason for blogging. I am so thankful that this part is behind us. Now comes the hard part- parenting these two precious children. It was so special when we got the call because both kids were in my lap and Edith at least knew what was going on and she was so excited.
Official Names: Edith Ann Nabakooza Shough
Derrick Serrugo Shough
We love you all and thank you for your prayers!!
Write more later-have taken some good pictures today!!
Debbie
We are having a fun field trip to Jinja today and are actually eating lunch at the Jinja Hotel on the Nile!
Wow I have forgotten I was in Africa. We are eating a buffet lunch (still traditional african food) but by a pool and it is gorgeous. I am typing this while a monkey eats my trail mix off the ground about 5 inches from my feet. Derrick and Edith on on the swings so it feels safe. Actually it just ate out of my hand. That was amazing.
Ok back to my initial reason for blogging. I am so thankful that this part is behind us. Now comes the hard part- parenting these two precious children. It was so special when we got the call because both kids were in my lap and Edith at least knew what was going on and she was so excited.
Official Names: Edith Ann Nabakooza Shough
Derrick Serrugo Shough
We love you all and thank you for your prayers!!
Write more later-have taken some good pictures today!!
Debbie
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Ruling Day
There is no ruling- the attorneys went to court this morning to be seen at 10:00 and then called us at 12:00 to say that they were to return around 2:00. They finally called back at 4:30 and said that they were to return tomorrow. The court system here is very unreliable as you can see....so we continue to wait.
We are headed to Jinja tomorrow for a field trip. Steve and I are so excited to be doing something different we can hardly stand it. It will take us about 2 hours to get there and we will stay for a few hours and then head back home. I understand that the city is really pretty and we will get to see the mouth of the Nile River. We must be back home before dusk for safety reasons so we will not be there long before we head back towards Kampala. We will take lots of pictures-sure you are getting a little tired of the kids in the bath tub and in the yard.
I tried to blog last night and the computer wouldn't let me in. I wanted to share with you a conversation I had with Florence and Teddy. They came by the house to let me see all the receipts and acceptance documents for Teddy's nursing classes. In the midst of the conversation we started talking about babysitters. They are called maids here because not only do they stay with the children they also do all the housework. Unless the Ugandans are very wealthy generally babysitters as we know them are unheard of. When she asked me how much a babysitter made per hours I said 5.00- ok so it has been a long time since I have had a sitter. Don't let this scare any future sitters for me. In all honesty I was a little embarrassed to tell her that they can make as much as 10.00 per hour. She was shocked and said she would babysit for me anytime. She shared with me that you can work full time as a maid and bring home about 30,000 shillings in one week. That equals $12.74 per week in American money. You can see why Uganda is the third poorest country in the world. It is appalling to see how 95% of the population lives here while the other 5% drive Mercedes and live in big compounds completely separated off from the rest of the people. They live in a house similar to what we are staying in.
We also had the chance to walk today with Olive to see the house that she and her sister are renting. She was proud to show it to us. It is a two room concrete building. There is a living area around 12 x 12 and a bedroom 8 x 10. The bathroom has a shower head in the wall that pours out onto the floor where the sink and toilet are. It is a 5x5 stall. The cooking area is located outside of the front door in what looks like a small storage room. If they are lucky enough to afford a refrigerator or stove it will go in the living area. The house had a bulb hanging in the center of each room and of course no air conditioning. The doors are metal with bars over them and it was bolted in 3 different areas with large locks. I asked Olive how much it cost them to live there and she said $215,000 shillings per month. ($91 US) Now you can figure with the income that a maid would make that most people can not afford to even rent a house much less own one. Olive and her sister both work full time and they are so excited to have this home. They were especially thrilled that they had running water inside and that they had their own bathroom. Most families with multiple children live in literally one room homes where the only running water is outside. The neighborhood of one room houses all use the same toilet area. We passed a man brushing his teeth outside his front door today on our way to Olive's house. It is really amazing to see the attitudes of the people here and their ability to survive with the little they had.
I have to be honest and tell you that yesterday as I was complaining to Steve that I was tired of wearing the same clothes over and over-God really convicted me. Most Ugandans are wearing clothes that someone else has given them and they have very few pieces to choose from. It is times like that when I want this experience to "stick" with me. We have so much to be thankful for and Steve and I both are reminded daily as we look around.
We took a picture of the kids watching Little Mermaid for the first time. Derrick lasts about 5 minutes with a movie but Edith really was enjoying it. Derrick spent the afternoon playing with my computer cord. Steve taught him how to roll it up...like this...like this... and Derrick repeated that in English the whole time he was rolling it up. He is beginning to say a few words. Steve and I are getting really good at understanding his grunts and uh uh uh uh. We have learned a few important words in Llugandan so we can at least communicate some.
We will let you all know as soon as we know something tomorrow. Please keep praying!!
Love and miss you all soooo much-
Debbie and Steve
We are headed to Jinja tomorrow for a field trip. Steve and I are so excited to be doing something different we can hardly stand it. It will take us about 2 hours to get there and we will stay for a few hours and then head back home. I understand that the city is really pretty and we will get to see the mouth of the Nile River. We must be back home before dusk for safety reasons so we will not be there long before we head back towards Kampala. We will take lots of pictures-sure you are getting a little tired of the kids in the bath tub and in the yard.
I tried to blog last night and the computer wouldn't let me in. I wanted to share with you a conversation I had with Florence and Teddy. They came by the house to let me see all the receipts and acceptance documents for Teddy's nursing classes. In the midst of the conversation we started talking about babysitters. They are called maids here because not only do they stay with the children they also do all the housework. Unless the Ugandans are very wealthy generally babysitters as we know them are unheard of. When she asked me how much a babysitter made per hours I said 5.00- ok so it has been a long time since I have had a sitter. Don't let this scare any future sitters for me. In all honesty I was a little embarrassed to tell her that they can make as much as 10.00 per hour. She was shocked and said she would babysit for me anytime. She shared with me that you can work full time as a maid and bring home about 30,000 shillings in one week. That equals $12.74 per week in American money. You can see why Uganda is the third poorest country in the world. It is appalling to see how 95% of the population lives here while the other 5% drive Mercedes and live in big compounds completely separated off from the rest of the people. They live in a house similar to what we are staying in.
