Wedding and Meeting Bushira

The internet has been down here for the past two days, so I haven't been able to post as much as I wanted to.  I attended the wedding on Saturday.  It was very good.  After the introductions I think I was expecting something wildly different than a Canadian wedding.  I was however, surprised at how similar it was.  There were definitely notable differences, but many of the same elements and traditions as a North American wedding would have.  The differences I noticed, were there was no kissing, and for the bouquet toss, all the girls lined up and didn't move and the bride would re-throw the bouquet until one of the girls caught it without having to move.  It was much calmer and less violent than the bouquet tosses I have been involved with.  People tend to make a really big deal of white people here, so it was impossible to blend in.  When one of the grooms mentors was giving his speech he said how welcome we were and how very honoured he was that the Mzungu's (white people) were in attendance.  The speech was not in English, however one of the girls sitting with us translated that bit.

 The wedding party

 Me & Elisha

The bride and groom.  The groom Elijah works for Eagles Wings Childrens Village.

Yesterday I was not feeling well so I rested most of the day.  I am feeling back to 100% today so was back at it.  Today I had the privilege of going out to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere to meet one of my sponsor children, Bushira. Bushira lives at Eagles Wings Childrens Village but since it is school holidays she is back out with her Aunt until the start of February when school begins again. We visited her at her Aunts house in a village about an hour from where I am. Bushira was very shy at first by also very excited to meet me.  

This is Bushira showing us around their gardens.  She took us to her Grandma's house as well as the house of her distant uncle.  She works in these fields.

This is Bushira's house.

Me & Bushira

 This is Bushira and her extended family, including one brother, her aunt and her Aunts children. Her aunt thanked me over and over for being her sponsor. It was very humbling. We brought her some practical gifts like flour and sugar and rice and she was so happy. 

This is Moses and Florence and their daughters Trust and Treasure. They are the house parents for family 3 at Eagles Wings Childrens Village  They are sponsored by my friends the Buhlers.

 This is Peter and Elisha.  Peter is part of the Eagles Wings extension program and goes to boarding school here in Uganda.  He will be entering senior 1.  He is staying here during his school break.  He is a hoot, and him and Elisha love to play together.  Elisha can be heard running through the house screaming "Peta, Peta where are you?"

I took this photo today on the way to Bushira's