Massai Mara and Mercy Care

Massai Mara was absolutly amazing! There is way too much to write in such a short amount of time, but my highlight was definitely seeing 14 lions on a big rock near a pond with small palm trees everywhere; I felt like I was in the Lion King! It was so much fun and so great to hang out lots with the team.

Mercy Care this week has been a bit hectic because there are so many things to do and not enough time, but I'm still enjoying every minute of it...except maybe not when Wayne made me film Maria dissecting a pig in class....ewwww :P

I have been doing a lot of filming and wrote letters on little kids' hands and made them all stand in a row so I could film a phrase for the new film.

Gosh there's way too much to write I don't even know where to start. Apparently someone on a street above the slum got hit and killed by a matatu and then a riot started happening. We had no idea though and didn't hear anything, our driver drove us out a different way.

Tomorrow we're going to a giraffe farm and elephant orphanage and then to the school in the afternoon so I'll try and get as much done as possible and then on Friday is Mercy Care's annual sports day which is a lot of fun.

It's been hard to find time to write a good blog with lots of pics but I am leaving for home on Saturday so I will have plenty to show you all when I come back. Hopefully I won't get too extremely bored waiting 8 hours in Johannesburg airport by myself and then catching the 14 hour flight back to Sydney by myself :(
I'll just have to make temporary friends to keep me out of my boredom haha
Anyway I am doing really great. Kate has been sick; actually a lot of people on the team have been sick with colds/coughs so I'm hoping I won't get anything at least until I leave. They are a lot better now though so that's good!

I will be so sad to say goodbye to everyone :(

Friday

I had another great day at Mercy Care Centre! I did some more filming and have got some good footage now for the next short film.

Yesterday I visited Mercy's home in the slum and saw Precious, who is her beautiful one year old daughter. She is so so cute! Mercy is the most amazing girl ever, she's now in Form 1 (15 years old) and has such a drive to live life the best she can and to strive toward a better future.

It's always hard walking into the slum because it's so, so different to anything I'm familiar with. Nairobi is a very depressing city, but at the same time there's hope. People in the slum live such awfully difficult lives; you drive past gangs of guys lying on the ground in the most ragged dirt clothes sniffing glue as a drug. You hear about all the car hii-jacks; our driver has been hii-jacked 5 times since he started driving, and all with guns pointed to his head. Some of these kids that have guns are only 14 years old.

The poverty stretches on for miles; it's seriously chaos and so complicated. There are so many street kids who have bad cases of scabies and are neglected in the day. They have no parent modelling; they just have to fend for themselves all day and resolve conflicts on their own, even though some of them are only 2-4 years old.


But God is doing something amazing in such a depressing place. Mercy Care is like an oasis in the midst of all this. It is bringing out the amazing potential these kids have and it is inspiring them to live different lives than the norm in their community. Instead of doing drugs on the street, the guys at Mercy Care are working hard in secondary school and are aiming high so they can live a better life. Instead of falling into prostitution or early marriage, the girls at Mercy Care are choosing to put their education first and to resist pressure from their friends and family to drop out.

The students are absolutly beautiful and have really developed good morals and a kindness toward others. There is a huge difference between their behaviour and the behaviour of the kids on the street.

I am looking forward to going on the Massai Mara safari weekend trip tomorrow and I'm realizing it's waay past my bedtime now so I'll finish here :)

Awesome days

I had a really awesome day today at Mercy Care! I started a new film to advertise child sponsorship and am calling it "Not Defined By Poverty" to show the hope and potential these children have. The kids were so great in front of the camera and what they are saying is powerful.

I've been having so much fun with the team; I think I spend half the day laughing :P
Today we handed out gifts to the teachers and tomorrow we're going to hand out gifts to all the kids (all 600 of the!) so we had a lot of fun making up 600 packages tonight.

I love Mercy Care so much and I always say just how beautiful the kids and teachers are. Being able to love the kids while I'm there and give them attention is the best feeling in the world because I know how that felt when people did that for me.

Good times!

On Sunday me and Kate and Patrick went to the airport to meet up with the American team. We were so excited! It was so awesome to see Caroll and Wayne again and to meet the rest of the team. I have had so much fun with them already; they are awesome people.

We got driven to the Mennonite Guesthouse, and when we got there me and Kate were gaping for a while. This is the most beautiful accommodation I have ever stayed in in Africa! It's like an old English cottage with the most beautiful big yard and gardens. It has a tennis court, volleyball net, a massive wooden swing hanging from a tree...it's like a completely different world than the places we've been staying at in Africa. It's a really, really nice place to come back to after an exhausting day.

