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Published: September 4th 2010
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Oral hygeine classes.
The local dentist giving the children a lesson on oral hygeine at PCA. It is with an extremely heavy heart that I write my last blog before I return home to Australia. I have now been in Kampala for five months and I can not begin to explain how I feel when I think of returning home and having to leave the people and country that I have absolutely fallen in love with. While I am excited to see all my friends and family at home I am also devastated to leave my friends (and surrogate family) that I have here.
At the time of writing this blog I have 14 days left here. So, inspired by a German volunteer who cooked the kids some of her favourite German food when she left, the kids and I decided that an Aussie night was in order for my farewell...and how much more Aussie can you get then a sausage sizzle?? So with my two awesome friends Kath and Tracey we shopped and cooked our little Aussie and Kiwi hearts out. The menu was sausages and veggie patties with potato salad and garden salad followed by a fruit salad and cake, oh yeah, and two crates of soda to wash it all down with...needless to
A bit of Aussie patriotism.
Patrick proudly displaying the Aussie flag. say, the sugar buzz that the kids were on when we left will not doubt last for days (and aren't we glad we were able to go home at the end of the night when they were all high as kites!! :-)). While it isn't technically time for my farewell I wanted to have this night while the boys that are at boarding school are still here. They head back for the new term on Sunday. I think the girls and I can safely say that the night was a huge success with lots of giggles, dancing, Australian flag tatoos and balloons (thanks Kath and Trace!).
So what has been happening since my last blog? Well apart from showing Kath and Tracey the tricks and traps of living in Kampala, I have been busy taking the kids to the dentist (still! There are a lot of kids that need fillings and the fantastic dentist that we found was nice enough to come to the home to give the kids an oral hygeine lesson as well as a free check up). I have also been busy teaching the kids some 'life lessons' with a session on 'Trust, honesty, respect and
Grubs up!
Feeding the hungry hoards. consequences'. While these things may be second nature to us, without a stable family unit over their most important years, sometimes the kids need a bit of a guiding hand. I have also enjoyed spending more time with them over their school holidays helping them to revise and just having fun with them.
As all this is going on there have been a couple of moments that have made me stop and remember that these are kids, just being kids. While the circumstances surrounding how they came to live at PCA sometimes make you forget that they still really are just kids, every now and then you have a moment that brings it home to you. For example, the other day when I was sitting watching 8 year old John playing in the dirt with toy soldiers - this moment absolutely took my breath away when I thought that only four weeks ago John had been struggling to survive on the streets in the Kisenyi slum (John is the most recent addition to the PCA family). Or the moment when I was at the dentist with four year old Shukuran and I asked her what the dentist had told
Cooking Ugandan style.
The charcoal stove that we prepared the Aussie feast on while the boys were busy on the barbeque. her to do and she responded without a flutter of her eyelids or a hint of a smile that he had told her 'to eat chocolate' (which I know he definitely HAD NOT told her to do!). Or Patrick, who after telling me his harrowing life story, finished it by saying that one of his hopes for the future, apart from being a social worker who helped people, was to be a soldier.
It is moments like these that bring it home to me how much these kids are just kids. So, while I may be returning home I hope that myself and Kate can continue to help them with the support of all our friends and family in Aus. I know I will continue to be an advocate on behalf of these kids when I return. For those of you who may be interested, or may know someone else who may be interested in sponoring a child, please head to the PCA website at http://peaceforchildrenafrica-org.ning.com/ to read their profiles and read about their sponsorship program. I wish you could all spend just half an hour with these kids - I guarantee that you would fall in love with
In the kitchen.
Busy cooking on the charcoal stove with all my little helpers - and they were all expert cooks! them like we have.
Thank you so much for all your support you have shown to Kate and I and PCA over these past few months, we could not have done it without you!
Love Jac.
xoxo
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