We also had the chance to walk today with Olive to see the house that she and her sister are renting. She was proud to show it to us. It is a two room concrete building. There is a living area around 12 x 12 and a bedroom 8 x 10. The bathroom has a shower head in the wall that pours out onto the floor where the sink and toilet are. It is a 5x5 stall. The cooking area is located outside of the front door in what looks like a small storage room. If they are lucky enough to afford a refrigerator or stove it will go in the living area. The house had a bulb hanging in the center of each room and of course no air conditioning. The doors are metal with bars over them and it was bolted in 3 different areas with large locks. I asked Olive how much it cost them to live there and she said $215,000 shillings per month. ($91 US) Now you can figure with the income that a maid would make that most people can not afford to even rent a house much less own one. Olive and her sister both work full time and they are so excited to have this home. They were especially thrilled that they had running water inside and that they had their own bathroom. Most families with multiple children live in literally one room homes where the only running water is outside. The neighborhood of one room houses all use the same toilet area. We passed a man brushing his teeth outside his front door today on our way to Olive's house. It is really amazing to see the attitudes of the people here and their ability to survive with the little they had.
I have to be honest and tell you that yesterday as I was complaining to Steve that I was tired of wearing the same clothes over and over-God really convicted me. Most Ugandans are wearing clothes that someone else has given them and they have very few pieces to choose from. It is times like that when I want this experience to "stick" with me. We have so much to be thankful for and Steve and I both are reminded daily as we look around.
We took a picture of the kids watching Little Mermaid for the first time. Derrick lasts about 5 minutes with a movie but Edith really was enjoying it. Derrick spent the afternoon playing with my computer cord. Steve taught him how to roll it up...like this...like this... and Derrick repeated that in English the whole time he was rolling it up. He is beginning to say a few words. Steve and I are getting really good at understanding his grunts and uh uh uh uh. We have learned a few important words in Llugandan so we can at least communicate some.
We will let you all know as soon as we know something tomorrow. Please keep praying!!
Love and miss you all soooo much-
Debbie and Steve
Monday, June 13, 2011
Yea we made it through Monday of Week 3
A big shout out to Sandra Thomas and the rest of the etc. girls for working so hard while I am gone. In the picture below I was hearing your voices. I can't tell you how excited I was to hear all of you. I miss you all so much!! Thank you for all that you are doing!
I am not sure who Derrickey was talking to but he was doing a lot of it. He takes after his mother!!
Today we visited a craft market and purchased some souvenirs for home. It is a nice opportunity to see the local crafts and to meet the people who make them. They love to see the mazungus coming because they spend money. "How much?" and by the end it is half of what they said. We were able to get a few nice things and had a lot of fun. Edith got a fabric doll and Derrick got a wooden car. They were both happy and had fun.
Derrick is beginning to feel better and tonight something exciting happened. He grabbed my face with both hands and gave me 2 of the wettest sweetest kisses on my lips I think I have ever had. He also said Mommy and Daddy to us both today. When you have to fuss at him he really pouts and turns his eyes from you. He can't communicate to us otherwise. Once he gets over it he is his sweet happy self again. He torments Edith and honestly she takes it pretty well. I am waiting for her to knock him out but she doesn't. He accidentally bumped her lip tonight with his head and she cried. He kept stroking her cheek telling her he was sorry and then hugged and kissed her when she stopped crying. It was really tender.
We arrived back home this afternoon and the power was out. It gets dark quick. We ate dinner by candlelight and prayed for the power to return. It finally did when we finished and we were thrilled. You also don't have warm water when there is no power so we were really happy we could take a shower before bed.
Edith had a bad dream last night and woke up crying at around 4:30. She said someone was in our room and she was not able to go back to sleep. Tonight during bath time she started referring to "night dancers." I thought for sure Abbey had exposed her to some inappropriate movie. I sought the help of Olive who can speak to her in her own language when I have something important I want explained. I thought for sure I was going to satisfy her questions and it would end. I asked Olive to reassure Edith that there was no such thing as a night dancer and she quickly replied..."No madam there are night dancers and they come out and kill people in the cornfields and chop their heads off. They also dig up dead people and eat them..." I was stunned and wondering how in the world I was now going to convince Edith that at least if there were night dancers they wouldn't get us. Olive did say one thing right...this practice wasn't done in the city only in the villages.
You are probably wondering what in the world I am talking about. Witchcraft is widely practiced here in Uganda and they still do child sacrificing as well as many other practices associated with that. One of which would be the night dancers. I was horrified that a child as young as 4 would have been told about the details of such a practice. Edith told me that when she was a younger child and Derrick was a baby that she saw a night dancer and he was killed by the neighbor. She also said they have to know who they are because they are at risk of being stolen. I realize that this is shocking for those of you that are reading this. You should hear it coming out of a 4 year old. We were able to reassure her that she would be safe with us and that when we get on the plane that we could tell the night dancers- Goodbye- because there are not ANY in America.
Christianity is the minority religion practiced here. Five times a day we hear loud horns calling for prayer by the Mosques. The muslims greatly outnumber the Christians. Pastor Robert gave his testimony to Steve the other night. His father was a witchdoctor and he can tell you many stories of this practice. He left home at a young age and through many God ordained relationships he became a "born again" and is now a Pastor. They refer to "born again" as a way to identify themselves as believers as opposed to just Christian. He expressed his concern over the zealousness of the practicing witchcraft society and has made it his life mission to reach people before the cult does. There are many people here who can't even afford a bible and so badly want one. The people in the villages generally don't speak or read english and the Ugandan bibles are $7 instead of $3 so it makes it hard for them to get one that they can read. We spend that on coffee. It makes you really stop and think how fortunate we are in many ways. These are a few shots of the road leading to our house.
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| Look carefully- our dinner is in one of those! |
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| Edith with her new lip gloss! |
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Misc Pictures I couldn't download last night!
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| Teddy |
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| Bath time is always fun!! |
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| Wonder why I sleep good? |
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| I don't think he will replace Ego Hour! |
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Saturday of Week 2
Has anyone noticed that I added Derrick's name to the title? Several of you have referenced that it just had her name on it.