Today was our first day to the school as a team so all the kids put on a performance for us. It was amazing staring at the sea of faces realizing just how much the school has grown. There are soo many children and the secondary school has grown so much which is really cool. They are all such beautiful kids; so well behaved and so responsive to us.

We were all really tired by the afternoon. We were going to go to the crazy markets but found out it was closed, so we decided to go to the giraffe centre but got caught in crazy traffic so we went back to the guesthouse and just had a relaxing afternoon, hanging out and planning for tomorrow.

It's so great to be part of a bigger team. Me and Kate have loved working together and have no idea what we would do without each other! But it's been refreshing for both of us to be part of the buzz and excitement of a new team.

More pics

Photos of mercy care

Tim, the secondary students are holding signs to thank you for the building you bought which they are standing in front of. Thank you!!!

Mercy Care

Wow, the last few days have been hectic so I haven't had a chance to go on the internet. I am absolutely loving being at Mercy Care again! I've had the most inspiring conversations with some of the older girls. Two of the girls I talked to (both don't have dads) said their mums had been really sick lately and there was a point where one girl didn't even know if her mum would live anymore. It must have been so scary. She's getting better now though.

The first day we were there we heard that two girls in class 6 had their mum pass away the night before. I haven't seen the girls yet; they got permission to stay at home that day. But it's so so awful the things they go through, and that death is so common here.

The secondary school has grown so much it's very exciting! I saw the labs that are in the process of being built. There will be science and computer labs.
It's been a lot of fun hanging with the kids; they are such good kids! I handed out the letters to standard 4 that the kids at Hornsby Heights Public School in Australia wrote to them. They were very excited to receive them! I got them to write back too; they wrote some very beautiful letters.

I am very excited about meeting the American team at the airport tomorrow and working with them for the next two weeks. I'm trying to upload photos; hope they work!

First days at Mercy Care!

Man, where do I even start....the more I travel the more I realize just how incredible Mercy Care Centre School is. There is nothing like it! The people are beautiful and the atmosphere is awesome.

It was SO good to be able to see everyone again!! Lots of reunion it was awesome. We caught the crazy matatus on the way and they went through a bit of the slum. It's always overwhelming the first day or two even though I've been here twice before. The bus was stuck in traffic in part of the slum and everyone suddenly turned around to the back, so I looked out the back window and saw a woman roughly pushing a man. The man fought back; I thought they were going to have a big fight on the street because a whole crowd started to form. But then the matatu moved on.

One thing I have noticed in Africa is that people can be very violent. All the awful stories of the children involve so much violence. In the slum there is also a lot of violence, and it hit me when I saw that incident.

We got off at the top of the hill and walked down the main street to the slum into the very familiar buildings of Mercy Care where I met Lillian and all the other teachers. Lillian took us through all the classes on the way to the staff room. At every class she stopped and the kids saw us and gasped. Lillian said "You remember who this is?"
"Anni!" they all said. It was awesome to see so many familiar faces and for them to remember me too.

I saw the three buildings that we bought! I'll take pics of them to put on the blog so everyone can see what their money went to.

It was so good to catch up with all the kids, play some soccer, watch the choir etc. Today I handed out all the letters that Phil and Carla wrote (almost 600 of them!). They wrote enough for every child in the school to get one along with a sticker. The kids received them with very big smiles. They remembered the letters Phil and Carla wrote last year and were so touched by them. Everyone is asking me if they are coming on this trip. Also everyone is asking whether Aunty Betsy and Axi are coming too; they looked very disappointed when I said no! People coming to Mercy Care means so much to them.

Me and Kate are quite exhausted and really looking forward to joining up with the American team on Sunday for the next two weeks.

I will start doing some more filming again. Today we brainstormed some ideas for the next two weeks that we could do to help raise more support for the school, so we're excited.

The science labs are almost done being built; looks really cool!
Mercy Care is definitely a ministry that is making a huge impact in the lives of Mathare's children. You can see it; not only in the fact that they are receiving education and food and medical care, but also in the love the teachers have for the children. There is a real calmness at the school; a beautiful atmosphere. The older kids are so gentle with the younger kids, which is something I didn't see much of in Uganda. And all the children are striving hard in class. Even when I went to the preschool classes, they were all soo well behaved and so respectful. It's awesome! So keep up the awesome support because it is so, so worth it. Thanks to everyone who sends emails/comments. It's encouraging and means a lot! Especially being away for 6 weeks now.

We have an early start tomorrow but then the weekend off.

Arrived in Nairobi!

I am now safely in Nairobi after a long 14 hour bus ride. The night before we travelled we were both sick with stomach bugs so that wasn't fun. I'm feeling better but Kate is still feeling sick.

