Uganda... finally!

Praise the Lord, I'm finally here! After a year and a half of applying, waiting, and preparing I am so thrilled to be here :)
I arrived on Tuesday morning and was greeted by my dear friend Dorcas who my family met while she was touring with the Watoto Children's Choir. We travelled from the airport, which is in Entebbe to the capitol, Kampala. We ran a few errands, exchanged money and things of that nature and then I was dropped off at the volunteers' house where I met several other volunteers.  They were so kind and helped me get settled, took me grocery shopping, and are being helpful in so many ways. Overall it was a lovely first day in Uganda.

Wednesday, I went to the church where I attended the Watoto staff devotions where the devotion leader discussed how important it is to be intentional about our thoughts making sure that every thought is taken captive and made obedient to Christ... how important for me to hear that my focus must always been on Christ throughout this experience; no matter the circumstances, the darkness, or anything else, Christ is the reason I am here and he is the one I serve. After devotions I had a volunteer orientation with the volunteer coordinator and then had a meeting with Carl, the director of the psychosocial department of Watoto. He and I will leave for Gulu on Monday where he will give me more details of what my responsibilities will be.

Yesterday I had the tremendous opportunity to go with Dorcas to one of the Watoto villages that is about an hour away from Kampala where she was facilitating a group counseling session with the mothers of Watoto. Their goal is to provide the mothers with counseling for the traumatic experiences they have endured so that they will be the best mothers they can be to the children.  After working with the mothers, they will begin to counsel the children. The psychosocial department has recently just started working in the villages in Kampala because their main focus has been in Gulu since the department was established to help the child soldiers. But, all of the orphaned children and their house mothers have experienced traumas and are also in need of healing. After the group session I was blessed to go visit some of the mothers' homes; what extraordinarily beautiful, strong, compassionate women. We then transported one of the mothers to the hospital because she has been very sick for 2 weeks and not responding to treatment at the Watoto clinic- please keep her in your prayers, I do not know her name but she was very sick.

Today was a Ugandan holiday so I had the day to myself so I visited the babies' home here in Kampala and spent some time with the beautiful children. What extraordinary little miracles they all are.
Thank you all for your love and prayers. I miss you already but am so extraordinarily blessed to be here.
With love,
Kelsie