We are writing this blog while listening to the constant beat of African music outside our open window. There has been a wedding across the street in the yard of a school. This appears to be a pretty big wedding as people were being brought in by buses. Edith was dancing a traditional african "jig" after bath tonight as we were trying to get her pajamas on. The wedding festivities could go on all night. The only thing that is louder than the music is our huge 30" floor fan. It keeps us cool at night. We actually got a break from the heat today when a storm came through and really cooled it off. It felt great to Steve and me but you would have thought we were in a freeze warning by the reaction of the Ugandans. The high was 60 degrees. I think it has actually been warmer at home but when you can't get cool from the time you go to bed to the time you go to bed again it makes it seem so much hotter. It isn't as humid as NC but the smoke and smog is terrible. The high has averaged around 80 degrees.
Teddy came by today for a visit and we shared with her that we have had a few people express interest in sponsoring her. Actually I had a chance to share this with Florence this morning and she was speechless. She said they had been praying for a miracle and they had almost given up. I misunderstood that this next semester had been paid for. It hasn't and she will need the money to start at the end of this month.
I was going to include a picture of Teddy but my computer will not let me upload. On the next blog I will try to just do pictures. Sorry!
Derrick is feeling better after his few days of antibiotics. Thankfully enough Edith doesn't show any sign of catching it. Derrick has shown his 2 year old independence the last few days. He insisted on sleeping in the twin bed by himself. We all share the same room and they have been sharing a full size bed. By the way, Steve and I have as well. Big switch from our normal king size!!
Derrick decided to sleep alone and I thought for sure that he would change his mind when the light went off but he didn't. He fell fast asleep and Edith stayed awake for some time after he was asleep. I think she was the one that was missing the companion.
He was playing around on our bed this morning and I walked out of the room to wash his medicine cup and I heard the loudest crack. He had fallen off the bed and landed on his chin. When I rounded the corner there was blood all over his face. I was so concerned that he needed stitches but realized that he was cut on the inside and the outside and not all the way through. He cried pretty hard but then almost immediately stopped and let me put a washcloth on it as well as poke and look to make sure he hadn't broken a tooth. Their ability to handle pain is unlike anything I have ever seen. They are also not used to being "loved" on when something happens. The culture here is basically not "touchy feeley" so moms don't tend to kiss or hug on their children. They are never carried unless they are infants on their backs. You should see people look at Derrick when we are pushing him in the umbrella stroller. I don't know if they are more shocked that he isn't walking or that he is saying "beep beep" as he goes by. He loves his stroller.
Edith continues to amaze us with her smarts. (That is pretty in Uganda so we have to be careful how we use that word) She talks ALL the time and she continues to have to tell me words many many times until I understand. Tonight she was trying to tell me a word and she told me "this is an American word Mommy." I sometimes forget that she is only four years old and bilingual. She is beginning to be a very good translator for Derrick and she also tells him things that we are saying. Of course, she also tells him things that we have no clue what she is saying. I so hope they will be able to keep their language. I plan to make an effort to keep her in contact with people that can speak to her in Llugandan. The few choice words that Steve and I know won't get her very far. I told Derrick tonight to "knees twos a" and he laughed because it is actually "two knees a" which means blow your nose. Please keep in mind I am spelling like it sounds so you can understand yourselves.
Even a two year old knows that Mazungus can't speak llugandan.
They are fun but are keeping us very busy. I had some pictures to show you but I will send them tomorrow. We have our court date on this coming Wed so please continue to pray that the judge's ruling will be in our favor.
Thanks to everyone who is emailing us...We are trying to respond to them all but we it takes time and for some reason we are losing track of our time. I will use a saying from a good friend of mine..."It is like wrestling alligators!"
Have a good night! We are looking forward to worship at Ggaba Community Church tomorrow morning.
We are writing this blog while listening to the constant beat of African music outside our open window. There has been a wedding across the street in the yard of a school. This appears to be a pretty big wedding as people were being brought in by buses. Edith was dancing a traditional african "jig" after bath tonight as we were trying to get her pajamas on. The wedding festivities could go on all night. The only thing that is louder than the music is our huge 30" floor fan. It keeps us cool at night. We actually got a break from the heat today when a storm came through and really cooled it off. It felt great to Steve and me but you would have thought we were in a freeze warning by the reaction of the Ugandans. The high was 60 degrees. I think it has actually been warmer at home but when you can't get cool from the time you go to bed to the time you go to bed again it makes it seem so much hotter. It isn't as humid as NC but the smoke and smog is terrible. The high has averaged around 80 degrees.
Teddy came by today for a visit and we shared with her that we have had a few people express interest in sponsoring her. Actually I had a chance to share this with Florence this morning and she was speechless. She said they had been praying for a miracle and they had almost given up. I misunderstood that this next semester had been paid for. It hasn't and she will need the money to start at the end of this month.
I was going to include a picture of Teddy but my computer will not let me upload. On the next blog I will try to just do pictures. Sorry!
Derrick is feeling better after his few days of antibiotics. Thankfully enough Edith doesn't show any sign of catching it. Derrick has shown his 2 year old independence the last few days. He insisted on sleeping in the twin bed by himself. We all share the same room and they have been sharing a full size bed. By the way, Steve and I have as well. Big switch from our normal king size!!
Derrick decided to sleep alone and I thought for sure that he would change his mind when the light went off but he didn't. He fell fast asleep and Edith stayed awake for some time after he was asleep. I think she was the one that was missing the companion.
He was playing around on our bed this morning and I walked out of the room to wash his medicine cup and I heard the loudest crack. He had fallen off the bed and landed on his chin. When I rounded the corner there was blood all over his face. I was so concerned that he needed stitches but realized that he was cut on the inside and the outside and not all the way through. He cried pretty hard but then almost immediately stopped and let me put a washcloth on it as well as poke and look to make sure he hadn't broken a tooth. Their ability to handle pain is unlike anything I have ever seen. They are also not used to being "loved" on when something happens. The culture here is basically not "touchy feeley" so moms don't tend to kiss or hug on their children. They are never carried unless they are infants on their backs. You should see people look at Derrick when we are pushing him in the umbrella stroller. I don't know if they are more shocked that he isn't walking or that he is saying "beep beep" as he goes by. He loves his stroller.