The bus ride was really cool; we passed through some amazingly beautiful countryside in both Kenya and Uganda. It was really great to see and made the ride not drag on as much as the flight here did.

We arrived in Nairobi about 8:30pm into the craaazy traffic and massive crowds and piles of buses, but Patrick was there to meet us at the bus park and took us back to his house where we're staying until Sunday when the American team arrives. Then the rest of the time we'll be staying with the team in a guesthouse.

Tomorrow will be our first day at Mercy Care Centre, I'm so excited to see everyone again! It's always overwhelming seeing the slum even though I've been here twice before, it takes a few days to get over the culture shock and the sights and sounds and smells.

Today we're just taking it easy, getting some rest before the next few weeks ahead.

Beautiful pictures of Gulu

Here are some pictures of the area we were in in Gulu. It was soo beautiful! Again the pictures are much better quality than this; just reduced the size so it doesn't take forever to load.

African adventures

Wow, we had a crazy day today!
We left Gulu and decided to take a de-tour instead of going direct to Kampala; we've come back to Masindi for the afternoon/night to surprise everyone at Masindi Family Spirit Orphanage. We had the BEST surprise reunion! We took motorbikes to the orphanage, and as soon as we came, before we had even got off the motorbike, some kids had run up to us and clung onto us; they were so so excited to see us!

Then we got off and went around the corner and everyone came running; they were so surprised to see us! The beautiful thing was that some of the kids that run up to hug me and not let go were kids that when I first came were very unresponsive. One girl was very shy and intimidated I think. She only came to the orphanage last year; she's 10 years old and HIV positive and her parents have both died from AIDS. She stayed with her uncle who forced her to work in the fields all day every day, from early in the morning until late at night. She grew very weak and sick.

When we left two weeks ago I opened up my arms to hug her but she turned away. Now today when she saw me she ran up and hugged me, it was awesome! Even some girls that hardly talked to me were so responsive today.

We spent the afternoon catching up with everyone, playing with the kids, even teaching them some songs. It was so good to be back! It almost felt like we were coming home :)

Suzan said that after we left everyone was really sad, and all the kids kept asking them "Where are our muzungus?" (muzungus means white people). They were really thankful for us coming and that just shows how powerful love is. When you reach out to others you don't always see immediate results, but you can never under-estimate the power of it.

One of the staff there is sick in hospital; he has HIV/AIDS and has been in hospital a week now. They said he was slowly improving. We decided to go visit him on the way back to town. We came into the hospital and said hello, but he really did not look good. He seriously looked like he didn't have to long to live, which is so so sad. His mum was there looking after him. Here at the hospitals the family are responsible for providing all the food and anything else the patients need. The hospitals don't provide that. So we didn't stay long but we're really hoping and praying he will improve. He didn't look good at all.

This morning we went to Gulu town to catch the bus to Masindi. When we came they put our luggage into the bus and said it would leave in one and a half hours. So we thought we would walk around town a bit, take some pictures and then go back to the bus.

We came back an hour later and the bus had left! With our luggage! The people at the bus park waved at us and shouted, "The bus has left!! Quick, take a boda!" So we quickly hopped on motorbikes thinking oh CRAP! The motorbikes absolutly SPED out of town and down the main road trying to catch up to the bus. That was probably the scariest boda ride I have had; they must have gone about 70kph on a tarmac road with no helmet!

So after ages we still couldn't see the bus, and finally saw it in the distance on a hill. It had stopped. So our motorbike drivers sped even faster, I was like 'come on bus, stay where you are!' We caught up and signalled to the conductors and quickly got on, just in time. Maaaan that was a close call, and also quite a dangerous adventure :P Afterwards we couldn't stop laughing. We couldn't believe the bus had left with all our luggage and not us...especially after they told us it would be an hour and a half until it leaves!

That wasn't the end of our adventures though. The bus ride was also psycho, and then we got off in one town to take a matatu to Masindi town. That was also a psycho ride along dirt road, a few scary moments of 'oh my gosh we're going to tip sideways'. The matatu always tilted on the side I was sitting on, so I did a lot of digging into Kate's shoulders trying to lean the other way. But we survived and are now back in Masindi town! woo...thank uuuu God :)

Last few days

I visited the Invisible Children office today! I had a tour of the office and then got taken to one of their projects called Mend, which is for women who have escaped from the LRA army. They're taught how to make handbags and then these bags are sold online through Invisible Children so it's income generating. Each bag will have the name and story of the woman who made it so it's more personal and will help spread awareness. Their projects are awesome; they are really making a huge difference!

