Teaching thankfulness

We have been talking with the children at the orphanage about thankfulness.  Our hope is that they grow up appreciating what they have, what they are given, and the people who are involved in helping them.  The children have drawn pictures and written letters to some of our supporters, and we have put together programs for the Cornerstone staff and community members in Budaka, thanking them through speeches, cards, and stories.  It has been so rewarding to watch our kids thank so many people.

We had a competition this week to see how many supporters the children could remember and name.  We gave them rectangular pieces of paper to write the names on, and the winning group (made up of 8 boys) remembered 44 supporters!  Amazing.  We took all the papers and made paper chains to decorate their rooms with.  So now, they not only have something colorful on the walls of their rooms, but they have a daily reminder of people who they can be thankful for. 

Oliver and I sitting in the hospital last week.

Oliver

         One of our younger children, Oliver (6 years old), started having convulsions brought on by malaria last Thursday night.  They first treated her in a Budaka clinic, and then we rushed her to a hospital in Mbale as she wasn’t responding to the medication quickly enough.  As she continued to convulse, kicking me, ripping at the clothes of Aunt Betty (who was holding her in her lap), all of us in the car were scared, wondering if she would even make it to the hospital.  We just kept trying to hold her head away from the door, where she could bang it, and continued praying.

         Thankfully, the doctor got Oliver into the hospital immediately on arrival and was able to get her the needed treatment.  Her convulsions stopped by about midnight of the same night we brought her to the hospital.  Our nurse at Cornerstone, Mary, was able to stay the night with Oliver and make sure she was okay. 

         I then had the opportunity to spend all of Friday in the hospital with Oliver, while the nurses continued to give her medicine through her IV.  I taught her Tic Tac Toe, we went on I Spy walks around the hospital grounds, I let her play games on my phone, and we watched movies on my laptop.  (This was my first time to spend an entire day in the hospital- they really are boring, but vitally important, places!).  

         Oliver ended up staying two nights total in the hospital and came back ready to play with her friends last Saturday. Many of the other Cornerstone children had expressed concern that Oliver wasn’t ever coming back, so seeing her allayed their fears.  The other kids showered her with attention and there wasn’t any shortage of smiles or laughter that afternoon.  It was great to see our Cornerstone family reunited after such a scary illness took Oliver away for a few days.  I am happy to be able to write that Oliver is fine now. :)

Moses' newest breakthrough

Moses has learned another great skill this week!  Since he is the “baby” in the Cornerstone family, and because of his age, he likes to throw temper tantrums.  Often his tantrums are a result of his inability to adequately communicate what he needs or wants, and in the end, everyone wants to stop him from crying, so they figure out what he wants and give it to him. 

         Knowing all of this, I have been working with him on expressing himself using words and sign language, not screams and tears, to communicate.  Maybe I’m spoiling him further, but there is one thing that I’ve discovered motivates him well in this endeavor: sugar.  Each time he’s in our kitchen and sees our container of sugar, he points to it excitedly.  I decided he should learn to say and sign the word “sugar.”  I helped this vocabulary term along by giving him some sugar granules in his hand each time he asked for sugar with his words.  For the last few weeks, I have said, “What do you want?  Use your words,” but I have always had to first give the response, “Sugar please” for him to say it back to me.

         But yesterday, after he pointed at the sugar, I again said, “Moses, what do you want?  Use your words.”  And he said, “Sugar please,” while using the sign language I taught him, all without me first prodding him with the answer.  I was so excited!  And of course, I gave him some sugar in his hand as a reward.  So he’s learned to communicate what he wants (which is almost always sugar now) but now my dilemma is: When do I stop giving him sugar as a reward for communicating? Whose really training who here?

         Thought I would share this great next step in Moses’ development.  And by the way, he is walking everywhere these days.  There’s no leaving him behind anymore, whether it’s a game, meal time, or whatever- he follows the children and gets involved.  Every day, his gait is strengthening and he can walk farther without stopping to rest.  Yeah, Moses!