Edith continues to amaze us with her smarts. (That is pretty in Uganda so we have to be careful how we use that word) She talks ALL the time and she continues to have to tell me words many many times until I understand. Tonight she was trying to tell me a word and she told me "this is an American word Mommy." I sometimes forget that she is only four years old and bilingual. She is beginning to be a very good translator for Derrick and she also tells him things that we are saying. Of course, she also tells him things that we have no clue what she is saying. I so hope they will be able to keep their language. I plan to make an effort to keep her in contact with people that can speak to her in Llugandan. The few choice words that Steve and I know won't get her very far. I told Derrick tonight to "knees twos a" and he laughed because it is actually "two knees a" which means blow your nose. Please keep in mind I am spelling like it sounds so you can understand yourselves.
Even a two year old knows that Mazungus can't speak llugandan.
They are fun but are keeping us very busy. I had some pictures to show you but I will send them tomorrow. We have our court date on this coming Wed so please continue to pray that the judge's ruling will be in our favor.
Thanks to everyone who is emailing us...We are trying to respond to them all but we it takes time and for some reason we are losing track of our time. I will use a saying from a good friend of mine..."It is like wrestling alligators!"
Have a good night! We are looking forward to worship at Ggaba Community Church tomorrow morning.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Thursday of Week 2
Hi Everyone-
Today was a hard day for us. Derrick coughed most of the night and since we are all in the same room we were all up most of the night. I took him to Wentz Medical Clinic this morning. This is a clinic that ekissa works with through ARM (African Renewal Ministries) so it happens to be one of the nicest medical facilities in Uganda. I can tell you that we all need to be thankful for the medical facilities that we have available to us in the US. First of all most of the medical facilities are in one room shacks with a sign sometimes misspelled that reads "medical clinic." I don't know if that means a certified doctor is on staff or not. We did see certified doctors I think. It is a small open air building where all of the work is done under one roof. We had lab work done to check for malaria and then the pharmacy for the medicine is also in the same building. It would be nice if a Walgreens or CVS would open at Forsyth or Baptist Hospital. Derrick was treated for an upper respiratory infection but he didn't have malaria. They drew blood to check for malaria and I was the only one that jumped. He didn't move a muscle and didn't even flinch when they stuck him.
He sat with me for over 2 hours and didn't complain or move around. There were many people there with sick children who were having to call others for the money that they needed to pay for their visit or treatment. It cost me 25,000 shillings for the visit and the medicine. This equals about $10 american dollars. It really makes you stop and think....
Olive also was diagnosed with malaria today. She kept saying she didn't feel good so we suggested this afternoon that she go to the clinic. She had two injections and has to go back tomorrow for another one to be completely treated.
It is a different world here that is for sure. Steve and I both struggled today with feeling homesick. The days are long and they are also hard. It feels so selfish to complain about what we are dealing with because basically we are only getting a taste of how hard it is to live here. We have many modern conveniences here that the majority of the population doesn't have.
I am going to just list a few of the things we have to consider on any given day:
Brushing your teeth: you can not use the running water-so you must have bottled water available
Coming inside the house: you must take your shoes off to prevent parasites and red dirt from coming inside
Showers: you have to make sure the heater has been turned on prior to getting in or you can be sure it will be cold.
Dishes: all dishes must be hand washed in the undrinkable water. Are they clean?
Trash is separated from any scrap food-all trash is burned even plastic bottles. You smell this burning 24 hour a day.
Clothes: always hand washed and dried on the line. Then they must be ironed in order to kill the insects or parasites that may have collected while on the line. This includes any towels, socks or linens.
Sleep: You can not go to sleep without making sure mosquito net is tucked in on all 4 sides. Makes it difficult to get up in the night to go to the bathroom.
Bathrooms: Often times in public there is no paper available or soap to wash your hands.
There are never any paper towels, or hand towels in any place. They leave the wash basin with wet hands.
Air conditioning: we have had only at the US Embassy so you go to bed with hot air and wake up with hot air. We are lucky we have a fan.
It may sound as if I am complaining and if you had seen me at 3:00 today you would have known that I was. BUT....these people have a very good attitude for what they deal with on any given day. They are appreciative of any food or convenience they may be have. So all in all Steve and I don't have it so bad. We will be happy to be in the comfort of our own home and hopefully will appreciate what we have a little more.
We are both praying and hoping that Edith nor either one of us gets this cold that Derrick is fighting. So we would appreciate your prayers for that. We have been taking malaria medicine since we left home so hopefully this will prevent that. We love to get emails as that gives us something to read, so please keep sending them. The kids continue to amaze us and completely exhaust us.
Today was a hard day for us. Derrick coughed most of the night and since we are all in the same room we were all up most of the night. I took him to Wentz Medical Clinic this morning. This is a clinic that ekissa works with through ARM (African Renewal Ministries) so it happens to be one of the nicest medical facilities in Uganda. I can tell you that we all need to be thankful for the medical facilities that we have available to us in the US. First of all most of the medical facilities are in one room shacks with a sign sometimes misspelled that reads "medical clinic." I don't know if that means a certified doctor is on staff or not. We did see certified doctors I think. It is a small open air building where all of the work is done under one roof. We had lab work done to check for malaria and then the pharmacy for the medicine is also in the same building. It would be nice if a Walgreens or CVS would open at Forsyth or Baptist Hospital. Derrick was treated for an upper respiratory infection but he didn't have malaria. They drew blood to check for malaria and I was the only one that jumped. He didn't move a muscle and didn't even flinch when they stuck him.
He sat with me for over 2 hours and didn't complain or move around. There were many people there with sick children who were having to call others for the money that they needed to pay for their visit or treatment. It cost me 25,000 shillings for the visit and the medicine. This equals about $10 american dollars. It really makes you stop and think....
Olive also was diagnosed with malaria today. She kept saying she didn't feel good so we suggested this afternoon that she go to the clinic. She had two injections and has to go back tomorrow for another one to be completely treated.