I taught my P5 class of 56 teenagers again today. After English they wanted me to teach them music again. I got some kids to come up and perform songs and dances. Maan they can groove it was hilarious; the class was in hysterics again. Some confident guys came up and fully started singing rap songs and dancing hip hop; I loved it!! Even the P6 students came to the window to watch and laugh. It's crazy and amazing how happy they are and how much fun they love to make, considering everything they have been through. I heard that one third of all highschool students in Northern Uganda are suffering from post-traumatic stress because of the war.

Yesterday we visited St Monicahs which helps girls who were abducted by the LRA, child mothers and also children of prisoners. We just had a quick tour around so didn't get to meet any of the girls, but I only found out once we were there that this was the school where a number of years ago all the girls were abducted one night (the girls who boarded there) by the LRA. The nuns, who were the bravest people I've ever heard of, ran after them and eventually found the LRA leading the girls through the bush. The nuns pleaded for the LRA to let the girls go, and they miraculously let almost all of them go (over 100), except 30. The nun was told she had to choose which girls stayed with the LRA.

The nun broke down into tears and refused; she could not choose. So some of the girls said to her "We'll choose for you," and they volunteered to stay so that their friends could go. It was the most amazing sacrifice and something I just cannot comprehend. After a few years some of these girls escaped the army, but most of them have never been heard of again. They're either dead or are still there.

The school now helps heaps of other girls who have also escaped the army.
It was a pity we couldn't stay longer and meet people but we had to go. We had lunch in town with another guy who was volunteering at St Monicahs and then me and Kate went for a walk to find the World Vision Children of War Rehabilitation Centre. They don't allow visitors but I've heard so much about it and seen it on videos so I wanted to walk past it. We eventually found it and met the guy at the entrance. They only have 4 kids there now. 2 are in hospital and 2 are there at the centre. This is for children who have escaped the LRA. They are rehabilitated there for about 6 weeks and then brought back to their homes. A lot of them are rejected by their own family though because of what they were forced to do in the bush.

There's only a few there because the war is no longer happening in Northern Uganda. But they're still open in case the LRA release the child soldiers, which is what the Invisible Children campaigns are aiming for. There would be thousands of kids needing rehabilitation.

I am in town now meeting Kate for dinner soon. Tomorrow is our last day so we're planning on doing lots of fun stuff with the kids; pass the parcel, make icing biscuits, watch Madagascar and possibly make masks too. These are the children from the consolation home who have disabilities. There are a few siblings of these kids that also live there. Their homes are right next door to ours so we have got to know them really well. They're beautiful!

Better go, this is long :))

Where sleeping babies lie

Gangster

Just tapping into my cool streak.

More in Gulu

Yesterday Kate went to volunteer at Lachor Hospital for the afternoon. It's 4km from St Judes Orphanage. I went into town and then came back to the orphanage and decided to go meet her at the hospital. I didn't realize it was 4km away and asked someone if it was possible for me to get there on bike.

"Yeah yeah you can ride, it's not far."

Okay sweet, so I started out. That was the stupidist thing I've done; it was midday and I rode 4km in the hot sun! I kept thinking it was just around the corner or just down the street...that's what everyone kept telling me. I got so hot I had to sit in the shade for a while just outside a little shop across from the hospital.

If you ever come to Africa, please don't ride your bike 4km in the hot sun :( not a smart thing to do :(

Anyway I'm fine :)

So I finally got to the hospital and asked around for Kate. Someone brought me to her; she was in the maternity ward and really surprised to see me. There was a newborn baby all wrapped up and lying down on a bench. Kate said "I just delivered this baby!"

I was like what?!
Yep; she actually helped deliver 2 babies in three hours! Woo go Kate :P

Today I had a tour of Watoto Ministries. The pastor, Joe, is heaps cool. He drove me up to the Children's Village which is about 20km out of town. The whole area used to be rebel territory in the war. We drove past an IDP camp too.

Watoto is doing some amazing things. They have soo many acres of land to build homes on. Each home has about 8 children and a 'mum'. And then the village also has other 'mums' who look after and support the mums, if that makes sense. So it's a really good family atmosphere. They're constantly building new homes and also looking for ways they can become self-sufficient. Recently they were able to aquire 6000 acres of land to grow food!

Exciting things are happening all the time. It's definitely an amazing ministry. They also have a ministry called Living Hope which helps HIV positive widows, teaching them trades and they're planning on setting up an adult literacy school. The pastor drove me past some more land where they're planning on setting up a Babies Home and also a good school.

Kate is at Lachor Hospital again today. Tomorrow we're going to visit the Invisible Children office. It's been really cool to check out the different organisations and ministries around and see what everyone is doing.

