day 5 update

It's kind of hard to believe that it's my fifth day here at Ekisa. The days here are long.. not in a bad, boring, dragged-out kind of way. It's more like, our days are filled with so much activity and craziness, at the end of the day you're asking yourself, "Did that really happen just this morning?"

Life at Ekisa is good. Exhausting, draining, hilarious, hard, exciting, good.

The volunteers wake up around 7 each morning (some of the kids wake up at 5:30 a.m!). The children each breakfast on the porch right outside our window with the mamas (the Ugandan women Ekisa has hired) and I don't know who's louder- the mamas or the kids! haha. Needless to say, starting at 6, sleep is a little broken up and unrestful. School starts here around 9 (keep in mind this is all Africa-time though) and all the children participate in the first half. Stations are set up around the house and on the porch and the kids rotate in groups- going to the building/blocks station, the motor-skills station, the sensory room, and then we all meet back together for a story and singing. After an hour(ish), we have snack and then Emily H. and another volunteer do more schooling with the older children, while the younger ones hang out on the porch.

Mealtime isn't exactly the funnest part of the day, especially when you're feeding on the younger ones. Their meal is blended/mushed up, which does not look attractive at all, and I'm sure doesn't taste that great. Somehow, whatever kid I end up feeding is always the last to finish.. Auntie Anna just isn't as good at feeding time as the mamas are I guess :)

The children nap in the afternoon, and so we get a nice 3 hour break to go to town and run errands, or take naps ourselves. Yesterday I rode my first boda (motorcycle) to town. Sara and I rode together (you can fit 2 people on a boda.. unless you're African, then you can fit a whole family. hah) The boda driver told us, "You ride like a man," when we couldn't stay on the boda side-saddle. Needless to say, being a mzungu and 'riding like a man' made me feel like a very silly American girl, and the skirt wasn't helping things either. The Ugandan women can ride sideways while holding baskets of groceries and jugs of water! It's ridiculously impressive.

Little Zuena has been in the hospital since Wednesday, and isn't doing so good. It's been sad and tiring for everyone- especially the Emilys and Ekisa's nurse. She's currently in the hospital ICU, and if you could be praying for that sweet little one, I know your prayers would be greatly appreciated! Ekisa received some good news about one of their boys, Sam, and how his foot is healing after surgery. It was encouraging hear some good news, especially in the face of all the hard news about Zuena.

So, all in all, I'm adjusting to the chaos and craziness at Ekisa.. it's pretty much just like the craziness at home, only African-style. I woke up this morning to find tiny ants inside my toothbrush holder.. which was a bit of a bummer. We have ants in our bedroom, and it seems there's nothing the volunteers can do to get rid of them. So I rinsed my toothbrush, realized life goes on, and got over it. These kiddos are definitely cuties and snugglers, which is awesome.. except it means you catch all their colds. So for the past 2 days, I've had a stuffy nose and sore throat and headache. While it's not been the funnest, if that's my worst complaint, life isn't so bad :)

Plans for the rest of the day include snuggling some little ones after their naps, playing inside/on the porch, possibly taking a trip to the market down the road to buy dinner (if this rain lets up), and showering. I'll write you again in a few days or so, and hopefully will have some pictures of these gosh-darn-adroable kids to share with you by then!