Hey guys so sorry I havn't written in a while.. basically since I was told I had an allergy thing.. the spots on my arms have gone but I have been having big troubles with my stomach and a ranging temperature.
To start it seemed to only be bad in the mornings so on Friday afternoon I was able to go to the beach with Immy, Ema and Rapha. It was a great afternoon actually the beach had a loooong stretch of white sand which looked onto endless views of the lake. It was beautiful. They had some Christian event there which we weren't expecting.. so amongst loud booming African music was the occasional announcement or meeting which was later followed by a big beach party which was pretty kool to be a part of, just watching everyone dancing as the sun set.
However, it was awful to watch this one boy, probably no more than three, toddling about on his on own on this big beach, running in only dark red, adult sized, underpants which were hanging off him. He wandered with a biiig pot belly, due to malnutrition, and a beak shaped belly button. I also was in shock to see an African woman so drunk she could hardly walk, staggering about trying to bop to the music with the biggest drunken smile over her face. I have never seen someone out of control on drink since Ive been here, even in the clubs, let alone a woman in the middle of the day! And then I watched her walk up to that boy, whom I soon realised was her son, and grab his by the arm to lift him from the sitting area down on the beach. I felt so sorry for that boy, Im sure the image will stick in my mind for a long time.
Saturday I woke up to no power what so ever. No lights. No TV. No water. Plus I couldn't get through to Sherry or Aidah so I literally just lay on my bed, still not feeling so great, reading the book mum gave me and sleeping every now and again. The hours went by soo long. It gave me a lot of time to think and reflect on everything here. The Witch Doctor thing with the girl from the slums was still playing on my mind. Its such a different life here and I think that day was the first day since Ive arrived that I properly felt out of my depth and missed home.
Fortunately, Sonja had invited me out in the evening and the power came back so things began looking up as I got ready to dance the night away. Sonja's boyfriend and his mates came and they were very good at looking after us. It was soooo great to dance dance dance although I could tell my body wasn't 100%.
I convinced myself the illness was all in the mind and managed to get enough strength to take Aidah and Sherry swimming on Sunday as I had promised. The girls have never been to a proper swimming pool before and do not know how to swim so it wasn't a surprise when I had to hold their hands through every step as they lowered themselves into the pool. I tried teaching them the motion of the legs as they hung on to the side and then we focussed just on the hand movements. Sherry was very enthusiastic and allowed me to hold her up as she tried putting the two together but she did get a bit too adventurous and ended up swallowing the water.. we all laughed it off and Sherry did well at trying again. Aidah however was a lot more reserved, she just wanted to stand in the shallow hugging herself as she watched everyone else swimming. I think she was impressed by the little kids who could swim plus there was a good range of different skin colours in the pool so I think just getting used to everything was enough for her first time. Hopefully we will get a chance to go again.
After swimming we were all on a high so I decided to treat the girls to the cinema! I did debate whether it was a good decision, as I didnt want to rub things which they dont have in their face, but I asked them if they would like to go and they got so excited plus we talked about the different things which are available to them if they just work hard at school to get a good job. So I think it is giving them hope and something to work for rather than just being surrounded by families suffering. As we got to the cinema the girls just went quiet they had never been anywhere like it and the place was very smart.. just like ours in England. We watched 2012 which turned out to be quite full on and graphic.. we talked about it afterwards so I hope they didn't get nightmares.. they just said they had such a great day and went home with big smiles so I was happy too. This week we are going to focus on their computer skills.
Monday I felt really ill.. very dizzy, I felt really hot... when the clinic took my temperature it was normal but I am still getting stomach pains... they gave me medication so I spent the whole day yesterday just resting and reflecting. It sounds silly but when the people at the guest house heard I was sick they made me an omlette and then came up with sugar and fresh passion-fruit juice. I said thankyou and then broke down in tears. Their gesture meant a lot but also I had tears for the kids. I have such a big heart for them and just cried for their situation and what they have to put up with on a daily basis. I was also frustrated as I don't have much time left here and cannot afford to be sick.
Joze came round to see how I was and we went for dinner but I had such a low appetite.. he was encouraging me to eat but I was just forcing it. I thought I would be better today and I guess I do feel a bit better.. im not getting as bad stomach cramps but its still unsettled and my temperature is still up and down. I managed to go into Mengo but I got there on time (1pm) and was waiting an hour until any of the youth arrived.. by which time I was feeling worse, so only just managed to teach them a bit of salsa and discussed methods of creating their own dance before I began feeling weak and had to head back.
Please pray as I need to be well asap as I have so much more I want to do here before I go.
I love you all loads and am looking forward to spending Christmas with ya
xxx mmmmmwwwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaah xx
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