More pics

Life in Gulu

Wow, I've been here for a week already!

The year 5 class is going so well! I came in confident and firm with clear expectations and they are going along with it really well. I had a lot of fun with them after teaching them English. I told them that was the end of class but they were like "No, you stay and teach us music."

I was like "Who's your music teacher?" They said "You are."

Oh, sweet, okay, hmm...I got 5 volunteers up the front and introduced a clapping rhythm which they then had to add noises to. It was hilaaarious the whole class was in hysterics LOL.

They've been doing a lot of Acholi singing and dancing which has been so awesome to watch. Next to the guesthouse there are several homes for children with disabilities. Brother Elio who is the director of the orphanage works at a hospital up the road where he sometimes brings children who have been abandoned by their family because they have a disability. Some of these children were found discarded in the bush and left to die, it's awful.

The people here have so many horriffic stories about their experiences with the LRA. It is absolutly amazing how the kids can still be so happy and playful and have lots of fun despite all the trauma they have been through.

It's a saturday so me and Kate are in town and just having a relaxing day. Yesterday I rode a bike about a km up the road and back at sunset. It was sooo pretty! I love this area.

I was talking yesterday to one girl that lives at the orphanage who broke her spinal cord in a motorbike accident and is now in a wheelchair. We were talking about music and she said her favourite song was "Lord I give you my Heart" by Hillsong. I was like I know that song! So we sung it together which was so cool. Then I brought out my i-pod and speakers and we played lots of worship songs and sung them together in the dark under the stars. Man the joy on her face was amazing! It was so cool to be able to sing together and share that same passion for God.

Other kids also came around and started singing. They were so content just to stand there and listen and sing for like an hour.

First few days in Gulu

I really love Gulu; the area is so pretty and the town is really fun. Me and Kate went to the market and got lots of fruit and vegetables so that was a fun experience. It's like a whole new underground world!

The experience at the orphanage has been a lot different to Masindi orphanage. St Judes is a lot bigger. There are about 200 kids living there and about 400 that go to the school. The school and the orphanage are quite seperate; they're next door to each other though. Our accomodation is in the school compound, not the orphanage compound.

It's been a bit harder to get to know everyone simply because the orphanage is so big.

I am teaching English in years 5, 6 and 7. These kids range from about 11 to 17 years old. There are 56 year 5s!! Definitely thrown in the deep end there which is cool. The first lesson went well though; lots of behaviour management strategies and positive reinforcement. We'll see how the next week and a half goes!

There are two Italians also staying in the same house as us, they're heaps nice. They put on a party for all the children with disabilities that live at the orphanage. They played a cool game with them and had prizes, and then they set up a projector to show the Lion King dvd. It was awesome! We all sat under the shelter watching Lion King while there was lightning in the sky and it was dark. The kids loved it! Here in Uganda children with disabilities are soo often thrown away. Some of these kids were found thrown in bushes and left to die. There is so much stigma attached to disability it's pretty awful. But it's so great the orphanage has taken them in.

I've been playing LOTS of soccer which I love! I have also done lots of embarrassing slipping over in the mud while playing soccer it cracks me up. Today I was demonstrating how to play a game with this thing that you hit up in the air. I hit it up then stepped backwards and hit it up again and took another step backwards and fully fell backwards over this plant thing; it was quite a spectacular fall while everyone was watching. I couldn't stop laughing after that; how embarrassing!

Well at Masindi orphanage I bruised my shin because I tripped over a little tree stump. DORK.

I've been getting to know the older kids here. It's so hard to grasp how traumatised these kids have been by the horriffic LRA army that terrorised them for 20 years. Some kids here have escaped from the army after being abducted. One older woman can no longer walk because the LRA abducted her and beat her so bad it wrecked her back. She's a mum.

When we drive past the mud hut villages on the motorbike I keep thinking man, for kids that are less than 20 years old, they have known nothing but war their whole lives. These are the villages that were raided and burnt down. They've been rebuilt of course but it's so surreal to imagine the awful things that happened here, and are now happening in the Congo and south Sudan.

But their resilience is absolutly incredibly amazing. These kids laugh and have so much fun. They've been doing a lot of Acholi singing and dancing which has been so awesome to watch. Watching them sing and dance and have fun blows me away considering the trauma they have been through.

I got to play the african drum, it was so cool! I love drums so much. It's been good hanging with the older kids, I really relate to youth and have had a lot of fun with them (why does schoolwork for that age have to be so boring though? :P). Wow this is a long blog. I haven't taken pics to put up yet because I want to focus on building relationships first.