Malayaka House, We Go...

It's 5:30am on Sunday and we're leaving Entebbe in 17 hours. I haven't gone to bed yet, partially because I'm exhausted and I know I'd sleep in later than I want, and partially because I feel like there's too much that should be done before I go. But regardless of if I go to sleep, I'm not going to be ready to leave tonight. I don't know when it will truly sink in that we're moving out of this incredible place that we've called home for the last 5 months. It's hard to imagine that tomorrow morning I won't wake up to the sounds of 36 children and teenagers laughing, yelling, crying, and playing. I won't walk to town to buy groceries and pay bills. I won't help waitress at a restaurant in my own home. I won't live with 7 dogs. I won't have rice & beans for lunch, prepared with love by wonderful aunties.I won't have homework time with 10 first and second graders. I won't be able to walk to the beach to get a soda and chips with the kids. I won't have a farm in my backyard. I won't hear awesome thunderstorms while falling asleep at night.

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It's hard to imagine, but I'm sure the 23 hour trip home will pull me into reality. And I have a lot to look forward to at home. A few days in New Jersey as Evan prepares to move down south (and maybe even a night in Newark for a Stanley Cup game!). Seeing my parents and the rest of my family. My high school reunion on Saturday. Some much needed visits to Vermont. Plenty of time with friends. Fun work with my cousin. Maybe even coaching basketball. Road races and road trips. Family vacation in Nantucket. And eventually the start of a whole new adventure in Arkansas.

The last couple weeks here have been a whirlwind of both chaos and delight. We have 11 volunteers in our new house plus 7 in my house, so there's never a dull moment. Evan and I had strep throat last week and spent 2 days resting, but other than that we've been trying to do everything we've been forgetting, plus some special outings thanks to the money raised by the Champlain College students and staff that are here. On top of the money they raised, they also arrived with 12 bags, each weighing 50 lbs, totally full of donations. Our new friend, Fern Melvin, organized a donation drive through the Ludlow Rotary Club in Vermont and met many generous donors. Besides bringing donations and money to Malayaka House, Fern brought a whole lot of love. Everyone here enjoyed their time with her, and I know she'll be back here as soon as she gets the chance. But, back to our latest adventures... thanks to Fern's hard work we were able to take everyone to the zoo, to the pool at the nicest hotel in Entebbe, and to the beach twice. We also spent half a day without the kids at Ngamba Chimpanzee Sanctuary, which included a beautiful boat ride across the equator. We went to the craft market in Kampala and walked around the city a bit. We spent an afternoon rollerblading and skateboarding with Hakim. We went out for dinner last night with all the volunteers plus the 6 oldest kids in the house and had a great time. In between all these big things, we've also been making sure that all the kids get some individual attention outside of the house with us.

And all of this fun has been amplified because Conor's here. He dove in head first and has built awesome relationships in just 2 weeks. Little Diego is very attached to him and refuses to be put down. Hakim warmed up to him real fast and immediately began calling him "Con." Elijah and Amina loved having his full attention all morning while the other kids are in school. He quickly discovered Jacinta's sense of humor and hangs out with her whenever possible. He has fallen in love with Salih and Didas and I think they're just as enamored with him. I think, as her peer, he's impressed with Namatov, the way she carries herself, and all that she does here. He's smitten with Malayaka and has caught on to her sneaky side.  And he sees a lot of himself in our hyperactive Bobo, so that's been cool. I have no doubt that Conor will return to Malayaka House, but I knew that would be true before he even arrived. I don't know how anyone could come and get to know the children and not want to stay connected to the organization.

So now we've said our goodbyes to the school principal at Entebbe Junior, to some of our friends that occasionally volunteer at the house, and to Carol - one of the oldest Malayaka kids. Carol lives and works among the Silverback Gorillas at Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the southwestern part of the country, but she's been home visiting for the last month. She's an incredible girl and, at 19 years old, the first from the house to find a job and live on her own. She's gone back to Bwindi now, but we were lucky to have been here during her visit home. The rest of the goodbyes will come tonight when some of the aunties go home, then the young kids go to bed, then we'll leave Hakim and the older girls when we head to the airport. Goodbyes are tough, but now this place is a part of us and even when we're not here we'll carry it with us. And if the past 5 years have taught me anything it's that time passes too quickly, so I think I'll be back here before I know it.

Lastly, before I go I want to share something really special. Viola is 17 years old and she's wanted to be a pilot since she was very young, and she's absolutely determined to make it happen. Luckily, as the waitress for the pizza business, she's had the opportunity to meet several UN and airport employees. A few of these people that come weekly to pizza night, and occasionally to spend time with the kids, have been talking about organizing a trip to the airport for Viola. She was trilled with the idea and so appreciative. But then on Thursday night they told me that instead of just visiting the airport and going in the hangar, they had put together some money to pay for Viola to take a 30 minute flight. So today Robert and Fran took her and she got to do something that she dreamed about for years. She had been speechless when I told her that she was going, and upon her return she still didn't have words to describe how awesome it was to be up in the air. The pilot even let her steer the plane for a minute. Big thanks go out to our friends Sonia and Tomii for organizing and funding this experience for Viola.

Extreme Makeover

Sorry for the long silence here, but we’ve been very busy since Robert’s return. We have a service trip from Champlain College coming on Thursday night and just one week ago our new house that they’ll be staying in was empty and ugly. Now it’s painted, inside and out, in bright colors; Fran and Evan are nearly finished making and assembling 5 bunk beds plus a big table with benches; Evan and I have painted almost every piece of furniture; Uncle Tony and his workers from the farm have secured the wall around the property and fixed up the back yard; and we’ll be ready to move the group of 11 into the house in just 2 days. On top of this mini Extreme Makeover Home Edition, we’ve been trying to get all the kids to finish their school packets before Thursday since they’ll just want to play all day with the new volunteers. I’ve also been preparing for Conor to arrive next Monday night and I couldn’t be more excited. My mom’s been organizing some donations for him to bring over – big thanks to Ellen Munger, Kathy Twitchell, Diana Potter, Judy Nagle, Meg O’Connell, and several others who have offered up some great toys/games/books/puzzles for the kids!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it yet, but Evan and I are cutting our stay short by a few weeks because he was accepted to Teach for America and has to be back in the States at the beginning of June. He’s heading down to Arkansas to teach in a KIPP elementary school and, after spending the summer in Norton, I’ll be joining him down south. We’re both really excited, but it will be hard to leave here in just 3 weeks. We can feel each day slipping away, especially since it’s been so busy lately, but there’s still a lot of time to enjoy the life we’ve made for ourselves here. And since Evan will be teaching, and hopefully I can find a job in a school as well, we will be able to return next summer for at least a few weeks. It will be incredibly hard to leave here, but that would have been true regardless of the timing. But coming home early means that I get to see my family sooner, spend a whole summer living with my brother again, visit Vermont frequently, and go to my high school reunion in June. So it will be a bittersweet goodbye, but also the beginning of a whole new adventure.

