Tuesday

Today we went to the school and finished the pavement on the first couple sections. Afterwards we played at lunch and did our lessons. Our lessons consisted of the human body and teaching them head shoulders knees and toes. They apparently already knew the song so it was rlly awkward. However, we continued to teach them to forms shapes w play-doh and they rlly got into it. We counted the amount of sides and edges on each shape and it was rlly awkward when Kate asked how many sides are on a cone. Overall good day 

Monday

Oh hey..today we were back at the school after a weekend. We started our morning off with laying some pavers down. Just like every other day so far, it started raining so we just hung out for a little while we ate lunch and the kids were in class. While we ate a little boy named Moosa came and sat on my lap and hugged me for probably 30 minutes and now he’s my little buddy. After that, we went into classes and did our lessons that we had “prepared” back home, but really most of us just winged it and improvised. It actually went really well and I learned that I think I want to be a teacher after years of my parents telling me I should and me always saying no. So congrats mom and dad, you were right. Other than that we are still all healthy and happy and having and good time. -Sarah Oberst 

Church Day

Audrey- Today was Sunday so we started out our day at church. We got all cleaned up and went. When we arrived, we were greeted by these 3 older women that were so cute. We shook their hands and walked in. The church building was just a wall of bricks and some wood planks holding up a metal roof. It amazed me how grateful they were for such a little space. Plaster Troy spoke and said something that was so impactful to me he said, “The church isn’t about the building, it’s about the people.” I just loved hearing that and feeling the joy of each and every person around me. We started doing worship and this little girl named Nicole comes over to me and grabs my hand, we dance and sing the songs and I was so in love. Nicole then pulled me to the front of the room with some other kids and we all danced and sang at the top of our lungs. It melted my heart to just see all the kids be so happy in such a small place they could come together and worship. After church we drove to the boys basketball game in the pouring rain and brought the nest with us. We then came back to the hotel and ate some dinner and I choked on a watermelon:) overall today was so fun.  

Saturday in Jinja

Sunday June 8th

Today was day two! The breakfast here is amazing and feels a lot like home (avocado toast, eggs, and incredibly amazing coffee). Then we took the most beautiful drive to Jinja. Jinja’s a little town about an hour away from Kampala, and just the drive there was half the experience. I’ve never seen so much green in my life. There’s like fields and fields of green it was a pretty surreal sight to see. We got to Jinja, and went shopping for ourselves and family in the little shops there. The paintings they were selling were to me the coolest thing to look at and a lot of us bought them. We got lunch at this little cafe called the source with huge lattes and really good fries! Every time I took out my Polaroid, the locals were so amazed by what it was and how it worked and I thought that was so cute so I took a selfie with one of them and gave him it. I wish I got his name. The drive back was probably the most fun. Even thought mr grey wanted to kill us for being so obnoxious and loud, we played every possible theme song from old disney channel and Nickelodeon on the speaker and sang along and reminisced about all the shows we used to watch. It was also pouring rain, and the bus was leaking all over me. The conversations so far have been my most favorite part about the team on this trip. I’ve learned so much about my teammates, from Kate’s never ending “talents” to how bad the boys are at African dancing, it’s pretty entertaining. Can’t wait for church tomorrow and the basketball game! 

Day at School

June 7-

Today we woke up around 7 and ate breakfast at 7:30. Breakfast here is definitely the best meal of the day. Then we drove about 45 minutes to the school. On the way there many people were outside of their houses waiting for us to drive by and we all found so much joy in the big smiles and waves that we received and gave, which made us so excited for the school. When we pulled into the gates, it was just absolute chaos, but the best kind of chaos. Our arms were being tugged in every direction and every kid just wanted to be loved. Around each team member was a swarm of kids. Every girls hair was turned into a birds nest, each phone became a paparazzi camera, and every boy became a climbing tree. We finally all sat down for lunch and we were all DRAINED. But there was still a smile on our faces. After lunch we continued more fun and games like duck duck goose and simon says lead by Kate Phillips. By 4:30 we left the school, which was a hard goodbye even though we still see them all next week. These six hours were probably the most impactful hours of our lives. None of us have ever experienced fun, joy, and love like this. And luckily we still have another week to see how God will reveal his love to us and the kids. 

Maddy Burich

Travel Day

The whole travel day was a very long 48 hours but I actually had so much fun. On the first glorious 16 hour flight I sat with Audrey, Kate, and Mrs. Martin. The highlight of that flight was definitely when Audrey, Kate, and I all tangled up in a ball and fell asleep. Then we landed in Qatar and went to the hotel and had amazing burgers. I roomed with Audrey the first night and the shower was the best shower I’ve ever had. Then we got up bright and early and flew to Uganda where I sat next to Camille and the one and only Mr. Gray. We finally made it after the 3 hour bus ride which was my favorite part. It was so cool seeing country and all the people and how different their daily life is. 

-Natalie

Off we Go

Please make sure you are at school at 10:00 so we can load up and get to the airport on time. See you soon.