Nabosa

Hi!
I am really happy right now...I am with Kelsi and Marissa in this unbelievable compound that belongs to some missionaries who went back to the US for a couple months. That's not why I'm really happy...I have spent the last two days talking to these girls and then also talking to Kiki and Andy (the people who started Shepherad's Heart) about our projects on the island and I am so excited!! AH! It's just so exciting!!! I really love Kiki. She is a nurse who's been here for six years now and she has some amazing stories and experiences, and is 100% fluent in Luganda. She has such an understanding of community development and health problems and it's really inspiring. She gave me a lot of great ideas of what our group can do related to health and nutrition and I just can't wait.


On another note, there is one thing that I forgot to mention in my last post.
Every morning at the KCCC, the whole staff starts the day by meeting in this one room and everyone greets each other, then there's a short song prayer which is really nice because there are drums and everyone has such a beautiful voice, and then there are some announcements and things. Every single morning, this group of older women was just absolutely delighted that I could greet them in Luganda. They would all laugh and hug me and be so happy every single day just because I could say "good morning Mrs." Finally they said that I need a Baganda tribal name, so they have named me Nabosa which means that I am a Baganda from the sheep tribe. hah!

Ah! It's so hard to explain everything that's going through my head right now. This has been such a great two months but it's also been SO MUCH! There were moments, like during the music festival, where I was just like "wow! This is so awesome! I can't believe I'm here..." but then I've also had times where I felt like I was really just going through the motions because it was so much to process and it was only afterwards that I could look back and think about it and be like, "wow." Like during the home visits. I talked to these families and these women about a lot of things, but it wasn't until later that night when I was reading the book The End of Poverty that I all of a sudden started crying because of everything that I had seen during the day, and the way that it tied into the book. I probably won't be able to fully process everything until I get home and am able to look back on it all.

I am so happy though. The people here are so friendly, open, and have just amazing capacities for laughter. The African time system is laid back and friendly and makes you focus more on the people you're with. The hospitality makes you feel so special. And I've learned so, so much. I've learned not to fight so much or be so bothered about people ripping me off, or yelling "mazungu! mazungu!"

anyways...now a whole new adventure is about to start. Two days for last minute organizing and details and then everyone will be here!!

lots of love,
shelly