Thanks for following me on this journey and for playing a part in this unbelievable experience. Stay tuned for some posts about the fun things we’ll be doing with all our new volunteers next week!

Robert is Back!

Robert is home! At 7:00am on Tuesday morning we were awoken to chants of “Uncle Boberti!” as Robert’s taxi dropped him at home, fresh off 2 full days of traveling from Houston to Entebbe, by way of Qatar. The kids were still a little sleepy so the greetings weren’t as energetic as I’d been anticipating, but everyone was smiling ear to ear. Knowing how attached we’ve become to these kids in just 3 months, I can’t imagine what it’s like for Robert to come home and see all his kids again.

One of the things Robert worked on in the states was updating the organization’s website (www.malayakahouse.com). A long-time volunteer actually did the new site, but Robert spent a lot of time writing up the pages and information. Please check it out to learn more about the kids and the businesses. For each of the kids Robert wrote a story of where they came from and what they’re like now, plus each story is linked to an album of photos. He still has 10 more bios to write, but the ones he’s done so far are incredible. There’s also information about each of the businesses, the role of the aunties, and a link to his new blog. With the blog he started from the very beginning and eventually, when he’s given a back story and current story of every child, he’s hoping that he can turn it into a book.

On another note - only 2 weeks until Conor flies to Entebbe, and just 4 days before he comes we have a service trip from Champlain College arriving! May will be exciting, but also bitter sweet because Evan and I are heading home at the end of the month. Evan's accepted a position with Teach for America in the Mississippi Delta region so we're coming home a few weeks early. I'm thrilled to see my family and friends so soon, but it will be incredibly hard to leave here. But, I still have a month so we'll save the tears for now. If anyone would like to donate items to the Malayaka House, I would love for Conor to bring some puzzles, building blocks, DVD's, books, etc over here, so any of these things that you're looking to get rid of would be really helpful for us!

And lastly, it's been a while since I put up pictures do there's a bunch below. But check out the website for even more info and pictures!

This is Amina – she’s 3 years old and, as you can see, is absolutely adorable. She’s funny, playful, and really sweet. Amina spends her days running around the house with Elijah, Mercy, and Diego while all the others are at school. She and Elijah are the best of friends and they’re virtually inseparable. Unfortunately Amina is HIV positive, but she is receiving the best care around. They say she gets sick a fair amount, but we’ve only had to take her to the doctor once in the last 3 months. Treatment and ARV’s are free in Uganda, and she’s been on medication since she was a few months old. 

This is Jacinta on the left– she’s 19 years old and manages both the pizza business and the cheese business here. She came to Malayaka House about 18 months ago, with an 8 month old baby and another on the way. When Jacinta was just 7 years old, she left her family out of fear that she would be kidnapped by Joseph Kony’s army. A few years later, after living on the streets, a woman found Jacinta and offered her a job doing some housework for a family in Kampala. She was still young, but this would provide her with a safe place to live. But, by the time this woman brought Jacinta to Kampala, the position had already been filled. So, after some more time looking for refuge, Jacinta ended up at Mercy Home, an orphanage that originally had good intentions but was beginning to fall to pieces. After a few years at Mercy Home, where the kids were treated poorly and internal abuse was around every corner, Jacinta fled. A young man who had also run away from Mercy Home invited Jacinta to live with him and he promised to find work for her. She was 16 at the time and felt she had no better option, so she moved in with him. At first he continued promising to find her a job, but she quickly became a servant to him. He made her clean the house, do the dishes, and prepare dinner when he got home from work. Eventually she got pregnant and gave birth to her daughter, who she named Mercy. When she was pregnant for the second time, a friend came to let her know that Robert had visited Mercy Home and was looking for her. Robert had met Jacinta when she was 15 and even then he was impressed with her determination and work ethic. Back then he had been trying to help Mercy Home improve, but now he knew that was hopeless and he wanted to take Jacinta and her baby to Malayaka House. Jacinta immediately left the young man she had been living with and moved to Malayaka House. Now she’s an incredible role model to all the kids here, especially the 10 other girls that also moved here from Mercy Home last year. She’s a quick learner, she’s motivated, and she’s one of the funniest people at the house. She works hard to manage these businesses, hone her skills, and take care of her beautiful babies, Mercy and Diego.

Namatov (or Tov or Tovu) is to the right of Jacinta in the picture above– she’s 19 years old and manages the office at the Malayaka House. She oversees all 3 business and has various roles within each; she does all of the accounting; she keeps all Malayaka House paperwork organized; she helps with homework every day; she manages the store room; and she finds time to have fun. She enjoys secretarial work, and she’s incredible at it. She’s also bubbly, enthusiastic, hardworking, and motivated. The children call her Teacher Tov and they have the utmost respect for her. What she says goes, always. She takes good care of all the children here, and ever since she was 10 years old she’s been the caretaker for Naiga and their younger brother Hakim.

This is Naiga – she’s 17 years old and manages the craft business. She spends her days making beads out of recycled paper, then designing necklaces, earrings, and bags, as well as table decorations for the pizza business. Naiga is kind of shy and hard to read at times, but she’s an incredible listener and always takes our advice about business matters. She effortlessly motivates the other girls and the aunties to help her business, and you can often find at least 10 people sitting and rolling beads with her during the school holiday. Naiga’s best friend is her older sister Namatov, and the 2 of them are perfect compliments. Namatov wears her emotions on her sleeve, while Naiga is always consistent.

This is Danny – he just turned 8 last week and he’s in second grade. When Danny was 2 years old he was abandoned in a forest and remained there alone for 2 days before someone found him. According to Robert, he was the most traumatized of the 36 children that he’s taken in. It took a full year for him to feel comfortable and allow others in, but if you met Danny now you’d never know it. He’s very social, very smart, and very thoughtful. He’s also the best reader out of our 10 first and second graders.