It is a different world here that is for sure. Steve and I both struggled today with feeling homesick. The days are long and they are also hard. It feels so selfish to complain about what we are dealing with because basically we are only getting a taste of how hard it is to live here. We have many modern conveniences here that the majority of the population doesn't have.
I am going to just list a few of the things we have to consider on any given day:
Brushing your teeth: you can not use the running water-so you must have bottled water available
Coming inside the house: you must take your shoes off to prevent parasites and red dirt from coming inside
Showers: you have to make sure the heater has been turned on prior to getting in or you can be sure it will be cold.
Dishes: all dishes must be hand washed in the undrinkable water. Are they clean?
Trash is separated from any scrap food-all trash is burned even plastic bottles. You smell this burning 24 hour a day.
Clothes: always hand washed and dried on the line. Then they must be ironed in order to kill the insects or parasites that may have collected while on the line. This includes any towels, socks or linens.
Sleep: You can not go to sleep without making sure mosquito net is tucked in on all 4 sides. Makes it difficult to get up in the night to go to the bathroom.
Bathrooms: Often times in public there is no paper available or soap to wash your hands.
There are never any paper towels, or hand towels in any place. They leave the wash basin with wet hands.
Air conditioning: we have had only at the US Embassy so you go to bed with hot air and wake up with hot air. We are lucky we have a fan.
It may sound as if I am complaining and if you had seen me at 3:00 today you would have known that I was. BUT....these people have a very good attitude for what they deal with on any given day. They are appreciative of any food or convenience they may be have. So all in all Steve and I don't have it so bad. We will be happy to be in the comfort of our own home and hopefully will appreciate what we have a little more.
We are both praying and hoping that Edith nor either one of us gets this cold that Derrick is fighting. So we would appreciate your prayers for that. We have been taking malaria medicine since we left home so hopefully this will prevent that. We love to get emails as that gives us something to read, so please keep sending them. The kids continue to amaze us and completely exhaust us.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Wednesday of Week 2
Good Afternoon to the US-
We are enjoying some quiet under our mosquito net writing you this blog. The kids have gone to bed and we are not far behind them. I had to read my last blog to see where I had left off.
We went to the US Embassy on Tues and they only see non-emergency Americans on Mon/Wed/Fri so we headed back this morning. It is very secure and there were a lot of checkpoints for us to go through despite being US citizens. I wanted to yell out "Hey you guys we are Americans just let us in." There were no Americans working there that we could see only Ugandans. Once we got in, there were a lot of people waiting to get visas to come to the US but we did get bumped in front of them. There is still going to be quite a bit of paperwork that we are required to give them including the very large notebook of documents that I brought with me. We have an appointment on June 20 to have our Embassy interview. We return that morning at 9:00 am to give them our paperwork and then go back at 2 to be interrogated. It is then still a few days after that until we will receive the visas for the kids to enter the US.
The court date went well from what we can tell. Victoria (attorney) said that the judge really reviewed the family member that was taken and asked a lot of questions. He said he would see her on June 15 for the final ruling. Most of the time if they are going to deny the adoption they do so then. Or if he needed more information then he would have asked for it on that day. I don't feel very concerned but I must say anything can happen within this court system. Please continue to pray for that date.
Derrick is sick with some kind of cold. Edrine left us early on Sunday and was diagnosed with malaria. He is being treated for it now. It can be as easy as sleeping under a mosquito net but MANY of the Ugandans can't afford them. I think it costs them $7.00 so it seems ashamed so many of them suffer and die from malaria. We covered Edrine's medical treatment or Abbey would not have been able to afford to take him. The treatment cost just $25 american dollars which included his transportation on the back of a boda boda to the clinic.
There is no end to the need here in Uganda. We see situations every day that would blow your mind. I want to share with you a situation that came up last night in a conversation with our friend Florence. She brought her cousin, an 18 year old college student, with her to visit us. I met Florence on my trip in December. She was the cook/housekeeper for the ekissa trip. She radiates happiness and has such a gentle spirit. Florence was one of my favorite people while I was here in December. Actually she had malaria when we got here and if Sarah hadn't paid for her to get medical treatment (16.00 US Dollars) her malaria was so far along that she would have died. Florence works as a cook for mission groups that visit Uganda. She has been helping Teddy with her college tuition, along with another cousin. Florence is getting married in July and when she joins her husbands family she will not be able to help support Teddy. She wasn't asking for money just prayer that Teddy would be able to finish nursing school. She has 2 1/2 years left and if she doesn't get a sponsor she will have to quit. University tuition is about $1500.00 a year. Out of all the people reading this blog I am hoping that we can help answer a prayer. Between myself and ekissa we will be able to keep a very close eye on Teddy and her education. When you help sponsor someone to finish their education you are not only helping them but you are helping their whole family. Relationships and family are the priority here and they all help one another. If Teddy can finish her education and become a nurse then everyone in her family will benefit. A prime example of this was one evening a friend, David, came to visit with Steve and me. It is customary for them to eat when they visit your house. Olive fed him dinner and after David left I asked Olive is she had eaten. She had fed David her food and was going to eat bread for her dinner. When I expressed a concern she said to me..."that is just how we do it in Uganda." They protect and care for one another. They all share a deep concern for one another. You even see that in the behavior of the children. In December, we witnessed a young girl bite her hard candy in many pieces and share it with all her friends around her. It is the perfect example of what Christ asks us all to do. If anyone is reading this that thinks they could sponsor Teddy then just let me know and I can give you the information you need to do so. You would be provided with all the receipts and information that you need to show that your money is being spent where you are sending it. I will try to take a picture of her for you to see. She is beautiful and quite intelligent.
I have been telling you all about the kid's first. Steve and I had a first last night. Derrick returned a kiss, through the mosquito net, but at least it was returned. He has not responded much to us when we hug or tell him that we love him. He comes to us freely and you can tell he likes us but he hasn't responded with affection. Of course, in his jibberish, he could be telling us he loves us a lot and we would never know. Steve and I were shocked and so thrilled to have this little morsel of love from him. Everyday is "like a box of chocolates...you never know what you are going to get."
Good night and we will write again soon.
We love and miss you all very much. Our days are long......