Love you all,

Abby

Highlights from the week ;)

Hey friends!  It has been a good week here at Cornerstone.  Here are some of the challenging, fun and interesting stories from this week:

o   Last Sunday, I was teaching the children’s class at church and we were looking at the Battle of Jericho and the wall falling down.  Two things happened during the class: I had the kids doing tower-building competitions with plastic communion cups and my interpreter left to go and teach the youngest children (babies-age 3).  I was left with 60 kids, 184 cups, and 45 minutes to teach a skill I soon realized nobody had ever learned (except for me).  Note for next time: first show how to stack cups to build a tower, and try to find a smooth surface (our floor is made of chipped cement, and so most of the towers that the kids were able to make fell over after a few seconds).  Well, one lesson learned…

o   Moses is scared of other white people: On Tuesday, Pastor Rogers, my mom and I took Moses to see a physiotherapist in Mbale.  We got to ride in a car for the 30-minute drive and all of that was very exciting for him.  However, upon reaching the doctor’s office, Moses saw his doctor for the first time and started screaming.  He didn’t calm down until after I took him outside, and even when we came back in, he cried every time she even tried to touch him.  I never knew bazungu (white people) were so scary!

o   A while back I had written about trying to teach the kids about being good sports when playing games.  I have continued to remind them not to have a “bad attitude” but have been wondering if they really picked up on the message.  But this week I have decided: They were really listening!  I went in to say goodnight and pray for one of the rooms of boys on Thursday and I chose to start with Dovico.  As I sat down next to him on the bed, I heard Johnson say, “But Tr. Abby, you always start with Dovico!” (a fact which I can definitively say, is not true, but that’s beside the point).    Ronald, the oldest boy in the room, immediately looked at Johnson and said, “Johnson, stop!  You’re doing ‘bad attitude!’”  They really got the lesson.  Victory is sweet.

Well, there’s a bit of my life this week.  Thank you for the thoughts, prayers, financial support- I appreciate what all of you do so that these kids continue to have a great home and I get to be here with them.  And as always, I would love to hear from you!

A picture of Moses saying "Hi!"

This week in Budaka

         We are in our fourth week of the school term now at Cornerstone Learning Centre.  Yesterday, my mom and I taught our second computer class at the school.  It's been a great adventure so far.  None of our kids had even touched a computer before, so we got to start with the basics: “This is a computer.  Computers store information, like documents, pictures, videos, calendars, etc.  This is a cursor.  You move the cursor by…” The kids are just eating up everything and have lots of questions.  It’s great to see them learning all this now, so that when they are older, they will have the knowledge to write papers, store pictures, use disk-drives, use email, etc.  Being involved in their learning process is so fun!

         Then tonight, Laurie and I are having Margret and Charity, two of our young girls at the orphanage, come and spend the night at our house.  We have been doing this every Friday for the last two months: taking two kids, making American food for dinner and breakfast, playing card games and watching a movie (“Ice Age”) together.  It’s so much fun to get to have individual time with our kids.  I’m looking forward to tonight, especially because both of these girls have so much personality.  (Margret was trying to tell me something the other day and I said, “What?  I didn’t hear you.”  Margret said, “Teacher Abby, you mean that you don’t understand English??”  She is such a character!).  It should be an interesting sleepover tonight…

         Well, I’m going to go and finish resting on my day off.  Ahh, electricity, cold water, and internet all in the same place.  Gotta love Friday...

         Have a great weekend!  Thanks for the prayers, support, and communication- I love hearing from everyone.

Being at Home

         We have our new kids now- yeah!  Cornerstone Children’s Home now houses 29 children: 16 boys and 13 girls.  The first week was hard for our 6 new children, with several of them crying to go “home” (with whatever relatives or friends they were living with before).  The process of them getting used to their new home was tough on both sides, but we are so excited to have them and they are now happy to be here!

         All of us went to church last Sunday, it being their second day at Cornerstone, and things in Sunday School were going well, or so I thought.  Then one of the other girls, Natasha, said, “Tr. Abby, Doreen urinated all over our mat!”  I looked down to see a large portion of the mat wet, the children scurrying away, and Doreen just looking complacently up at me, obviously now feeling relief.  The fact that her dress, legs and shoes, along with the mat, were soaking wet, didn’t seem to affect her.  Oh, Doreen!  (These newer children had never used a latrine before, and were just used to squatting and peeing wherever they happened to find themselves).

         That was how the first few days were with our new kids, but now that it’s been almost 2 weeks, they are definitely feeling more comfortable.  They weren’t smiling at first, but now they smile all the time, they are learning to speak English, and they are playing with the other children.  Joel, our only new boy, was playing hide-and-seek with me before breakfast today, and busted up laughing every time I found him- what a great thing to see.  Beatrice, whose 5, is trying so hard to learn English, and mimics us each time we do songs or chants or anything.  Our newer children are now feeling at home at Cornerstone!!

