Blogs from Masaka, Central Region, Uganda, Africa - page 2

Another volunteer and I went to Nazareth Children's Home (the orphanage affiliated with URF) for a few hours to help out and play with the kids. When we first got there, one of the wardens, Josephine, told us that one of the baby twins had died the night before. We had a small funeral for her. There were about 6 of us there, some women said some prayers in Luganda, and then they buried her in a cloth blanket in about a two foot hole. It was extremely sad. When we saw the other twin later, it was no wonder the other one had died. The one still living is TINY and extremely malnourished (like the pictures you see on tv when their limbs are like sticks and their skin is hanging off their body). The ... read more

One of the volunteers, Kate, had been taking care of a woman named Nampijja (taking her to different clinics and the hospital) for the past couple weeks. She was HIV+ and was finally diagnosed with AIDS, possibly TB, some other infection, and some kind of tumor-like things in the brain that are caused by AIDS. She passed away this Friday night. All the mzungus went with Fred and Adrian to the funeral by her house (way out in the bush). We felt a little uncomfortable because kids always go crazy when mzungus are around, but the commotion wasn’t too bad and I think it meant a lot to the family that we were there. There were probably 200 people there from the surrounding community. It was interesting seeing how they do it. The family is Catholic ... read more

Yesterday, we rented a lorry (open truck with metal bars on sides and top) to go buy supplies and deliver it all to child headed families. These are families where the children either live by themselves or with their Jja Jja (grandma) but none of them have parents. A couple of the girls had gone to visit these 5 families before and assess their needs. We bought mattresses, floor mats, sheets, blankets, lamps, cooking oil, basins, soap, shelves, mosquito nets, and 8 piglets! It was quite a lot of fun riding around in the lorry with all the supplies, 7 mzungus and little piggies. The pigs were scared and huddled together and pooping everywhere but they were adorable. We were pretty far out in the bush so the landscape was absolutely amazing! Only problem was when ... read more