This is Malayaka – she’s 6 years old and in P1. Her other name is Mary but she goes by Malayaka at home, despite the fact that many of the other kids were also given the name Malayaka. We recently learned that she actually thinks her full name is Mary Malayaka House. She probably took the longest to warm up to Evan and I, but now we really love her. She’s funny and wild and usually polite. She seems to get along with everyone, and her teacher says she’s the best behaved in school. But she definitely knows how to be a troublemaker too, and sometimes she likes to steal keys, pencils, books, etc from the guest house. When Malayaka’s old enough to really understand what’s happened in her life, I hope that she doesn’t focus on the terrible events that made her such a vulnerable baby, but rather on the fact that because of her, 35 other children were given a second chance and a better life.

This is Justine – she’s probably about 13 years old and she’s in P4. She does very well in school, and she’s also a talented rugby player. Justine is sweet, funny, and always happy. She loves to do any worksheets, coloring pages, word searches, or math problems that we give her, and she likes to just hang out in the guest house some nights. As is true with all of the older girls, Justine likes to help Naiga with her jewelry making when she has extra time on the weekends or during school holidays.

This is Hakim – he’s 14 years old and in his first year of high school. Naiga and Namatov are his older sisters, and they’ve all been living at Malayaka House for about 3 years. Hakim wants to be a veterinarian when he grows up and he works hard taking care of his animals here. Everyday a couple of his friends come over and they care for Hakim’s pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits, and pigeons. Hakim’s favorite things right now are rollerblading, skateboarding, playing computer games, and watching action movies.

This is Juliet – she’s about 13 years old and she’s in P5. Julie loves rugby more than anything, and she’s extremely competitive. You can often find her climbing dangerous high in the trees around the compound. Her and Sharon climb up to cut down jackfruits that they share with all the kids. Juliet does well enough in school without much effort, so Evan’s been trying to motivate her a little more because she has so much potential in the classroom. 

This is Mercy – she’s 2 years old, the daughter of Jacinta, and Diego’s older sister. She loves to be held, but she’s also very independent. Despite the fact that she’s a relatively new talker, especially in English, I can tell that Mercy’s a really funny kid. She’s inherited her mother’s good sense of humor. Mercy likes to color, play with Elijah & Amina, and listen to me read the book ‘8 Silly Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.’

This is Viola – she’s about 17 years old and she’s in her second year of secondary school. She’s dressed up in the picture because she was going to a friend’s wedding. Viola came to the house right after Malayaka was born and Bobo was taken in, so she’s like a mother to them and many of the children. She is funny, articulate, energetic, and she is wise beyond her years. Viola dreams of being a pilot when she grows up, and she always has that goal in mind. She’s also a trained masseuse and just gave me an excellent massage today. 

Conor comes in 5 weeks!

My brother finally booked his flight and he’ll be coming to Entebbe for 2 weeks in May! I’m so excited to see him and show him what my life here is all about. Besides the obvious reasons why I’m excited about his visit, it also gives me a nice opportunity to have him bring things here for the kids. Since arriving here I’ve discovered that these kids have all their essentials taken care of… they have food, shelter, a decent amount of clothes, and lots of love. The house is always in need of more money for operating costs and everyday expenses, but the kids live a comfortable life. But, as could be assumed about a family with 35 kids, they don’t have much beyond the essentials. So, between Conor and a service trip of 11 people from Vermont, I think May will be an exciting time for the kids. The group has received many donations from a Rotary Club as well as individual volunteers, and my family has already been very generous with Conor. But, in case other people wanted to contribute, I’ve put together a “wish list” on Amazon. Like I said before, none of this stuff is imperative, but I thought that it would make the most sense to give people an idea of the things we could use in case anyone wanted to donate. If you choose to buy something on the list, it will be shipped directly to my house, so it’s really simple. OR, if you have anything similar at home that you’d like to get rid of anyway, used donations are even better. Movies, books, sports balls, skateboards, scooters, rollerblades, puzzles, phonics books/games, computer games, and water bottles… they would all be great. Alright so here’s the link to the wish list for anyone who is interested - http://amzn.com/w/1XM5WXP6LJTJ9. And thank you to everyone who is still reading my blog! I miss you all!

Oh and also, my mom has some aprons, bags, and necklaces that were made in the Malayaka House Craft Shop, so contact her if you'd like to buy any! Thanks again!

Kigali and Bunyonyi!

Hi Everyone!

Evan and I just returned from a week of travelling in western Uganda and Rwanda. Last Tuesday we took a 9 hour bus ride from Kampala to Kigali, Rwanda and spent three nights with our friend Elena (and our new friends Ally and Elizabeth). We could have spent a week with them and never been bored... it was so nice to see a familiar face, stay up late talking (and eating), and reflect on our very different experiences in the middle of this diverse continent.

Rwanda is a small, complex country with absolutely beautiful landscapes and a tragic piece of history that has left physical, emotional, and psychological scars on every citizen. Obviously being there for 3 days only gave us a glimpse of the nation and it’s people, but it was incredible nonetheless. We visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial and were impressed with the museum/education center. The genocide in 1994 is so difficult to learn about, not only because of the horrific atrocities that were commited, but also because it all could have been prevented or curtailed with some international support. However, if someone didn’t know about the events that took place in the 90’s, a visit to Kigali would make you feel like it’s a utopia (especially if you’ve seen other African cities). In 2008 is was ranked the #1 cleanest city on the entire continent. You’re not allowed to walk on the grass, workers spend the day picking up litter, and plastic bags are illegal. Besides being clean, it’s quiet, there’s very little traffic, people follow driving laws, motorcycle taxis can only have one passenger on board AND they have to be wearing a helmet. It’s a different world from Uganda. But, as our friends kept reminding us, Rwanda prides itself on it’s appearance, yet the pleasant exterior hides many issues, tensions, and corruption underneath the surface. And, to give credit where it’s due, I think Ugandan people as a whole are friendlier than Rwandans. And, lastly, being a tourist or temporary resident in Uganda is much easier because many, many people speak English, while in Rwanda they mostly only speak French and Kinyarwanda.

