today...

i watched a baby being born. awesome!

and i'm so happy that both of my brothers are here :)

and tomorrow we're taking the kids to the pool. it should be a fun day.

rough...

today was a rough day. it wasn't a bad day... just a rough one.

first of all, we found some baby kittens (like maybe a week old, but more likely a few days) on the road on the way to musana. leah asked obama where their mom was and he told her that the owner had "refused them." so we took them to musana, and i tried to feed them some milk. i don't expect them to live through the night, but at least they are in relative comfort and safety, away from the mean kids on the street.

even though that was sad, the main reason today was so rough was because it's the first day of holiday. that means that the kids parents/guardians came and got them to go home. the ones leaving were so excited, and it was bittersweet to see them go. i was excited for them, but sad because i'll be gone before they get back. but my heart broke for the kids who stayed behind. these are the kids whose parents are dead, who watch their friends leaving and know that they don't get to go and exactly why. these kids are such little troopers, though. i can't even imagine all that they've been through, and yet they almost always have smiles on their faces and are so excited about life. selfishly, i'm glad they're staying because that means i get to spend more time with them (i've fallen more and more in love with them every single day). but i wish that they got to leave... that they had families to go home to. my prayer is that they know how much they are loved, because they are.

i've been struggling and praying and thinking about God's love lately, and what it means to show His love, and what His love means for these kids and the people who have nothing. it's a tough subject.

please pray for the kids, that they will know how much they are loved, by God and the people He has placed in their lives. and for the ones who went home, that they will have a good, safe, healthy holiday. and pray for me, that i will be able to show His love in the best way possible, for energy, for my project and finding someone to make the books for a price that i can afford, and for confidence in situations that arise.

thanks and i love you all!

carlos

i have a friend. his name is carlos. he likes to hang out in the bathroom while i attempt to get clean in the cold shower (which is actually way more pleasant than you'd think). sometimes i think he's not there, but then i realize he is... never fails.

he's a cockroach.

on another note... i milked a cow yesterday! another thing on my life list checked off. it was very exciting, and i'm doing it again today :)

happy

currently sitting in the shade at musana while the kids work on exams.

attempting to find a company who wants to help out with the yearbooks.

listening to sweet ugandan music coming from inside.

so happy :)

updates

there are really not a lot of updates... except these ones:

-i figured out my project and i'm SUPER stoked! my dad actually had the idea before i left, but being here and figuring out how i'll actually do it has made me way more excited. i'm going to make a yearbook to give to the kids, their families, and sponsors/supporters back in the states. my love of taking pictures and putting stuff together on pages means that this will be really fun for me :)

-the babies are wonderful and i love them more and more every day. learning and remembering more names has been fun too!

please pray for these things:

-that musana will be able to get their NGO status! apparently it's tricky here in uganda when an organization works with children (especially if it has "children" or "orphans" in the name). an inspector came (or will be coming) today to check out musana and the kids and make sure they're not training up child soldiers (seriously). so pray that it will go well and smoothly and the ridiculous corruption will not cause problems...

-the yearbooks. i want them to be quality, which is expensive. i'm working on getting in touch with a few different photo sites and online yearbook companies to get a big discount or possibly get them donated (long shot, but it would be SO awesome! also God is good and could totally work it so the emails get to the right people :) )

-emma's hip surgery stuff (he's a musana kid who needs a hip surgery and they're working on getting him to the states to do it)

-looking for maria

-health and safety of course :)

there's that... i have lots of random little stories, but they'll be better in person.

thanks for your thoughts and prayers! love you all!

here!

well... i'm in uganda now :)

i've only been here a day... but it's been a good one! i'm already sunburned, and i'm so excited to spend then next 6 weeks with these babies!

i'll write more later, but for now i'm just gonna put some things that would be wonderful to be covered in prayer!

-musana in general... that God would continue to move and bring the right people in-

-my project. i still have no idea what i'm going to do... there are lots of things to be done, but i'm supposed to come up with my own project to work on. pray that God will show me what is needed most-

-the kids! they are wonderful-

-relationships formed and deepened here, with fellow volunteers, the kids, ugandans, and bryan-

-health!!-

-safety-

-anything else you can think of :)-

thanks for your prayers and for being wonderful! i'll try to update on here a lot... but don't be surprised if i wait until after i get back to just put it all on here :)