Saturday 26 March 2011

A Busy Day and Some Welcome Uplift

Well, we've been busy today so far. Although we are allowed to sleep in on the weekends (when breakfast goes from 7 to 9 instead of 7 to 8), Mtoto didn't get the memo and woke up as early as ever. After breakfast I finished packing and moving our room, then unpacked and rearranged as much as possible. I still need to put up our mosquito nets (I'm too short to get it done on my own). I do have some positive things to say about the new room. It is spacious. Also, it has windows. The ants have already begun their attack, which should make all those night time bottles quite an adventure. The little mister is old enough to be sleeping through most of the night, with a bottle at bed and then one in the early morning, but he seems to have figured out that I will make him a bottle when he is hungry...and he is apparently very hungry...all the time. He drank three bottles last night. I'm tired.

After my moving adventure, we went for a visit to orphanage P (where Mtoto used to live). The drive there was horrendous. In true African-traffic-style we were stopped for ages in the burning heat, windows only slightly cracked (for safety), all sweating like pigs, and for some reason everyone seemed to be burning their trash by the area where we had stopped, so the smoke was terrible. Traffic like that isn't exactly unusual, but we were hoping for clear roads because it was the weekend, however an old truck stalled out and dashed our hopes of a quick drive.

At least it was a very nice visit. We did a little work assessing the needs of the home and the kids there, and had time to sit with the woman who sponsors the home, Mama P. She has some wonderful ideas for improving the facilities and raising money to sustain the orphanage by opening a store on the property. We also got to play-I blew some bubbles for kids, which is always fun. The whole experience was very uplifting (which we needed). P is a marvelous orphanage. It is very small and has a family atmosphere. Obviously it is no substitute for a family, but the kids there are loved, fed, and live in comparatively nice circumstances. When I walked in with Mtoto, the mamas all wanted me to take him out of the ergo so they could say hello and hold him. They gathered around him and started playing their little games with him. It was touching for me to see that they missed him and wanted to see him again.

3 comments:

Katie said...

Oh, those ants! I have never seen anything like them. They were horrible in my room and even chewed through a ziploc bag to get to my toothbrush. A little mosquito repellent all over the counter helped. Glad the trip to the orphanage was positive.

Jeanine said...

Hi Amy,
So glad to hear that the room is a little better than previously thought. An answer to prayer! I will pray those ants aren't as mischevious as they could be and for that paperwork to be cleared quickly too! :)
jeanine

Tom said...

Hi Amy

It is great to read your daily postings. You are in my prayers and I look forward to seeing M.

Love Dad