         Then there’s Moses, who is already quite at home at Cornerstone.  Moses continues to make great leaps and bounds in development.  He has added “circle,” “Laurie” and “orange” to his spoken vocabulary this week.  Every day he walks a few more steps on his own, and has such a pride in walking on his own.  Aunt Monicah (his “mother” at Cornerstone) and I discovered that without either of us teaching him, he has learned to put on his own sandals, which involves him threading Velcro straps through plastic rings and then pulling the Velcro through.  He can sit and do the whole thing, even if it takes five minutes.  Amazing, especially because he has a short attention span about most activities.

         Love to you all, from myself and the kids.  One of the little girls, Margaret, told us this morning that she prayed for “everyone in America” last night, so consider yourself prayed for.  :)  Thanks for your support of these kids!

-Abby

The family is growing!

We’re getting new kids!!  As of tomorrow afternoon, Cornerstone Children’s Home will be having 7 new children- woohoo!  These new children will bring the total number of kids to 30- the children we have now are so excited.  Margret, who’s 4 years old, keeps asking me: “Are the new children coming now?  How about now, Teacher Abby?”  I get a little tired of answering the question, but it’s fun to see the joy these new arrivals are bringing.

           Speaking of our children, Moses continues to progress greatly each week.  I have been teaching him sign language along with verbal words, in hopes that he learns to communicate faster.  He has learned to sign these words: shoes, clean-up, please, cold, hot, and again.  He continues to say some definite words, and then babble in-between, but he is learning to communicate what he wants in a way that we can understand.  He is also saying his sister, Natasha’s, name, which sounds like “Ay-yas-ha.”  Yeah, Moses! 

         Moses continues to show us that he wants to walk, too.  So often now, instead of agreeing to be carried by the other children, he pushes them away and walks by himself while holding onto the wall or whatever happens to be nearby.  It just makes me think about when I first came, and how he never wanted to stand up and just wanted to scoot around on his bottom. So cute to watch him scooting.  Now, every day, Aunt Monica (the “mom” at the orphanage) puts his sandals on and he proudly walks around with them.  Yesterday we were having races of boys and girls and I took Moses by the hands and helped him “run,” while he giggled uncontrollably.  What a happy, fulfilled little boy he is- thank you, Lord.

         I am so lucky to be here getting to be with these kids like Moses.  I was talking to a friend from the States this morning, and she asked what I was passionate about in the work at Cornerstone.  So many things came to mind that I couldn’t even name them all, and I realized once again that I am so thankful to be here in Budaka with these children who I love- and those ones who are coming and who will be so loved.  Thank you for the support, friends!

School vacation

These past two weeks have been a wonderful in just spending time loving on the children at Cornerstone (the children are still their vacation between terms).

 

Last week, with 20 (of 24) of the Cornerstone children gone to visit their family clans, there were only four kids at the orphanage for several days.  These four siblings have no family whatsoever to go and stay with, and so I had the opportunity to spend time individually with them all week.  My favorite time was when we walked into town and bought a snack of fried bread (called “chipati," which are similar to tortillas) and then went back to the orphanage.  The children were just so happy to go for a walk with me and to have such a special treat (the total for the four chipati was 1600 shillings, approximately 70 cents).  

The funniest moment of this week was when we were playing “I Spy” and the oldest girl, Natasha, said, “I spy something brown.”  We were all guessing and then someone guessed: “Is it Teacher Abby?”  I burst out laughing and said, “Am I brown?”  They unanimously answered: “Yes, especially your neck.”  Unbeknownst to me, the African sun has been darkening my skin, even though I still hear people shout at me, “Mzungu!” (“White person!”) everywhere I go.

Now that all 24 children are home at Cornerstone, I have been spending my days helping Moses walk (wearing his own sandals now- so cute!); playing games of “I Spy,” Red Rover, Hide-n-Seek, and the new favorite, Limbo; giving piggy-back rides to giggling children; making the walk to a nearby soccer field more exciting by playing Follow-the-Leader instead of just walking the half-mile quietly; complimenting children (especially those who can be more difficult) on good choices they make during activities; the list goes on and on.  Every day is another adventure with the children at Cornerstone, and I so appreciate being able to be here and walk through daily life with them.

As I walked to town today and boarded my taxi to come and be on the internet in Mbale, and as I caught my breath in the humid air, I thought about the juxtaposition of being in Oregon and living in Budaka, Uganda.  I thought about how much I dislike the hot climate, huge spiders, mosquito bites, etc. here, but conversely love being with the children who live here, and how that makes all the difference.   I go to bed exhausted every night but somehow wake up with the energy to go and do it all again the next morning.