A litle bit about what our friends are doing in Rwanda… Elena, Ally, and Elizabeth are volunteering at Les Enfants de Dieu, a center for boys who had at one time lived on the street, but have now decided to work towards a better life. There are about 140 boys there, and the center has its own school for grades 1 and 2. The goal of the center is to give the boys a place to live, a proper education, and eventually to reintigrate them back into their families. What really makes this place unique is the ‘ministry system’ that runs the center. The boys elect various ministers (of sports, education, health, administration, etc) that each have specific roles and responsibilities. The point of the system is to teach the boys valuable life skills AND ensure that everything that goes on at the center is in their best interest. It’s a brilliant idea and we got to see just how well it can work when the staff respects the system and and boys. Elena, Ally, and Elizabeth have a friend named Willy who is 19 yers old and reintigrated, from the center, back to his mother’s home about 2 years ago. He’s really incredible… he’s funny, intelligent, motivated, thoughtful, curious, and kind. The girls say that there are many boys that came from the center that are dong as well as Willy now, but unfortunately right now the staff at the center are making some waves an not putting theboys needs first. But luckily the boys have people like Elena, Ally, Elizabeth, and Willy, who are all doing great work and will continue to be connected to the center long after they leave. If you’re interested to learn more about their time in Rwanda, check out Elena or Ally’s blog!

When we left Kigali we took a taxi bus to the border and then a private taxi to Lake Bunyonyi. Fran and Elena had both encouraged us to visit this lake in western Uganda that has 35 islands popping up from the middle. We stayed at Byoona Amagara and had a great time. Our room was called a geodome, and basically it’s a sturdy, weatherproofed hut with an open front, built into the side of a hill. So, while laying in bed we could see the water and a couple other islands. It rained on and off for our entire stay, but the time to sit and relax was all we needed. Plus we got to watch an incredible thunderstorm over the water one night, while sitting on our covered porch. The food was extremely cheap at the resort’s restaurant and it was all delicious. They had everything from crepes to breakfast sandwiches to burritos to fish to pizza to pasta… it might not sound that impressive but it’s a change from the typical Ugandan diet. My pictures don’t do this place justice because it was overcast most of the time, and my camera isn’t great, but I’ll put some pictures up soon. You can check out the resort website for some pictures too.

So after a week away it’s nice to be back home in Entebbe. We missed it a lot, and I think we realized just how hard it will be to leave here in a couple months. The kids have no school until Tuesday because of Easter, so we have plenty of time to catch up with them and work on some literacy stuff at home. I hope all is well at home, and Happy Easter to everyone!

Little Moments

Time is flying by for us here at Malayaka House. Yesterday was the first time that I thought about the next couple months and felt like I didn’t have enough time left to do everything I want, both with the kids and in East Africa. But I guess another 2.5 months is a long time.

Lately I’ve been posting about the big highlights here - usually pizza nights, field trips, and updates about school/education – but in the past few weeks I’ve been noticing the little moments more. The individual time with kids or the moments when they really enjoy learning or when we discover another aspect of their maturity. So instead of the big things I’m going to share a bunch of the little things, because, as the saying goes, they’re actually the big things in the end.

Less than a half mile up the hill in Entebbe Town, there are people who make French fries (chips), grilled chicken, sausages, and a delicious treat called a rolex. It’s not a fancy watch, but a chapati with 2 fried eggs rolled inside (the name comes from a shortening of the description – rolled eggs). It costs about 60 cents for chips or a rolex, and about $1.20 for chicken. Evan and I would occasionally walk to town at night to get a cheap meal, so a few weeks ago we decided to start taking the older kids with us. We take just one or two a week, and it’s been really cool to talk to them individually when they have our undivided attention. We usually talk about what they want to do when they grow up, or we ask them about their life before Malayaka House, or we share more about ourselves and our lives back home. Each and every one of the kids is so incredible in their own way,

On a similar note, during the afternoons we try to take a couple of the young kids around town with us when we do errands. Because there are 35 kids here, and because there are always aunties and/or volunteers at the house to watch them, the kids don’t go out to do errands like a typical kid would. So if we’re going to buy airtime and internet or pick up some groceries or pay the bills, we often take a couple kids with us. The kids enjoy the attention and, for us, it’s always more entertaining with a couple of them around. A few weeks ago we took Ishmat and Elijah out with us and Ishmat didn’t stop talking the entire time. There are few things funnier than a 4 year olds’ commentary on life.

Something else we’ve been doing quite frequently lately is going to the doctor. For the first month that we were here no one got sick, but with the changing seasons it seems to be a different story. We’ve had ear infections, rashes, malaria, infected wounds, and pneumonia, all in the last month. It wasn’t until probably my 5^th time at the doctor that an obvious observation crossed my mind – I was a care taker for 35 children. I looked around the waiting room and wondered what the other parents and kids thought of me, Evan and Fran - besides the fact that we’re crazy for having 3 people take 1 child to the doctor. But, in our defense, since you never know who will be around at any given time, it helps to have multiple people hear what the doctor has to say and understand what medicine is being prescribed.

On a daily basis I spend at least a little bit of time thinking about the overwhelming task of giving these kids a better education. The most important and most intimidating issue is teaching a bunch of the kids how to read. But lately I’ve challenged myself to take baby steps each day instead of trying to think of a way to solve all the problems at once. So I created some word searches and an educational jeopardy game, Evan made flash cards with letter and word sounds, we made a multiplication chart, Marta photocopied a bunch of activities from the lesson books we have at the house… and now we’re putting them all to use. We’ve realized that the older girls really enjoy doing simple spelling and literacy tasks that we originally thought would be boring. So in the evenings and on the weekends now they sometimes come and ask if they can play these “games.”

With the young kids we’ve been using the letter tiles from our Bananagrams game and letting them spell words or unscramble words that we’ve mixed up. None of them do any sort of creative learning in school, so anything that deviates from just copying information into book seems really exciting and holds their attention. We also started today with weekly spelling lists for P. 1, 2, and 3. So it seems like very small steps, but I’ve really been enjoying it lately. It’s always nice to see the smile on a kid’s face when they complete a task or spell a word correctly or recognize a word that just looked like random letters before. And it’s nice to see many of them enjoy educational activities and beg us to do more with them, even after being in school for 10 hours and doing homework for another 1 or 2 at home.

So these little learning moments, the trips to the doctor, the evening walks to town, the spontaneous games at home, the afternoons with just a few kids at the park or the botanical garden, the conversations with the aunties, the business meetings with the girls… they’re all part of our days here and, in the end, they’re the most meaningful experiences.

Speaking of business, the last thing I wanted to mention is that I shipped 7.5 kilos (16.5 lbs) of bags, aprons, and necklaces home to Norton. We wanted to see how much it costs and how quickly it arrives, in order to determine how practical it would be in the future to export our crafts. My mom should get the package at the end of next week and, once she does, she’ll be selling them for us. So if you’re interested, contact her and support Malayaka House! Thank you!

