Muddy Monday

Today was a good day at St. Judes. We spent the morning at Café Larem rewording the history for Gulu for the St. Judes website and fixing up the facebook page we made for them. We made it to the children’s home around noon. It was perfect timing because we got there just as the children were sitting down to eat and so we washed all their hands just in the nick of time before their food was ready (I guess the mama’s didn’t find that important today??!). As the children ate we grabbed the broom and pee rags and the bar soap and soapy hand water and scrubbed the concrete the babies sleep on. Then we got the plastic/straw mats they sleep on and scrub brushes and scrubbed off all the poop and washed out all the pee. The mama’s were happy we were helping and kept bringing us water and better scrub brushes. After we finished we were really pleased to see a couple of the mama’s giving their assigned children baths and we were happy to help get them dressed and off the toilets. Jordan even gave her first bath and threw away their waste from the potty training seats (she almost barfed). I got Regina in my arms as soon as she was clean and brushed and I was so happy to see them putting medicine on her neck and back for her exema.  I held Regina and Acen and Debra for about an hour each (I play favorites, and those are definitely them). One little boy about 10 came up with a song he had written in Lulo on a piece of paper and sang it to me. It was SOOO cute! This guy Stephen who I had talked to a little bit on past days came down and sat with me while I was holding Debra (she has the flu). Stephen is an adult who lived in the orphanage when he was growing up. He was really affected by the war and is now writing a book with a Professor at NYC called Under the African Sun (everyone should buy it). He’s flying to New York next month to have it published. We talked for like an hour or so and it was super awesome to get to know a native Ugandan who had been raised in the orphanage and is now so intellectual and ambitious and doing things with his life. I’m also so scared that these precious children I’m holding are all just going to become boda-boda drivers and destitute child house wives. But he was inspiring and seemed like a really cool guy which is hard to find here. They are mostly all lazy and drunkards, which is why all our NGO’s are help for women and children. The men are hopeless. I was thinking today about education and how lucky we are that even if we have nothing we have the opportunity to get a loan, go to school, get educated in a way that could really help people and earn enough money pay back the money we pay for our education and to live comfortably. America is so lucky! Anyway, it makes me want to go to Med School. I’m feeling those inclinations more and more lately, although I know I’m extremely fickle with my vocational plans so when God wants me to know what he has me doing, he’ll tell me.