It has been an entire week in Uganda….wow!  I feel like a lot has happened and I don’t know where to start…this post might get long…

I started in Jinja for a few days with a friend.  She works for an organization called Ekisa Ministries.  Although much of my time there was simply visiting with my friend, we spent a bit of time at one of the Jinja hospitals.  A young man had, well, ‘attempted’ to drop off a boy at Ekisa.  The boy was very malnourished at the time and through a bit of conversing, it was found out that the man was actually the boy’s dad and didn’t seem to have the means to care for the son…there is a bit more to the story, but to make things quick, when I arrived in Jinja the staff at Ekisa were trying to help out the dad by paying for some hospital fees, medications and also helping with re-feeding his son.

That said, I ended up staying with my friend at the hospital for a bit of time.  I brought the boy for one of his chest x-rays and learned a bit about formulas that are used for re-feeding…it was both interesting and heartbreaking.  I kept trying to figure what this boy’s quality of life would look like in the year’s to come.  By the time I got there I was told he was looking much better than when he’d first arrived…but it’s hard to think that this poor boy might be sent home with a dad who might not care properly for his son.  They ended up being sent home after a course of antibiotics (as they believed the boy had pneumonia) and the dad was told to come back for more formula for feeding.  At this point in time, I think the dad has come back at least once for formula, but continued prayer would be a welcome thing for him and his son!  Prayer seems to be the only thing you can do in some situations…

After those first few days, I feel like I have done LOTS of travelling around.  I went to Mukono on my own from Jinja and met up with a team from my old church in Ontario…got to see the project they are involved with over here and then I headed over to Kampala for a day and a bit on my own.  My friend met up with me there and we headed to Mpigii where another church of mine has a partnership.  For those who’ve heard me talk of Uganda, Mpigii is the place that I’ve visited a few times before…and it has been an absolute blessing to be back here!

Anyhow, I’m presently in Mpigii on my own.  My friend headed back to Jinja this morning.  I’m waiting for the kids to get out of school and then I’ll head over there for another quick visit.  I’m staying at a guesthouse on the top of a hill (kinda reminds me of the movie “psycho” but I’m trying not to think about it too much…bahaha!).  There’s a sit down toilet and legit shower though, so two thumbs up from me otherwise!

ALL of that said, heres some photos from the first few days at Ekisa…I’ll dedicate another post to the Mpigii kids and will include some photos if you’re wondering…

Cuddled the kiddo below for quite a bit…his mother eagerly handed him to me…I graciously accepted…

Stacy handed out some hugs of her own…

The group of volunteers and momma’s at Ekisa…

And here’s a couple (below) of the day I spent with my Ontario church…