Highlights and Pictures

Sorry for the infrequent posting, but here are some highlights from the last week:

- Last Thursday the kids didn’t have school because it was International Women’s Day, so we had an afternoon of sports and games. We piled 42 children, aunties, and uncles into our 15 passenger van and drove across town to a hotel where some friends of ours live. There’s a group of Spanish guys who work for SwiftAir, an airline that is contracted by the UN, and they live in Entebbe temporarily and fly groups of UN employees and local military men around East and Central Africa. The UN rents an entire small hotel for them and they have a big yard, so they offered to host our sports day. We had wheelbarrow and potato sack races, a few different relay races, a volleyball game, and several rounds of tug o’ war. Everyone had a good time.

- Also last Thursday, our pizza business hosted its biggest night yet. We had 33 guests and served a total of 30 pizzas. Our profit for the night was 2/3 of what we made in the entire month of February, plus the girls made $45 in tips. They’ve recently added a couple appetizers to the menu and they’ve improved both the pizza and the sauce by playing around with a variety of spices. Evan and I got lucky with the timing of our stay here because it’s been a lot of fun to see this business grow and evolve over the last 9 weeks.

- We went to Entebbe Junior School on Sunday and met with all of the children’s teachers (that’s 17 different teachers for 13 different classrooms). We got to see their latest exams and get an idea for how their scores compare to their peers. Some teachers gave us great personal feedback about each student and the whole afternoon was really helpful. Some of our kids are doing great, but many need to work more on reading. We have at least one kid in grades 1-5 that struggle with reading, and you can see how that effects every their English, Social Studies, and Science exams. Hopefully we’ll be able to help at home because, unfortunately, the structure and curriculum here makes it too easy to sneak by without learning to read.

And here are some pictures…

Evan taught Didas how he's shaves his beard last week and then let him do the rest - it made for some cute pictures.

This is Johnny during our sack race last week. He’s another one of the 6 year old triplets, but the three of them are so distinctly different. Almost every day he comes up to me, quietly gets my attention, and says “story?” He doesn’t have the longest attention span, but he loves listening to you read. Although this hobby might suggest otherwise, Johnny doesn’t know how to read. Every day with his homework we’re working on letters and sounds, but it’s a struggle. He’s so sweet though and very well-behaved.

This is Isabella – she’s 4 years old and she’s William’s twin. She’s one of the biggest trouble-makers in the house and often will do exactly the opposite of what you ask. But, recently I’ve discovered another side to her. She really loves to do schoolwork and she’s motivated to learn. She’s in the middle class of the nursery and every Friday she has to write letters, match pictures, and color inside the lines for homework. She loves doing her worksheet each week and she gets excited every time she writes a letter correctly.

This is Shakira, the youngest of the girls that came to Malayaka House last year. In case you missed it in a previous entry, there are 10 girls that came here at the end of 2010 from Mercy Home, an awful orphanage that has since been shut down. Shakira’s documented age is 6, but I think she might be closer to 8. Each grade at Entebbe Junior has two classes and they’re divided by academic ability, and Shakira’s our only first grader in the more advanced class. She does really well in school and usually finishes her homework first. She’s also one of the most athletic kids here – we taught her how to throw an American football and how to hit a baseball, and she does them both better than anyone else.

This is Auntie Flo. She’s the oldest and certainly the wisest of the aunties. She is in her early forties and she has two teenagers of her own. She goes to the market on Tuesdays and Saturdays to buy all of the fruits and vegetables that the house needs. To give you an idea of how much food is needed to feed 45 people, she spends $260 each week on fruits and vegetables. That’s on top of monthly deliveries of rice, beans, nuts, millet for porridge, etc; weekly deliveries of meat; and daily deliveries of eggs and milk. Back to Auntie Flo though, she’s incredible and it seems like she can do absolutely anything. I took this picture one afternoon when Evan and Fran were cutting a dead tree down so we could use it for firewood in the pizza oven. They were going at it for a while before Flo noticed and took the axe away from them. Once she showed them the proper technique they tried to take the axe back, but she didn’t quit until she’d finished the job.

The Ugandan Life

Now that we’ve been here for over 7 weeks I wanted to write a little bit about Uganda in general and hopefully paint a picture of what it’s like to live here. I’ve been writing things down for the last couple weeks so my thoughts are fairly random, but hopefully all interesting.

- The president of Uganda is Museveni and he’s been in office for 26 years now. He was originally very well-liked, but obviously it isn’t good if anyone is in power for this long. His government is very corrupt and the aid money that flows into Uganda from other countries rarely makes it down to the actual people in need. He has 5 houses, one of which is here in Entebbe, and Uncle Tony says it’s worth $75 million USD. The question we’ve been asking people lately is what happens when Museveni dies, but I don’t think anyone really knows the answer to that.

- Uganda is full of weird smells. Anna tells us that even after 2 years she still isn’t used to it yet. I can’t really pinpoint what all of the smells are, but the most common is the smell of burning trash. There’s a very poor waste removal system here, so people are constantly burning their trash. A few months ago Robert found a reliable garbage company, so for 30,000 shillings ($12.50) a month we get our garbage picked up twice a week. Evan always finds garbage pickup to be amusing because the truck is just a pick-up with cardboard tucked around the edge to make the walls of the bed a little higher. As you can imagine, this is pretty ineffective and there’s always garbage falling out onto the road. I feel like waste removal is something that’s overlooked as a priority in developing countries, but all the litter is detrimental to the environment and it must contaminate the ground water as well.

- Almost every day the power goes out at least once, lasting anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours, sometimes more. Depending on who we ask, we’re given a different answer about why this happens. Some people say that it’s a punishment for the parts of the country that didn’t vote for Museveni in last year’s election; some say that the electric company used to import power from neighboring countries to cover all their paying customers in Uganda, but last year they just stopped paying them so we’re short on electricity; and others say that Uganda is actually exporting electricity to neighboring countries to make some extra money, but there isn’t enough to go around so ours gets shut off. Who knows what the truth is, but thankfully we have a generator here at the house. It’s extremely loud, but it helps keep everyone safe and makes life a lot easier.

