Today we actually had a chance to sleep in until 8:30. It was much needed sleep and no one on the team complained. We gathered our snack food (Dorkas is off on Sundays so we are on our own) and headed down to the church. The church was packed with children singing and dancing. It was so sweet. One boy was playing the keyboard and another the drum. The rhythm always amazes me, mostly because I got none!! The sermon, given by one of the staff, was on patience; something I know way too little about! It was short and to the point and geared for the children's level of understanding. She even had them join in song. I spent the service holding a sweet little girl who fell asleep in my arms. There is nothing better!!! When church was over we moved to the cafeteria where the beans were dumped on the floor for sorting. And I mean dumped. There were three huge bags! The first thing they do is put them in huge sifters where four children move them back and forth getting rid of the small non-edible stuff. Then the kids collect buckets of beans and pour them on the table where they remove the bad beans, straw, and any other non-edible products. They are rather quick at the process unlike us Mzungus who slowly separated the good from the bad. We spent about 1-1/2 hours doing this in relationship with the kids. It really is a sweet moment; although it makes you appreciate beans in a can. The children know they have to do a good job in the sorting because beans are their main staple throughout the week. The rest of the day they have to themselves to get ready for school on Monday and to be kids! Every child participates. There are two without arms and they somehow manage to sort the beans as well. No one treated special or different and I love that about Musana.
Now we are back in the gazebo resting to get ready to go see the baboons. The rest is great as tomorrow begins another busy and crazy week. I have so enjoyed seeing everyone I know and reconnecting. I just love this place and though I miss home terribly I am so thankful to be here!
So we all gathered and drove about an hour away to see the baboons. It is the end of Ramadan (a Muslim holiday) and the streets are full of people celebrating. The baboons are waiting on the side of the roads for people like us to feed them bananas and maze (which we had purchased on the way). We actually all got out of the van and were about 5 feet from the animals as they grabbed up the bananas and maze and ate away. It was interesting watching them eat the maze, because like us, they actually took the husk off before eating. The scenery along the way was beautiful and I was in heaven. Afterwards we went to Sol View with just about everyone else in the Iganga area. The festivities were still going on and the music was loud. Our favorite music video of the night was a love song and lyrics were "you are my detergent!". Very romantic!!
We are now home and getting ready to go to sleep. Uganda is changing. In some ways the changes are very good but in some ways the changes make me very sad. Kyemba showed up today in shorts and tennis shoes; something he never would have done a few years ago. Susan wore jeans to the restaurant. I may have to loosen the dress code a little for next year!!
I love you all.
Sue
