Baby Daniel, our sponsor child
We boarded the bus and left the guesthouse at 8:00 am, a welcome change from the past few days. We have been rising at 5:30 am everyday and it was nice to sleep an extra hour today. We arrived at KPC shortly thereafter, to retrieve our passports and money from the safe there. A few of us purchased Watoto t-shirts.
Andrew then led us down the streets of Kampala to a money exchange station. It was pouring rain and so we all had ponchos on or carried umbrellas. I'm sure we were quite a site and didn't stick out at all. ; ) We had to cross the street a couple of times and it scared me to death. I was sure we would lose one or two in our group. The traffic is very different here. When you cross the street, you have to do it very quickly. The cars will not stop for you. We also look in the wrong direction before crossing, because we are used to traffic flowing in the opposite direction. We have a few in our group who get along slower than others, and so the combination of all these elements had me very nervous. We managed to make it to the exchange station and then to the craft market. We finished up our shopping. We purchased stone animals for Caleb, a lion and an elephant, two spears for Joseph, and Joey bought some sort of hatchet for himself. We also found a gift for his parents to thank them for watching the kids while we are here in Uganda.
We then boarded the bus for the ride back to Bbira, for the dedication of the building. When we arrived, the pastor was not yet there, so Andrew took us on a tour of the houses there. We had not seen the rest of this village, as we had only remained at the worksite when we had been there earlier. A few of us on the team were interested in sponsoring a Watoto child and Andrew had been working for a few days on getting the information for us, so that we could possibly meet the children that we would sponsor. Joey and I have a little girl in Peru, Meylin, whom we have sponsored for four years, through Food For The Hungry, and so we had asked if there was a boy at Watoto whom we could sponsor. Andrew was still on his cell phone, getting information as we walked through the village. He told us that there was a little boy there and that he could take us to meet him. I was so excited as we made our way to his house. It seemed like an eternity before we arrived at the door. The house mother, Evelyn, brought him out to us. Oh, I fell in love. He was so small, only two years old! I have a special place in my heart for the babies here in Uganda and I was very excited to be able to sponsor a child so small. I took him in my arms and held him for a long while, until I had to give him over to Joey. It was only fair to let him have a chance at him, too. All too quickly we had to go. The dedication service was starting soon and we had to get back to the jobsite.
At the dedication, we gathered together with the Ugandan workers, in one of the classrooms. It was a tight fit for sure. Isaac, the foreman, said a few words and then had the men share a song with us. We then shared an American song with them. One thing about Ugandans, they love to sing! We then had a small devotion and split up into different rooms in the schoolhouse to pray over the building. We all laid our hands on the walls and Isaac asked one American and one Ugandan to lead us all in the dedication prayer. Joey led the prayer for our group and Rooney led for the Ugandan team. There were prayers going up all around us, in English and Lugandan. It was so wonderful to see tangible evidence of our hard work and to see it dedicated to God and for the children's use, for years to come!
Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch and then taped another portion of Pastor Rick's video sermon. We then went shopping at another village. I wish I hadn't bought all my gifts beforehand, because there was a lot there that I liked, but I had already spent my money. I walked around with Miss Deb and Miss Verna and helped them for a little while and then a few of us went to a little deli across the street to get a soda. Sodas have become a treat while on this trip. People here drink juice or water with their meals. We've all gone through soda withdrawal, I believe. We are truly a spoiled nation.
Watoto had scheduled a thank you dinner for us at a French restaurant in town this evening. It was called Le Chateau. We didn't know what to expect, but it was really nice. It was the closest thing to home that we have seen while here. The restaurant looked like a nice restaurant in the states. The food was amazing. It was the first time I had eaten meat the entire time I've been here. The chicken was boneless, hallelujah, and covered in a mushroom gravy, with mixed vegetables and potato cakes for sides. We were served ice cream for dessert! Oh, the joy!
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