the final day

today was our last day in mbale and at the lluwanda children's home. it was sort of bittersweet.

in the morning, we headed over to the home to wait on momma ida and edward before our trip to a nearby village. we ended up mostly waiting around all morning but it was nice to have a break. mary and mike were teaching the final class about the library this morning in the meantime.

a group of us put all of the childrens' names in individual bibles - one for each of them and passed them out after lunch. nana and i took this time to pass out the bracelets we had made too. all the kids were really excited about the bracelets; it was awesome:) hopefully someone got some pictures...

after handing out backpacks full of supplies to each of the staff members/teachers, we all packed into 2 vans and drove off with mama ida to a nearby village. it was prime picture time and i think i got some great shots that im really excited about. the village experience was different, but all the people that we visited along the way were extremely cheerful and happy to see us. all the children loooveedd the camera and were eager to get in as many pictures as possible. they were all immensely respectful - bowing before us all as is customary. one of the women along the way was so excited to see us, she called out in joy with the call of "ay, ay, ay, ay, ay!" it was interesting to be a part of. it was crazy to see how little these farmers have - with just their mud huts and farms of anywhere from a few chickens to a whole heard of cows and goats (the latter being the more wealthy). the bathrooms - wow how greatful i am for the porcelain thrones back home. lol.

after our village visit, we headed back to LCH for the dedication of the library and a celebration afterwards of music and prayer and dance, followed by a "snack" (which looked a lot more like dinner lol) of goat, irish potatoes, greens, flatbread and a fried sort of egg-roll type deal in a triangle shape that had beans, peas and corn in it. all of it was good - even the goat. it was different but definately good haha.

i was sad to leave all of my kiddos - gift, naula, pheobe, flavia, morgan, joel, aidha, zulfa, juliet, and bernard. i was sure to find each of them and hug them goodbye. bernard gave me a note right before we left too - which was new - i had only recieved notes from the girls before but i was happy to get it:) theyre all such sweet kids and i cant wait for the next opportunity to come back! (Lord willing) but i know theyre in good hands and have a brand new library to journey into now:)

(little gift, munchin on tonights meal)

tomorrow we head out of mbale and off to visit nana and grandad's friends. so i doubt ill be updating for at least a day or two. hopefullly ill be able to update once were all settled in london, but no guarentees!

keep up the prayers; we appreciate them greatly:)