- Occasionally the water stops working, but this doesn’t happen often. However, a few weeks ago we went 5 days without running water. On day 3 the aunties filled the van with clothes and Tony brought them to do laundry in the lake. The laundry room was overflowing at that point because each kid has 2 sets of clothes that get washed daily (school uniform and play clothes), plus the bed sheets of the 3 or 4 kids that often wet the bed at night. Tony also brought big barrels of water to the house each day, but luckily the running water came back just before everyone hit their breaking point. I take for granted the fact that I can clean my hands, flush the toilet, wash dishes, and shower anytime I want at home.

- Another thing that’s different between here and home is the amount of human contact you have each day. At home when I pay my bills online and use a self-checkout counter at the grocery store. I drive my own car to do all my errands and can print documents at my house. In Uganda almost everything I need is a half mile up the road in the Entebbe Town, and everything else is just another mile further around the state house in Kitoro . We go to town and wait in line to pay our electric, water, and phone bills. We go to town for our groceries and to print any documents or pictures that we need. We talk to the people at each of these stores and say hello to others along the way. When we go somewhere that’s too far to walk, or if it’s dark out, we take a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) or a matatu (taxi van). In both cases you have to talk to the driver and negotiate a price. Negotiating prices is also necessary at markets, whether it’s for food or for African crafts, so there’s much more conversation between customers and merchants.

- The last thing I’ll mention about Uganda is that white people are called ‘mzungus.’ Every day when we’re walking around town, countless children and many adults yell “mzungu mzungu!” at us. At first I didn’t mind and we would always wave to them and smile, but now it’s getting old. I found a shirt at a market in Kampala a couple weeks ago that said “My name is not mzungu… I don’t have any money and I don’t have any chocolate.” I think it sums things up nicely, because most people here think that all white people can we can afford to give them money for school fees or food or candy. I don’t think people are using the term mzungu in a derogatory way, but the kids at Malayaka House never call us mzungus and they often look at other people funny when they do. Recently though, Evan told a couple of our kids that no one calls us mzungu in America and they asked, “then what do they call you?” When we’re walking around town we often think about what would happen if we saw a black person in the U.S. and just pointed and yelled “black person, black person!” Definitely not acceptable at home, but here it’s normal.

So, all things considered, I’m enjoying my life here very much. There are days when I miss home – both Norton and St. Mike’s – but there are things I really love here. I like that I don’t ever think about the weather because it’s always beautiful, with the occasional thunderstorm. I like that I spend the majority of my time outside every day. I’m now ok with the fact that I’m perpetually dirty all the time because of the dust, mud, and outdoor lifestyle. I like that I can walk everywhere, though I do miss driving. And, of course, I’m falling in love with the kids. There are times when we wonder if we’re really helping anyone by being here, and there are days when we feel like we’re not being very productive, but I think that’s the same with any service experience. We can see that we’ve made a positive impact on the businesses and I think we’re teaching the girls some skills along the way. We just added February to our profits chart and each business has a balance far above what we projected. The pizza business is approaching one million shillings (over $400) and the girls hosted a perfect dinner for 19 people last Tuesday. I’ve also realized that we’re helping the young kids just by giving them more individual attention, taking them out around town, and checking their homework each night. I think they enjoy having us here, and we certainly enjoy hanging out with them, so I look forward to seeing how our relationships evolve from here.

Pictures!

This is Che Che, one of the 6 year old triplets. Evan had some of the kids pretend they were walking down a cat walk the other day so that's why he's posing like this. Che Che is funny and wild and can cry on command, a skill he turns on quite often. He was missing a front tooth when we met him, but it's growing in now. Everyday Evan holds him by the upper arms and does bicep curls and Che Che thinks that he's the one getting stronger.

This is the older of the two Justine's at Malayaka House. She's in P6 and plays on the rugby team. Justine has a great sense of style and enjoys looking nice all the time. She can often be quiet and reserved, but other times she explodes with confidence. We discovered last weekend that she's an excellent dancer.

This is Hadija, trying to carry all the girls water bottles after the rugby match last week. She's on the team, but hasn't played in matches yet because she's young and quite small. She speaks less English than most of the girls, but we've discovered that she's very funny. She came to Malayaka House last year with 9 other girls that had been living in an awful orphanage that has since been shut down. These girls are family to each other and the 8 oldest are inseparable. Hadija fits in perfectly with them while still being totally unique.

This is Fran, our Spanish housemate. He stays up late to protect the house, so this picture sums him up well. If you look to his right (your left) you'll see his 1.5 liter Coke bottle and his panga (a large knife) stuck in the ground. He usually has a cigarette in his hand as well, and when he's not acting as security guard you can usually find him in the garage building things.

And this is Kovy. He's growing everyday and changing color rapidly. I'm sure Evan will blog about him again soon.

Market, School, and Pizza...

