Babies, boda-bodas and the Bujagali Falls

Thurs. Feb. 19th 09

Hello everyone at last! We have had no internet connection at Amani for the past 2 days or so, but it has finally been re-connected.
Today I walked into Jinja to The Source café to use their internet. It took me 1 ½ hours to send one short e-mail to Jack to let him know I was still alive!! I have bought lots of exceptionally lovely batiks at The Source gift shop for re-sale, so come and see me after I return!

I’m coming to enjoy tootling around town on the back of a boda-boda (usually a motorbike, but it can be a bicycle). No helmet or anything fancy like that! Before getting on you have to negotiate the price. Another dilemma: the ride into town is SO CHEAP! 500 U. shillings or ~ 30c! So I personally don’t bargain too hard, because these people have to live, and want to send their children to school…. But I don’t tell the other volunteers!!

I want to tell you about the babies I work with.
In the morning I am usually in Baby Rm. A ~ the littlest ones. Here we have Helene and Michael, both preemies and very tiny for their ages of 5 and 6 months. Then we have Josephine who is a large bouncy baby of 7 months, Gift, a very agile little girl of 8 months who is close to walking, but too young to be moved up, Bonafamu, a little fellow with a ready smile of 14 months, Maria, a beautiful girl of 15 months who is interested in talking, but less in walking, and Debra who is 18 months, but has special needs, so she has not moved up to the ‘crawlers’ in Rm. B.

This week we had a new arrival ~ Baby M. is 6 to 7 months, but weighs only 9 lbs., and is very cute and cuddly. His Mum died of AIDS and he had been looked after by his two older sisters of around 8 and 12. \he has a large patch of ringworm on his head for which he is being treated. He has no sucking reflex, so has been fed by cup ~ probably a mixture of maize porridge with maybe some lentils, beans or peanut sauce…and maybe not. He is a hungry little boy and drinks down his milk with enthusiasm. He doesn’t like to be in his crib, however, and it seems that he was probably held by his sister much of the time. He may or may not be HIV positive… only time will tell when he has a later test. His father approached the Mama who had taken two of the Amani children for their check-up at the HIV clinic with a couple of volunteers, to ask if Amani would take him to look after. This means that perhaps he will go home eventually. Question: is it better for him to live in an institution, even a pretty good one, or with his family in abject poverty?

Interestingly most of the children at Amani are in the above situation, and apparently only about 12 children are actually currently available for adoption. Two American families arrived this week to collect their children for adoption. One family came with their 4 children, to adopt a 4-year-old boy who they have been trying to adopt for a couple of years. They have been hampered by an error in the paperwork in Uganda, so the only way they could finally adopt him was to move here and live here for 3 years which is what they are doing!! F., the little boy who has been waiting so long, was thrilled to finally have his own family. The other family has visited their adoptive son here at Amani a couple of times before, but this time the paperwork is done (almost) and the Dad and the Dad’s Mum have come to take him home. Little M. , 18 mths., is clearly already attaching to his new Dad, as is the Dad to him ~ it is very touching to see.

I was thinking about what I could tell you about my “ministry” here, and decided that it is best described as a continuous series of very small ministries ~ a warm hug or a ‘lap for a nap’ for a withdrawn or sad baby, wiping lotsa noses (they all get a cold at the same time) putting Maria and Bonafamu in a bouncer so they can get exercise for their legs, feeding lots bottles to babies and having a little chat, taking time to elicit a smile and conversation from them, putting Michael and Helene in a double stroller and taking them for a walk to get fresh air, down to the gate and back... and back, helping Gift practice learning to stand on her own, playing peek-a-boo and other little games… and so on.

None of it is riveting stuff, but these babies are so needy, and the Ugandan Mamas focus mostly on keeping them clean, fed and quiet, so the volunteers play an important role in giving these precious little ones the individual attention, loving physical contact and play time that they desperately need.

In the afternoon, almost all the 47 children go outside into the garden to play. A couple of woven straw mats are put out for the little ones, and the afternoon passes mostly with being crawled to and over by several babies or young children at a time, who frequently compete vociferously to take a nap on you for a while. It can actually get quite exhausting, though they are all so sweet, and so much in need of what we can offer. I am pretty pooped by 6:30 or 7pm when I finish, having started at 8am, but with a break from 1 to 4 pm.

Last weekend our friends John and Bridget, with whom I had stayed at Entebbe after my arrival, came down to Jinja for the weekend. They kindly took me out to dinner at “Gately’s” , a nice hotel/restaurant across the road from Amani. It was nice to be civilized and eat tasty food in a pleasant environment. On the Saturday we drove about ½ hour north of Jinja along a bumpy red dirt road to Bujagali Falls. We were delighted that our missionary friend Camille Hadlock was able to join us.

We had lunch at The Black Lantern that overlooks the start of the Falls from high above ~ a most attractive setting. The Falls are actually more like a series of serious cataracts than a vertical falls, and which are used by intrepid rafters and kayakers for expensive thrills as they whoosh over Category 6 rapids. We took a boat ride near the bottom of the Falls to admire different sections of the rapids from various angles ~ including standing on a small island in the middle of one section of the Falls with our toes right next to the water rushing furiously by. No Canadian-style guard rail or warnings. The Ugandans seem to reckon that if you are stupid enough to fall in, you probably deserve it!!

So, dear friends, my time at Amani is drawing to a close. Camille is coming to “pick me” next Tues. 24th, and we will either go back to the Teen Missions base at Nakabango (NB Liz and Mary: hopefully after a stop at the market to buy fabric and dresses), or we may drive to Kampala and visit Send-a-Cow to see what they might be able to offer the Rescue Units, but then returning to Nakabango that evening until the weekend some time. I am thinking of trying to spend the day at the Watoto Babies’ Home, called Bulrushes, one day before I fly to the UK and spend 4 days there with my sister and my Mum…. and then at last ~ home!!

Hope there will be a bit of Spring weather by then…. I definitely won’t be ready for winter again.
God bless you all,
Your affectionate friend,
Jill ..... wait!

I have some more news.... I have a new name!!
The Ugandan Mamas, many of whom I have become good friends with, find it very hard to pronounce "Jill", so they now call me....

*****"Auntie Jello"!!!!!******

(Sadly, this is actually rather too appropriate for certain portions of my anatomy!)

PS I'll post photos tomorrow. Gotta go and take a shower while it is free and the water is still running. The shower in my room hasn't yet worked...