Thanks for reading about my process here and supporting me, in whatever way, so I can be in Uganda.  It is so encouraging to receive funding, communicate with people from home, and know that I am in people’s thoughts and prayers.  Love you all,

Abby

Isaac

Moses' older brother, Isaac, being silly with a piece of plastic he found.

Mmm.  A cup of black, strong coffee, bread with real butter, fruit and an omelette (made to order)- staying at a hotel is wonderful!  I also had a real shower today (no wash basin and cup needed!) and it was awesome.  The little things in life...

I have now been in Uganda for a little over a month.  I now have that huge appreciation of things I no longer experience every day (hot breakfasts, water that comes out when commanded by a handle, and a fan blowing all night- it's almost like air conditioning ;). 

Moses continues to do well with developing speech and learning to walk.  This week, for the first time since I started working with him, he pushed my hands away when I helped him stand up (he can't quite get vertical on his own, but almost).  The look on his face when he stood for a few seconds by himself, before sitting down) was priceless.  It was the greatest reward for me this week, watching him finally be self-motivated to walk.  Yeah, Moses!

The other 23 children are doing well.  We are working this week on good sportsmanship during games.  I explained this as: "Have a smile on your face, whether you are on the team you want, if you win, or if you lose."  We'll see how this concept continues to develop- it is sort of a life-long lesson if you ask me, here or in any other country.  It was very encouraging to see the kids all participate cheerfully in Duck-duck-goose after our last discussion about having good attitudes- yahoo!

Love you all, friends and family!  Have a great end-of-the-week...

Moses and the toothbrush- we were starting to brush his teeth, but his expression was too cute to continue without a picture!

Moses and I hanging out

One day at Cornerstone

Yesterday was probably the best day I have had since I came back to Uganda.  It was amazing and tiring and exciting and everything all at once.

It started with many of the children being sad in the morning.  Their school semester here had just ended for one month, so this was the first day of holidays, when no boarders or day schoolers would be around to play with.  The kids told me they missed their friends and they also didn't have school to occupy them (kids in Uganda enjoy attending school, as opposed to the attitude of many students in America).  The kids at the orphanage were looking at a long boring day.
So I decided to come with a bag of tricks (literally).  First, we made some origami, and even the preschoolers joined in and the older kids helped them.
Then we held races in the courtyard (I beat the kids' "mom," Aunt Monica, in our foot race, which made the kids laugh and cheer as much as it surprised me.  She is a short, thin woman, and I am not  :)  After the races, I taught them Hide n Seek, and remembered why I never include preschoolers in this game.  The first round, Charity and Isaac, both 4 years old, trailed behind the "it" person and told where everyone was hiding; they sort of missed the point of the game, at least for the older kids.  :)
After a quick water and potty break for me (it was around 85/90 out and we had been playing in the direct sunlight all morning), I brought out "Go Fish," which some of the kids knew (thank you, Dina Poulin!).  Four-kids-at-a-time came and played the game in one of the classrooms, and while we played, the other 20 kids were at the windows and doorways, itching for their turn to come and play.  Even their "mom" asked to come to play- this was her first time!
Afterwards, we ate lunch together and then the kids rested.  Moses got mad at me (he was playing in his water cup instead of eating, so I took the cup away) and threw a huge fit, screaming and throwing himself down.  So, I decided to take him and put him down for a nap.  An hour and a half later, he woke up happy and willing to try walking and talking (he says 10 words now!) and hanging out with me with me again.  Ah, 3-year-olds.  Africa or America, they are still the same.   
Once rest time was over, we sang songs and played some hand-clapping games together.  It was almost time for dinner when I decided to call it a day. 

This one day was so fun for me because I got to spend time just loving on and playing with these kids.  Small things (like adult attention) sure go a long way.
And thanks for reading my blogs from over here!  I would always love to hear from you, here, on facebook, or through email.  Have a great week.
-Abby

Pictures...

Here is Moses reading from a book of colors during our time together.

These are some children at Cornerstone's school being silly during recess.

Celebration and Laughter

Things are going great here in Budaka!  This week has been mostly made up of adjusting to the new time zone (no more jet lag, yahoo!), adjusting to the culture here, and building relationships with the children at Cornerstone.  The little boy, Moses, who I am working with to learn to talk, can now say the names of 3 colors, a major breakthrough for someone who has said nothing except "mama" prior to this week.  Moses is also doing great at learning to walk and almost took an independent step this past Friday.  Yeah!  

