Wandering Jaimee: The last few days

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been meaning to post since Sunday, but internet and power were out for most of the time, so here I am in Amsterdam on my way home putting down the last of my thoughts.

Sunday was an amazing day, in the morning I went to a church service out on the property. Wasswa one of the little guys that I sponsor was there wearing the new outfit that I had given him. After the service was finished they serve lunch to the community members in attendance. Little Wasswa wouldn't let go of my hand, not even to eat. He wouldn't even get in line for food, so his sister brought him a plate. He is such a sweetheart and I'm so glad he was there.

After lunch we went to Kako Secondary school for visitation day. Eagles Wings has some extension students boarding there. Bill & Ann were gone to another event so there were myself, some other volunteers, some staff and some other locals along. I got there and met the students and after 5 minutes of knowing Jovia, became her "parent." She gave me a tour of the school, and we got in line to talk to her teacher. I was signing forms and hearing about her report card! All after just meeting her. She was so welcoming though it didn't feel awkward at all.

Do you remember Peter that I blogged about last year? I didn't think I would get to see him this year since he would already be away at boarding school. Well, it turns out I did get to see him at visitation day. It was a nice surprise and I'm so glad I saw him. He has a hilarious sense of humour and uses North American slang I haven't heard any other Ugandan use.

Monday, Bill & Ann took the volunteers for a day visit to Mburo National Park. While it is not known as a big game park, we did get to see a lot of Zebra's and Impala's. That was nice because they didn't have zebra's on the last safari I went on.

Tuesday was my last full day so I tried to enjoy it as much as I could. I played with Grace & Elisha in the morning, and then when school was out the children asked me to go on an outing with them to a "playground." I asked them if there were slides at the playground and they gave me a weird look. It turns out it was a football pitch they were going to (soccer field). There were two adult teams playing, and a whole lot of school boys running laps around the field. It was exciting for the children, and I was the only muzungu in a large crowd of people, so generated a lot of attention. Tuesday night I said goodbye to the children. I'm going to miss them more than I want to think about. I wasn't ready to leave, I could have easily stayed for another 6 months or a year. I know I'll return, I'm just not sure when. I still need to get back to India, so I'm not sure which return visit will come first.

So now begins re-entry. It is never easy and I'm not looking forward to this part of my journey. I'll miss the community I had in Uganda. I'll miss the friends I have there and the beautiful children. On the other hand, I have so much to tell people at home and there are many ways I can advocate for the children I love. I can be their voice on the other side of the ocean, and that is an awesome privilege.

I'll leave you with a few pictures. Stay tuned for more to be posted on Facebook. I also think you'll notice I look more African than when I left, but I'll let you decide on that when you see me:)