P.S. Edith informed us tonight that Derrick is going to be a doctor and she is going to be an "american princess." Ha! I was thinking more like maybe they could both be doctors. When Steve told her that she could be a doctor as well she said..."no I will just sit and do this" she was applying her sparkle lip gloss I have given her. We'll see about that!
We are enjoying some quiet under our mosquito net writing you this blog. The kids have gone to bed and we are not far behind them. I had to read my last blog to see where I had left off.
We went to the US Embassy on Tues and they only see non-emergency Americans on Mon/Wed/Fri so we headed back this morning. It is very secure and there were a lot of checkpoints for us to go through despite being US citizens. I wanted to yell out "Hey you guys we are Americans just let us in." There were no Americans working there that we could see only Ugandans. Once we got in, there were a lot of people waiting to get visas to come to the US but we did get bumped in front of them. There is still going to be quite a bit of paperwork that we are required to give them including the very large notebook of documents that I brought with me. We have an appointment on June 20 to have our Embassy interview. We return that morning at 9:00 am to give them our paperwork and then go back at 2 to be interrogated. It is then still a few days after that until we will receive the visas for the kids to enter the US.
The court date went well from what we can tell. Victoria (attorney) said that the judge really reviewed the family member that was taken and asked a lot of questions. He said he would see her on June 15 for the final ruling. Most of the time if they are going to deny the adoption they do so then. Or if he needed more information then he would have asked for it on that day. I don't feel very concerned but I must say anything can happen within this court system. Please continue to pray for that date.
Derrick is sick with some kind of cold. Edrine left us early on Sunday and was diagnosed with malaria. He is being treated for it now. It can be as easy as sleeping under a mosquito net but MANY of the Ugandans can't afford them. I think it costs them $7.00 so it seems ashamed so many of them suffer and die from malaria. We covered Edrine's medical treatment or Abbey would not have been able to afford to take him. The treatment cost just $25 american dollars which included his transportation on the back of a boda boda to the clinic.
There is no end to the need here in Uganda. We see situations every day that would blow your mind. I want to share with you a situation that came up last night in a conversation with our friend Florence. She brought her cousin, an 18 year old college student, with her to visit us. I met Florence on my trip in December. She was the cook/housekeeper for the ekissa trip. She radiates happiness and has such a gentle spirit. Florence was one of my favorite people while I was here in December. Actually she had malaria when we got here and if Sarah hadn't paid for her to get medical treatment (16.00 US Dollars) her malaria was so far along that she would have died. Florence works as a cook for mission groups that visit Uganda. She has been helping Teddy with her college tuition, along with another cousin. Florence is getting married in July and when she joins her husbands family she will not be able to help support Teddy. She wasn't asking for money just prayer that Teddy would be able to finish nursing school. She has 2 1/2 years left and if she doesn't get a sponsor she will have to quit. University tuition is about $1500.00 a year. Out of all the people reading this blog I am hoping that we can help answer a prayer. Between myself and ekissa we will be able to keep a very close eye on Teddy and her education. When you help sponsor someone to finish their education you are not only helping them but you are helping their whole family. Relationships and family are the priority here and they all help one another. If Teddy can finish her education and become a nurse then everyone in her family will benefit. A prime example of this was one evening a friend, David, came to visit with Steve and me. It is customary for them to eat when they visit your house. Olive fed him dinner and after David left I asked Olive is she had eaten. She had fed David her food and was going to eat bread for her dinner. When I expressed a concern she said to me..."that is just how we do it in Uganda." They protect and care for one another. They all share a deep concern for one another. You even see that in the behavior of the children. In December, we witnessed a young girl bite her hard candy in many pieces and share it with all her friends around her. It is the perfect example of what Christ asks us all to do. If anyone is reading this that thinks they could sponsor Teddy then just let me know and I can give you the information you need to do so. You would be provided with all the receipts and information that you need to show that your money is being spent where you are sending it. I will try to take a picture of her for you to see. She is beautiful and quite intelligent.
I have been telling you all about the kid's first. Steve and I had a first last night. Derrick returned a kiss, through the mosquito net, but at least it was returned. He has not responded much to us when we hug or tell him that we love him. He comes to us freely and you can tell he likes us but he hasn't responded with affection. Of course, in his jibberish, he could be telling us he loves us a lot and we would never know. Steve and I were shocked and so thrilled to have this little morsel of love from him. Everyday is "like a box of chocolates...you never know what you are going to get."
Good night and we will write again soon.
We love and miss you all very much. Our days are long......
Monday, June 6, 2011
Day one of Week 2
Today we relaxed until after lunch. It is hard to just enjoy the "down" time based on the speed in which we normally move. My devotion this morning was on enjoying the moment and not hurrying through your day. When we do that we miss all the ways God tries to communicate to us. God spoke to me in several ways today. I was sitting on the porch coloring with Edith and Derrick this morning and I watched Derrick's little fingers trying to maneuver the crayon. It reminded me so much of Josh at that age. Time goes by so quickly. I guess one of the positive things about having children at an older age helps you to appreciate how fast life goes by.
The children are like sponges. They are picking up new things everyday. They both are responding with thank you and please at the appropriate times and Derrick said peanut butter today. Only a mother could have understood it but I did hear it. Neither of them had ever eaten peanut butter and they both LOVE it. They ask for it almost with every meal. It has become a staple for me. I can't quite stomach eggs when I have passed the chickens caged on the street. Beans and rice are ok-thank goodness. Marlene you would be very proud- Steve and I ate fresh avocado off the tree in the backyard. The kids love it and are used to eating it.
Edith had her hair worked on tonight. I got the assistance from Olive (housekeeper) and her sister Joanne. It was a little traumatic but once she saw the final outcome she was thrilled. I definitely will need an expert when I get home. I could tell a huge difference in the texture when they got through. The best part was that Edith could tell and she was so proud of her new look. She kept saying that she thought she looked pretty. It warmed our hearts.
Edith has learned that she needs to "dumb" things down for us when she is talking to us. She was telling me something this afternoon and I didn't understand what she was saying so she said real slow....let's do it like this morning when we SHAR....ED. I finally understood that she was saying shared. She has done that with several other words also. She now understands when we tell her to tell Derrick something that she shouldn't repeat what we have said in english but rather in llugandan. She must think we are sorta "slow mazungus". We are going to the US Embassy to introduce ourselves tomorrow. That will help prepare them for when we get our final paperwork. I didn't hear anything back today about what happened in court, but I am sure the attorney will call us tomorrow. I feel like if it hadn't gone well with the uncle she would have let us know.