I love being here and I wanted to share with you a few little things that brought me tears of laughter this week:

• I made a discovery this week while bathing (think cement room, a basin of water, a cup and a drain to the outside).  I was looking down at the design printed on the bottom of the washbasin.  There are flowers, butterflies, and star-shaped dots printed on a blue background.  Here are the words around the pictures: “Little flower: Let’s feel the clean cosmos; let’s feel urgently the fresh family’s atmosphere.”  Anyone else confused as to what this message means? 
• On a box of pots and pans, the company boasts that they have “30 years of excellecne.”  I had to think twice before buying the pans: do I really want a company that boasts of excellence or excellecne?  Hmmm.
• After buying a small gas stove for the house, I pulled out the manual to ensure I put it together correctly.  After referencing the front cover, I opened to the appropriate page, only to find that the rest of the manual was in Arabic, save for the front and back covers.  How helpful…not!  Anyone want to come over and read Arabic for me?
• While reading over an inventory list of new clothes that my mom and I had given out (donated from the States for the kids here), something caught my eye: “Ronald- 2 shirts, 1 pair of shorts; Charles: 2 _____…” Wait a minute!  Instead of writing that Charles had 2 shirts, the author accidentally left out a very important consonant, turning an ordinary word into a swear word.  Oh, Uganda…

Let me end by saying I would not be able to be here working with the children, without the financial, spiritual and emotional support I am receiving from all of you.  Thank you so much!! 

 Until next week,

-Abby

This is Brenda, the oldest child at the orphanage, with Hope (Rogers' youngest daughter).  Don't you love the knit caps in 90 degree weather?

WE ARE HERE!!!

My mom and I arrived safely on Friday night in Uganda.  On Saturday morning, we drove to Budaka, the town where the Cornerstone orphanage and church are located.  We spent the afternoon being greeted by the children (they sang a welcoming song and danced for us- it was awesome!) and then I got to meet the children individually.  They were just as happy in person as they were in the pictures and videos that I have seen (and most of you have also seen).  It is wonderful to see that they are real children and not just people in stories.  :)

My mom and I have moved into a three-bedroom “house” (I put the word in quotations because it must be thought of in an African way). The house has cement floors, barred windows and doors (which also have glass panes, but because they weren’t secured well, the panes are falling out), and also a bonus: two two-by-two foot holes cut into the ceilings, which Laurie and I are hoping no snakes fall out of. 

The construction of the house in general is a bit questionable, as they also left the indoor washroom (an inside room for taking sponge baths) without any holes/drains for the water to go out, rendering the room useless for now.  So as of now, my mom and I have been bathing outside behind a 6-foot-high walled structure.  But each time we go out in our yard to this structure, we attract a group of people to our fence who watch and wait for us to emerge, I assume it’s because we are white and it is entertaining to watch us go and bathe outside.  We are thinking about planting bushes around the inside of the fence, to give a bit more privacy than the barbed wire provides. 

Other than that and a case of jet lag, things are good here.  I love the people and am enjoying the journey of cultural and physical adjustment (jet lag is still getting to me, especially in the afternoons, when my body says it is time to sleep). It is a process and probably by next week at this time, the jet lag will be a thing of the past.

So there’s a little picture of my last three days (forgot my camera today, but for sure next week I will post a picture of two).  Sorry this was long, but it was hard to summarize many experiences with a few words!   

Have a great week!  Until next time,

Abby

24 Hours From Now

I am getting so excited!  Tomorrow morning at this time, I will be driving to the airport, with all the supplies (hopefully) I need for a year in Uganda.  Things that are special to me are tucked away and ready for my return, and everything else will be on my back or in the bags I drag into the airport.

As I have been packing and weighing and making last minute shopping trips to stores, I have become overwhelmed.  It's hard to try to decide "Will I need this sometime this next year?"  A year is a huge chunk of time.  A year is a long time to leave all my friends in the States to move across the world to Africa.  I will miss everyone, and yet I know this is the right thing for me to do now.  I am going to submerse myself once again in the life and culture of the Ugandan people, and I get to love on the children of Budaka.  What a privilege it is to be able to go and be with new friends there.  And what a great thing it will be to then come back and share with my friends in America!

Thank you everyone who supports me.  Thank you for the things I have been receiving for the work in Uganda: financial support, restaurant supplies, goodies for the kids, cards with encouraging words - I appreciate everything!  I have included a picture from the packing yesterday to give you an idea of the amount of items my mom and I are trying to take with us, most of which were donated by our friends here.  The other picture is a special cup that I am taking to use at my new job in Uganda- personalized with a nickname from my green apron friends  :) 

My next post will be from Uganda- woo-hoo!  Thanks friends!
Love you,
Abby