Day Two

Today was another eventful day. It started by waking up very early in the morning. The team woke up to a breakfast made by our cook, Karm. After our quick meal we jumped on the bus to travel to a village outside Kampala called Namyoyo. The roads to Namyoyo were so rough that we had to get out of the bus and walk a mile to our destination. While walking we were unexpectedly greeted by the entire village who were waving banana leaves and singing songs in joy of our arrival. To me this was very overwhelming. I was not expecting this much celebration and love. We walked the rest of the way with the villagers to a church which we were putting a roof on along with a house next door we were building for the pastor who lived twelve miles from the church. This church has not had a roof for over ten years. The community congregated there every Sunday rain or shine. Everyone was extremely grateful and excited for this new addition. It was amazing to see how a community could gather together and work with each other.

After working long and hard with the community, I got a chance to play with some of the children. I have to say that every single child there was adorable and touched my heart, but there were a select few who I bonded with. One little boy held my hand pretty much the entire day. I found it intriguing how one child put so much interest in me when there was so much going on around us. It was interesting to see how some of the children have never seen a white person before. Some of the littler ones would cried if any of us came too near. Imagine discovering a new land where you are the minority. It's pretty crazy. That is how I felt entering into this village. However, every single person in the community made an effort to make us all feel welcome and accepted. We did not feel like outsiders. They fed us sugarcane, which is like soft wood that you chew on and the sugar juice is squeezed out. They also fed us fresh pineapple and bananas.

We also made a puppet show in which we taught the children good hygienic habits like washing your hands and taking proper care of cuts. I held the curtain. It wasn't much, but it was fun. During this time many of the children were fascinated with the Mzungus behind the curtain. A Mzungu is what Ugandans called white people.

Throughout the day, we built three quarters of the roof on the church and helped bring all the supplies needed to the pastor's home. I came home tired and exhausted but ready for the adventures ahead.