Here are some highlights and interesting things about the last 10 days…
- Me, Evan, and 4 other volunteers went into Kampala last Friday with Jacinta, Namatov, and Naiga. We went to the big market and I got a feel for how much different items will cost. As in South Africa, there’s a lot of back and forth between the merchant and the customer before a price is decided. Because we’re white, we get the “mzungu price” which is always really high, and then you have to talk them down to a small fraction of what they originally asked. The market had everything from jewelry to bags to wooden salad bowls and spoons to animal carvings, and much more. After the market we all went out for lunch and treated the girls to something other than rice & beans.
- Last weekend, after a couple volunteers did a barbeque for the children, the older girls stayed up dancing in our house for a while. At one point they had a soda chugging competition with the sodas left over from the cookout, then the dance party turned into a fashion show. Some of them are quite shy with us still, so it was nice to see another, more confident, side of them.
- On Tuesday and Thursday of this week I went to Entebbe Junior school, with Evan and Marta, to observe our children in class. I spent a couple hours each in baby class, middle class, and P1. There are 2 classes for each level so I didn’t get to see everyone, but I was with Ishmat and Ruthie (baby class), William (middle class), and Jimmy, Johnny, Che Che, Achen, Lucas, and Malayaka (P1). For the 3 nursery levels, the classes are split randomly, but starting with P1 they are divided by ability. The P1 class I attended is called East and it’s for the weaker students. We have one child, Shakira, in P1 West, which is the stronger class.
I was impressed with the nursery program and pleased to see that our kids were well behaved there. The teachers are enthusiastic and kind, and they have an effective teaching style. The kids are learning their numbers and letters, as well as important social development skills. The sing lots of songs, read stories, and participate in physical education twice a week. I think it’s a great introduction to school for the young ones.
The P1 teacher that I observed was also very nice and seems to well-liked by the kids, but the Ugandan education system needs a lot of improvements. It’s known as one of the best in central/eastern Africa, but it doesn’t compare to our schools in the U.S. All the kids do is copy material from the chalkboard, repeat after the teacher, and memorize material. There’s really no critical thinking involved. For example, the kids in P3 are learning about maps, so at home when we asked each of them what a map was they all responded “a map is a projection of an object as seen from above.” Besides the fact that this definition is incorrect, the kids are only learning the exact words that are written by the teacher. If we ask them more questions about maps they usually can’t come up with an answer that’s in their own words. Now that we’ve seen the way they learn, it’s obvious why this happens. The teacher repeats things many times and the children just parrot it back to her. They don’t ask open-ended questions and they don’t use any creative teaching techniques. Plus, because there are no text books, and because the teachers stress good handwriting, the children spend most of their time copying things into their workbooks. The all have excellent handwriting (all of our P1 kids from Malayaka House write nicer than Evan), but it takes them forever to write.
We’ll be back at the school a couple times next week so I’m sure I’ll have more to say about the P3-P6 classes. And on Saturday I’m going with Marta and Evan to the parent-teacher meetings for the nursery children so that might be interesting.
- Lastly, we had an exciting pizza night last week. We had 17 guests which included the usual volunteers, some German teachers, a couple of our business partners, and a group of Spanish guys who work for the UN. The East African hub of the United Nations is here in Entebbe and some of the guys spend time at Malayaka House in between their projects in the Congo, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and many other troubled countries. Jacinta made 14 pizzas and the night brought in a profit of about 150,000 shillings ($65). It was a bit of a crazy night, and the girls were exhausted by the end of it, but all the guests enjoyed the food and the atmosphere so hopefully they’ll tell their friends.
That’s all for now – thanks for reading! I’m going to post soon about Uganda in general and what it’s like living here, but if there’s anything specific that you’re wondering about, or a subject you’d like to hear more about, feel free to comment or email me at sregan3@mail.smcvt.edu.

Crafts!

patchwork apron

zippered bags

paper bead bags

paper bead necklaces

paper bead earrings

I know there are some people at home who are interested in the crafts made at the Malayaka House, so I wanted to put some pictures up. If anyone wants me to bring items home for them when I return, just let me know. I'm hoping that by the time I leave here I will have found a couple places at home that are willing to sell some items. Robert is friends with the owner of Healthy Living, a grocery store/cafe in Burlington, and they have a display of jewelry with some information about the Malayaka House. I would love to be able to set up a similar situation with some more places. Because there are so many people in Uganda that make the same crafts, the girls can't sell them for much here, so it's great when they get products to the U.S. or Europe where they can be sold for a price that reflects the amount of time they spend working.

So here at the house, Naiga is the head of the craft business. She's 17 years old and finished S3 last year (junior year of high school). She might go back to school next year, but right now she's working on the craft business. She goes to Kampala and buys supplies, makes all the beads by rolling paper very tightly, designs the jewelry and bags, makes the items, dips them in varnish so they're weather-proofed, and hangs them on the clothesline to dry. During school holidays the other girls love to sit and make beads with her all day. Robert told us that Naiga doesn't ask for help, but the girls just want to spend all their time with her because she's so funny and kind.

In addition to Naiga, we also have two employees from outside the house who do the sewing. Carol and Dora work Monday-Friday in our craft shop and they sew aprons, bags, cushion covers, pillow cases, change purses, and curtains. Carol does beautiful work, and she's teaching Dora everything she knows about sewing.

Enjoy the pictures, I'll put more up as they make different things.

Week 5 in Entebbe

The last week has been pretty routine, with a few fun adventures mixed in. We had 2 more successful pizza nights, we had 4 days with no running water, we had our first rainfall after 32 days of sun, and we used about $13 worth of internet to watch the Super Bowl. The most interesting, and frightening, part of my week is that I unintentionally joined a rugby team. Last Tuesday I went with Marta, Denise, and another volunteer named Anya to the older girls’ rugby practice. I thought it would be a good opportunity to spend more time with them and learn a bit about a sport I’d never played before. It turns out that one of their starters is injured and, after practicing again on Thursday, they needed me to play in the matches on Saturday. I really enjoyed the practices because most of the team is still learning how to play, and its fun to learn an entirely new sport, but they matches were terrifying. I spent most of the time trying to casually avoid being near the ball, although Evan says my game strategy was obvious. Both times that I had to try to tackle an opponent, it ended with me on the ground and them carrying the ball several meters past me. I did score a try, but as soon as I crossed the line I was thrown to the ground. So, needless to say, I’m a bit worried about getting hurt and having to visit a Ugandan hospital, but we’ll see if I can keep avoiding the ball until the injured player returns next month. All the children and aunties came to watch the matches on Saturday and had a good laugh when they saw me get run over. But it is fun to play with the girls, they’re improving greatly with each practice and they really enjoy the sport.

In other news, Evan and I took the babies to the zoo on Friday while the other children were at school. We left Diego at home because he’s too young and just took Mercy, Elijah, and Amina. I won’t say too much because Evan’s planning on writing about our day later, but we had fun and saw a lot of cool animals. On Saturday night we went to a barbeque at the hotel residence of a Spanish volunteer. His name is Raphael and he works for the UN, which has their Central African base here in Entebbe. There are 12 men in his crew and they are pilots, co-pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics. They stay here in a hotel that the UN rents out, and they fly to projects in Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Burkina Faso, and other countries. When Rapha’s here in Entebbe he comes to the Malayaka House to play with the children, and sometimes take them out on field trips. So we went to their hotel, enjoyed delicious food, and talked with some of the guys about their work. They have interesting stories because they go to places that most people aren’t allowed to visit, usually because it’s dangerous and/or there’s political unrest.