Love you all.... and miss you too!!
Debbie and Steve
The children are like sponges. They are picking up new things everyday. They both are responding with thank you and please at the appropriate times and Derrick said peanut butter today. Only a mother could have understood it but I did hear it. Neither of them had ever eaten peanut butter and they both LOVE it. They ask for it almost with every meal. It has become a staple for me. I can't quite stomach eggs when I have passed the chickens caged on the street. Beans and rice are ok-thank goodness. Marlene you would be very proud- Steve and I ate fresh avocado off the tree in the backyard. The kids love it and are used to eating it.
While Edith had that done Derrick sat in Steve's lap and acted silly. We enjoy loving on them both after they have had their baths. They are so soft and smell so good.
Love you all.... and miss you too!!
Debbie and Steve
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Photos
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| Steve and Derrick at Zoo |
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| Steve, Derrick and Edith on swings for first time |
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| Derrick waking up from a nap. Loves his Daddy |
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| Derrick and Edith love to get in the bed with Dad when they wake up! (I am trying to shower in privacy while this is going on) Happy Sunday!! Love you all! |
Zoo in Uganda
Hi Friends-Sorry it has taken me so long to blog. I haven't told you that in one of the airports I was in ( we think Heathrow) I lost a black bag that has every cord that I own to all my electronics that need to be charged. Everything,,,telephone, computer, camera, kindle.....so we are having to be very creative with the borrowed cords that I have been able to get for telephone and computer. Let's add to the problem that between our one bedroom and bathroom there is just one double outlet. A fan stays permanently plugged into one of them and the other ONE is used for everything else. Then we have random power outages here that happen anytime day or night for any length of time. So......sometimes it is hard to write.
I was going to share a little about what Uganda is like for the natives of this area as well as for us but I will save that for another time.
I want to clarify something for everyone in case some of you think I don't know my child's name. Erik is actually named Derrick. Steve and I really preferred Erik as opposed to his given name. So we decided to call him Erik when we got back to the US. However, now that we have spent time with him we think it will be really hard to call him that for many reasons. First of all, Edith calls him
"Derrickey" and we have started calling him that as well. He also just fits his name. So as of now we think we will keep his given name of Derrick. I just have to get another bookbag with Derrick monogrammed instead of Erik. Oh well...
We are keeping Edith and Derrick's brother Edrine, age 6, until Monday. We took them all to the zoo. Steve, myself, Moses (driver) Edith, Derrick and Edrine. We were a zoo before we even got there.
The Entebbe Zoo is very small with limited animals but it was really nice to be able to walk around and see the animals. The chimps definately stole the show. Moses, an African, had never seen chimps or a lion. He was thrilled. Derrick probably had the most fun of all. He loved all the animals and got so excited when he saw the chimps running around fighting with one another. There was a family of monkeys (long tailed) that were free to roam the zoo and they followed us around. We got as close as two feet to them and they just let us look and take pictures. Steve got great video of them. They were like the deer in Tanglewood-completely unaffected by humans.
After a long morning walking around we ate lunch at the zoo restaurant at Lake Victoria. We asked the gentleman if they had food appropriate for children and he said yes we have "fish and chips or chicken and chips." So we went in thinking chicken fingers. Jokes on us.
I spent my lunchtime picking out the bones so the kids could eat.
We had a great time and were really glad we went.
I was going to share a little about what Uganda is like for the natives of this area as well as for us but I will save that for another time.
I want to clarify something for everyone in case some of you think I don't know my child's name. Erik is actually named Derrick. Steve and I really preferred Erik as opposed to his given name. So we decided to call him Erik when we got back to the US. However, now that we have spent time with him we think it will be really hard to call him that for many reasons. First of all, Edith calls him
"Derrickey" and we have started calling him that as well. He also just fits his name. So as of now we think we will keep his given name of Derrick. I just have to get another bookbag with Derrick monogrammed instead of Erik. Oh well...
We are keeping Edith and Derrick's brother Edrine, age 6, until Monday. We took them all to the zoo. Steve, myself, Moses (driver) Edith, Derrick and Edrine. We were a zoo before we even got there.
After a long morning walking around we ate lunch at the zoo restaurant at Lake Victoria. We asked the gentleman if they had food appropriate for children and he said yes we have "fish and chips or chicken and chips." So we went in thinking chicken fingers. Jokes on us.
After the zoo we came home and the kids really enjoyed playing with one another. They both really love Edrine. They call him Eddie. We had dinner and then bath. The next few moments are what I really want to share with you. The kids tend to get silly and play around after bath. We were acting silly with them and hugging and playing around. I kept noticing Edrine sorta watch us. He participated in the silly part but not the other. We joined hands to say our prayer before bed and he held my hand. He didn't let go when the prayer was over. Derrick got upset because he wanted all three of them to sleep together in the same bed. This is what they had been doing before the kids came to be with us. The bed isn't big enough and Edith was willing to sleep in the other twin bed. We put them to bed and proceeded to kiss them all goodnight. When I leaned down to kiss Edrine he said to me "I love you mum." and then to Steve.."I love you dad". We both walked out of there stunned and extremely heavy hearted. He will continue to live with Abbey, the gentleman who has been caring for all three kids. He is willing to keep Edrine until he can find a family so he won't have to go back to the orphanage. He is an extremely sweet natured child and they all three really love each other. I can't even imagine what he must be thinking watching his brother and sister put their pajamas on and clean clothes. He came to us in a pair of jeans and tennis shoes that were way too big. We brought him some clothes from home but unfortunately most of them were too big. I didn't realize how thin he is. He speaks some english but mostly llugandan so communicating with him about what he is thinking is quite hard. We knew it would be hard for the kids to leave their brother. And it now has made it really hard for us to leave him here. We are not able to have three but if any one is reading this that would be interested in Edrine he could use a loving home.
