Saying Good-bye is hard to do.....

Well, we are down to our last week here. I will be honest with you, at this point, I feel like I am counting down the days till I leave. Although it is hard to be leaving, for me the hardest good-byes have already been said. About two weeks ago, we left Gulu which is where we spent most of our time and where my heart remains. It is in Gulu that my babies live, it is Gulu where my favourite volunteer remains, and it is in Gulu where I got to know the nannies the best. Gulu is in Northern Uganda. Yes, it is too hot, too dusty, has too many geckos’…but it is where some of the warmest people I have ever met live. These people have been so impacted by the LRA, a form of a terrorist group who did so much harm to the people there but yet, they remain some of the happiest people I know. It was my pleasure to be able to serve along beside them.

Most of the babies that came into the home in Gulu came because their mother had died while giving birth. It was alarming how common it was for this to happen. Saying good-bye to my little girl one of the toddlers that lived at the babies’ home was without a doubt my hardest good-bye. She also is there because her mother died due to complications after the birth of her youngest daughter. My little girl Rose was a handful. To her, everything was a game. She would take things from the other children and when you tried to scold her she would just laugh her mischievous laugh and run away looking forward to the chase; her only disappointment would be if you did not run after her. I do not know yet if she will be going to the children’s village as she does have family that Watoto will try and reunite her with before they choose to take her to the village. If she goes to the village, she will become one of my sponsored children. If she does not go to the village, then, she will forever remain in my prayers. If it were my call, the choice would be clear…she would be coming back to Canada with me but that is not an option. I will however hang up so many pictures of her around the house that I am sure many will think she is one of my own children. I sincerely hope I will come back again and that although this good-bye is one of my hardest, I really do pray it is not the last one I have to say to these dear children. For now, I comfort myself with the thought of how I will be able to eat poutine to my heart’s content upon my return to Canada.

So there, you have it…my final entry for this journey. It’s been an amazing 3 months. I am very excited to be coming home and be able to share the full stories of what our time here has been like. I can’t wait to be able to show off photos and brag like the proud momma I am how many milestones I got to see in these children’s lives. To tell you the time we seen them take the first step, say their first word, get their first tooth, celebrate their first birthday. It has been one of the most remarkable 3 months of my life and time that I will always treasure. My only regret is the fact that I have to say good-bye.   My greatest joy however is that I got to be in their life even if it was for a brief season. We will always look back with fond thoughts of our time here with them. We are so grateful to Watoto for rescuing these precious children of God and allowing us to play a small part in this amazing work they are doing. Poutines everywhere watch out because here I come!!!

Alison

Some fun in the sun

Well, we did it! We got to do our white water rafting on the Nile River and what a fun time it was! One of the reasons I made sure to fit this into our busy schedule was so that we could have the bragging rights that we rafted on the Nile River, and bragging rights we definitely have! It was an amazing day right from the drive to Jinja to the time we spent on the water. We went with a company called Nalubale Rafting which was a decision we did not regret. We spent the day with a great team who were fun, knowledgeable, friendly, and even made sure we were fed and well taken care of out on the river. We started our day off with breakfast at the Nalubale office, and then we drove to the Nile where we had our safety lesson getting the briefing on what you need to know to survive white water rafting.  Let me start telling you about the heart of our day, the stories you all want to hear about, our time in…(and I do mean “in”) the water!

We went down 8 rapids all together. Lawrence, who was braver than I, went right for the grade 5 rapid, whereas I decided to stay with the safety boat and went down the grade 3 rapid. I was glad that I had made that decision as I watched the boat capsize while going down its second rapid. I hope I always remember the look I seen on Lawrence’s face of pure fear and excitement all mixed into one…it was epic!  Soon I was back with Lawrence on his raft to go down some more adventures rapids than the general routes the safety boat takes. We paddled along the Nile to get to the next rapid we would be going down, enjoying an amazing view along the way. It’s astonishing that there would be such tranquility and chaos hitting so quickly after another! We even had our guide pointing out the wildlife and answering any questions we had about the land.  It wasn’t too long before we reached our next rapid for another action packed ride. We went down a few more rapids and then it was time for a well-deserved lunch which was just what we needed after our busy morning.  After lunch, it was back on the water for some more excitement! The last rapid of the day was called “Nile Special” and is rated a grade 3 but because the water levels were so low it acted more like a grade 5 causing our boat to flip over with all of us flying into the water. Being carried down to the bottom of the river by a fast moving current was quite the rush, just when it seemed like I was running out of air, I made it back to the top of the water but only for a brief second before another wave came crashing down on me again. Soon though it was all over and we were back to the bottom of the rapid to the calm river water. It was a great way to end a fantastic day!

This was one of our last adventures on our trip to Africa, and it was so much fun. Uganda is such an amazing country it really is a Pearl in the heart of Africa. I strongly recommend anybody wanting to come to Africa look at all the things to do right in Uganda. I have loved it here, right from the amazing scenery, fun times, and great return for your dollar but the thing that leaves me wanting to come back is the people. The people here are so welcoming it really makes it a trip to remember. I have loved our time here and hope that I get to come back...and if I make it back, I would love to be able to find time to do a second round on the Nile taking on the currents but next time, I will be sure to bring my sun screen lol.