Well, we just got back from rafting down the Nile river and survived! :) It was so much fun! (says Megan) It was the scariest, most fun I have ever had but, never again. (says Melanie) Today was a very long day we left to go rafting at 9 this morning and got back around 6 this evening. We are very tired. We're sad that we had to spend our last full day here rafting and not with the kids but, we really would have regretted not going. Tomorrow we leave Amani around 4 in the afternoon so, we will have some time to play with the kids before we leave. Tomorrow will be a really hard day for us having to say goodbye to the kids and the mamas and wishing we could stay longer. Three weeks definitely wasn't long enough. But, now we know that for next summer instead of staying three weeks, we should stay for three months. Then we might feel like that was enough time well spent here. Who knows, but we both know we are coming back here. Oh and by the way... For those of you who have asked us and we weren't able to give you an answer or you have been wondering.... Amani means peace. Please keeps us in your prayers tomorrow as we begin our journey back home tomorrow. Again, we thank you for all your support! We are so incredibly blessed!
Can't wait to see you all and tell you our many stories!
Melanie & Megan
Friday, July 10, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
A Second-hand Update
(posted by Meg's dad)
We talked with Megan earlier today. Life in Uganda is going well, with only a few more days before they head back home. We got the sense that they are already feeling sad about the prospect of leaving the kids, as Amani has apparently made a significant impression on them.
Megan mentioned that they have a whitewater rafting trip planned for Friday. This may sound strange for their Africa adventure, but Jinja is known as a real adventure spot. It is the source of the White Nile, which has Class 3 and Class 4 rapids just below Jinja. Throw in bungee jumping and ATV riding, and a lot of tourists visit Jinja for an adrenalin rush. The girls are going with a group of 5-6 others associated with Amani (either volunteers or friends of volunteers). Meg said that Melanie is a little apprehensive about the experience, so please pray for their safety as they venture into the wild water in a couple of days.
We expect to hear more later about their experience with the babies, although they have shared that diaper changing in Uganda is a far "different" experience than in the U.S. Hopefully, they will elaborate on it.
They are set to travel back on Saturday evening (10:40 p.m. Uganda time), and arrive home around 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening.
We talked with Megan earlier today. Life in Uganda is going well, with only a few more days before they head back home. We got the sense that they are already feeling sad about the prospect of leaving the kids, as Amani has apparently made a significant impression on them.
Megan mentioned that they have a whitewater rafting trip planned for Friday. This may sound strange for their Africa adventure, but Jinja is known as a real adventure spot. It is the source of the White Nile, which has Class 3 and Class 4 rapids just below Jinja. Throw in bungee jumping and ATV riding, and a lot of tourists visit Jinja for an adrenalin rush. The girls are going with a group of 5-6 others associated with Amani (either volunteers or friends of volunteers). Meg said that Melanie is a little apprehensive about the experience, so please pray for their safety as they venture into the wild water in a couple of days.
We expect to hear more later about their experience with the babies, although they have shared that diaper changing in Uganda is a far "different" experience than in the U.S. Hopefully, they will elaborate on it.
They are set to travel back on Saturday evening (10:40 p.m. Uganda time), and arrive home around 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Things always getting better!
Hey everyone! :)
The title to our blog is part of a song that the mamas always sing with the children here at Amani. Things are still going great over here in Jinja! There are three different baby rooms at Amani, baby A, B, and C. We have been in the room called Baby B the whole week. The babies in baby B are any where from 9-15 months and there are about 10 kids in the room right now. They are very sweet and so much fun, because most of them are just getting a hang of walking.
Yesterday we got to go to two other orphanages the first one we visited is called Home Sweet Home Uganda and it is run by two women who are both originally from the Netherlands. The home opened in Janurary and house children with disabilities and right now there are 11 children there and tomorrow (Saturday) one of the children from Amani is going to be moving in there to make it 12. The max age limit at Amani is age 5. When one of our children reaches the age of 5 they are either then adopted, reunited with their families if they have any, or moved to another home where the house older children. He has reached the age of 5 and is also physically disabled and we feel they are better equiped to care for him than we are. He has Aaskargs Syndrome, which is a genetic disorder (sorry that I have to keep saying "he", but we aren't supposed to use the kids' names for obvious reasons). The second one we went to is called Our Own Home and it has around 45 kids of ages infant-15 and it was so much fun to play games with kids older than the age of 5. Our Own Home only houses children who are HIV positive. It was a great experience to see other orphanages and how they differ from Amani. It was great to meet some more of God's beautiful children! Today we're taking some of the babies from baby C to the pool. We're hoping they all enjoy the water, because it's hot here today!
Happy Forth of July!
Melanie & Megan
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