Tomorrow we head to Gbaba Community Church to worship in a traditional African worship service.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Court Day
Good Afternoon Everyone-we had a very interesting morning. We left for court pretty nervous around 9:00 all dressed up ready to see the judge. In Uganda they call dressed up "smart" and we got the smartest we could. Steve compared the drive to downtown Kampala as being in Myrtle Beach in the middle of July ( wearing a suit and tie) when it is about 100 degrees and you move one inch a minute on Ocean Blvd. It took us 45 minutes to go 5 miles. We arrived in downtown Kampala and it is almost more than I can explain . Let's just say 3 million people live in Uganda and 2.5 of them are in Kampala and going somewhere-we aren't sure where....the boda bodas (mopeds) are like mice on speed.
Anyway, we get to court and finally are admitted into the Honorable Judge's chambers. Did I mention that the court along with everywhere else here is NOT air conditioned? So now you are
at Broadway at the Beach in your suit and tie and two toddlers who are also already tired of the activity.
To be serious...the biological mom wasn't as forthright as she should have been and so it became a little complicated. I will spare the details but basically we have to wait until Monday for some additional family members to sign a deposition and our next scheduled court date is June 15. The attorneys both said that they wouldn't have even given us another date if he hadn't intended to approve this adoption. I guess it isn't for sure but we are very hopeful. We were praying constantly, It is a pretty weird feeling knowing that one person behind a desk could alter your life forever. I felt like I was waiting for my death sentence. He did glance at Steve but never acknowledged either one of us .
As far as the kids are concerned they are so much fun. We are really beginning to feel like we are a family. Steve and I both can tell that the children are loosening up and are relying on us more. They are very close with one another and to watch them communicate with each other is very interesting. When they are speaking their own language it is jibberish to us but their facial expressions and laughter tells it all.
All the Africans here understand them so we use Moses (the driver) a lot to translate for them.
There were a few first today....Neither child had ever been on an elevator. When they entered the lift they both grabbed on to us and we had to pick them up. Erik got to wear tennis shoes today and when he saw them he smiled real big. After we put them on him he stomped them on the ground and laughed. He also starred at them and smiled. He has never had a hard pair of shoes on his feet. He didn't want to take them off for bath. They also love peanut butter and are eating it by the spoonfuls. Erik is scared of butterflies and grasshoppers ( Sarah he screamed like you did) and Edith is brave and will touch or do anything. She really loves Steve and is hugging and hanging on him a lot. Actually both kids love Steve and I have to fight for my time. We will try to send some pictures along with this blog. If they aren't posted we will try tomorrow. Internet isn't reliable here.
We really appreciate the emails and comments we are getting. It makes us feel close to home. We also covet your prayers. We have felt them and need them. Life here is different and we feel far from home. Love you all- Debbie and Steve
Anyway, we get to court and finally are admitted into the Honorable Judge's chambers. Did I mention that the court along with everywhere else here is NOT air conditioned? So now you are
at Broadway at the Beach in your suit and tie and two toddlers who are also already tired of the activity.
To be serious...the biological mom wasn't as forthright as she should have been and so it became a little complicated. I will spare the details but basically we have to wait until Monday for some additional family members to sign a deposition and our next scheduled court date is June 15. The attorneys both said that they wouldn't have even given us another date if he hadn't intended to approve this adoption. I guess it isn't for sure but we are very hopeful. We were praying constantly, It is a pretty weird feeling knowing that one person behind a desk could alter your life forever. I felt like I was waiting for my death sentence. He did glance at Steve but never acknowledged either one of us .
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| Dressed for court |
As far as the kids are concerned they are so much fun. We are really beginning to feel like we are a family. Steve and I both can tell that the children are loosening up and are relying on us more. They are very close with one another and to watch them communicate with each other is very interesting. When they are speaking their own language it is jibberish to us but their facial expressions and laughter tells it all.
All the Africans here understand them so we use Moses (the driver) a lot to translate for them.
There were a few first today....Neither child had ever been on an elevator. When they entered the lift they both grabbed on to us and we had to pick them up. Erik got to wear tennis shoes today and when he saw them he smiled real big. After we put them on him he stomped them on the ground and laughed. He also starred at them and smiled. He has never had a hard pair of shoes on his feet. He didn't want to take them off for bath. They also love peanut butter and are eating it by the spoonfuls. Erik is scared of butterflies and grasshoppers ( Sarah he screamed like you did) and Edith is brave and will touch or do anything. She really loves Steve and is hugging and hanging on him a lot. Actually both kids love Steve and I have to fight for my time. We will try to send some pictures along with this blog. If they aren't posted we will try tomorrow. Internet isn't reliable here.
We really appreciate the emails and comments we are getting. It makes us feel close to home. We also covet your prayers. We have felt them and need them. Life here is different and we feel far from home. Love you all- Debbie and Steve
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| Outside of our home away from home |
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Third Day in Uganda!
The days have been so full and exciting. I have forgotten but am being reminded every second how active a four year old and a two year old can be. They do sleep really well though. They are exhausted by eight and go straight to bed and they both nap for around 2 hours so I really can't complain. I am writing the blog while they sleep today.
Edith has really warmed up to both of us and Erik follows most of what she does. We have done some "firsts". We rode an escalator today in Kampala at a shopping area. They both stopped dead still and starred at it. I realized they had never seen anything like that. They got on and then laughed at themselves as we moved up the stairs. They also were introduced to Pizza (so was our 32 year old driver-Moses) none of them had ever had any. Moses and Edith loved it. Erik who has eaten everything that has been put before him wasn't so thrilled. I think the bread must be hard for him to eat. He gave it an effort though. I used the umbrella stroller for the first time today as well and Erik loves it. He wanted to take it up to our room after we came back home. He doesn't however like for Edith to even touch it. So I guess they really are normal siblings.
Please pray for us as we head to court tomorrow. We learned of some details from the attorney that can make this a little process a little more difficult. If he approves this we will get an additional court date tomorrow. If he isn't going to approve it we will not get another court date. I don't know what we would do from there. Steve and I are just trying to stay positive and we are praying a lot. We have all our Ugandan friends here praying. Our time is at 12:30 and they have said we will be there for hours. I will blog as soon as I know something. Thank you so much for all your support and prayers. They mean so much to us being this far away from home.
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