Two volunteers from Germany, Walther and Jessy, arrived early Sunday morning and the children were so happy to see them. They’ve both spent a lot of time here in the past couple years and are important people in this project. They’ll be planning some activities for the kids, implementing programs for us to continue once they’re gone, and contributing money that’s been raised for Malayaka House in Germany. Walther is a primary school teacher at home and played a big role in getting our children situated at Entebbe Junior School. He spent time observing classes there and establishing the necessary support for our students that are far behind in their education. So on Monday he took Evan, Marta, and I to Entebbe Junior and introduced us to the head teacher of Nursery. Miss Grace was very nice and showed us around her classrooms for the Nursery, Middle Class, and Top Class. Five of our kids are in her program, and we had heard tremendous things from Robert about how she runs the Nursery. The classrooms are colorful with displays of the children’s artwork, the school schedule, and effective teaching tools. Grace introduced us to the new headmaster, Erasmus, and we talked briefly in his office. The school just got a whole new staff last week so Walther explained to Erasmus who we were and what he had done at the school last year. He asked if we could spend some time observing in our students’ classrooms so that we’d have a better understanding of the Ugandan education system and how each of our kids learn, especially the older girls. Erasmus said he would love to collaborate to improve the education of our children, so hopefully sometime soon we’ll be going back to the school. Even without observing in the classroom yet, we’ve found major issues with the education here, but I’ll talk more about that later.

Thanks for reading!

Mozzarella Cheese

I’ll be updating about the past week’s events soon, but I wanted to talk first about the cheese business because it’s been a focal point of the last few weeks. As I mentioned in an earlier post, the older girls at Malayaka House are developing a ‘cooperative of businesses’ because there is almost no job market in Uganda. Right now we have a craft shop that produces handmade jewelry, aprons, and bags; a pizza restaurant that serves dinner to guests at the house every Tuesday and Thursday; and a mozzarella cheese business.

Jacinta, the oldest girl at Malayaka, has been making her own mozzarella cheese for a few months now. She was taught by an Italian man who lives in Entebbe and owns a popular restaurant. Right now she’s making about 13-20 kilograms of cheese each week, depending on the demand from our clients. On days when she makes it, she gets up at 6:00am and takes two boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) to a nearby farm. At the farm she purchases 70 liters of milk and then transports them home with the help of the boda drivers. Each driver sits with a jug in front of them, and Jacinta also holds one behind the driver. Once she gets back home she works for several hours in her kitchen and usually has about 6.5 kilos of cheese made by noon.

Right now she sells cheese regularly to three clients: Anna’s Corner, a small café; Entebbe Backpacker’s, a nearby hostel; and Boma, a backpacker’s and restaurant. Whenever they call with an order, Namatov, another one of the older girls, delivers the cheese via boda boda. Jacinta also sells 2 kilos of cheese to the pizza business each Tuesday and Thursday as it is used on the pizzas here. Jacinta, Namatov, and Marta, a volunteer, have been visiting local restaurants and trying to find more clients. They’ve been dropping off samples, spreading the word about the Malayaka businesses, and even inviting people to the house for our pizza nights.

Namatov is the bookkeeper for all of the businesses and she’s been keeping detailed balance sheets for months now. When Evan and I first arrived here, we put some money into the businesses, but after just one week of organization the cheese business has been self-sufficient. Every time Jacinta needs to buy milk, the money is taken from the business’ profits, and the balance continues to rise. After working with the girls for the last 4 weeks on this business, they are already eager to expand. They have a system that works well, and we’ve found that there are very few competitors in the area. Rennet, the ingredient that is needed to make mozzarella, isn’t produced in Uganda so the Malayaka House gets it from volunteers that come periodically from Spain. This is somewhat of a nuisance, but we’ve found that it may work to our advantage. Many restaurants that the girls have visited informed them that they currently import their mozzarella from Nairobi, Kenya because they can’t find a local supplier. This is excellent news for Jacinta and Namatov because they can make a good profit on each kilo while still giving these restaurants a much better price than they’re currently paying.

They’ve also found some stores that import mozzarella from Kenya and would be interested in buying from the Malayaka House instead. The issue with this is that we need to find a way to package the cheese effectively. Right now, since they only sell to places that use the cheese for cooking, they haven’t needed to package it. We’ve been researching for the last week, trying to find the appropriate machine that can vacuum seal each kilo or half kilo of cheese, but we’re having trouble. There is so much potential here for this business and, in turn, some job security for these girls as well as the ones that will follow in their footsteps.

I’m hoping that we can continue to help this business grow because it has already proven to be so beneficial for the girls involved. When they come back home after visiting a restaurant or talking to a hostel owner, they are smiling ear to ear and simply overjoyed about the entire experience. The confidence they’re gaining from creating a product that people all over Entebbe enjoy is really inspiring to watch. These two girls are 19 years old, they grew up with the label of ‘orphan’ hanging over their head, and now they are developing skills and a greater sense of self-esteem. Jacinta just came to Malayaka House 18 months ago, she has 2 young children, and her life has been anything but easy, but the pride she has in her work and her ability to talk to clients is absolutely remarkable. In just a short amount of time we’ve all seen tremendous growth in this business, but as we learn from our experiences and develop a better knowledge of packaging and marketing we hope it will expand even more.

Hakim and the babies...

A few days ago, we looked out our front window and saw Hakim playing with Mercy, Elijah, and Amina. He had put a long board on top of his skateboard and was riding down the pavement with them, then having the kids push him back up it. We thought it was funny. Notice that Amina gets tossed off at the end.

Puppy Profiles- Nina

Hello! I thought all you people could use a break from Sarah and hear from me, Evan. I have thought of a few topics that the people might like and from time to time will contribute. One topic that I thought would be fun, like Sarah’s picture and profile of the kids, would be a profile of the dogs we have around here. I’m not sure if you know yet, but we are obsessed with our puppy Kovy. Each puppy profile will give an update on him as well. Here we go with this installment.

Nina

Nina is the matriarch of the dogs around here. She is the mother of Nico and grandmother of a few others. She came early in the Malayaka House days, you can find some adorable photos of Nina as a puppy and Malayaka as a baby playing. However, now she is a little more grizzled, with a stretched out tummy from her puppies. She is still a very pretty dog though. Being the matriarch has its advantages and she has the power to shoo the other dogs off. Often she will be sleeping and when another dog comes by she gives a little growl from deep in her throat and they know to keep on moving. She is not always like this and enjoys playing and being active. I hear she is a very tough dog and is a tough fighter with stray dogs when she sneaks out.

Kovy’s Corner-

Now about 4 weeks old, Kovy is growing rapidly. He transitioned in about a day from being a newborn pup to a crazy puppy. He used to spend 90% of his time sleeping or eating, but then all the sudden his energy kicked in. He no longer spends all his time in our house, but goes out exploring and following around the other dogs. One of his new favorite spots is where the aunties cook so he can get the spare bones and meat scraps. His loo

ks are maturing as well, he also has been losing small patches of hair on his back and the black on his head is quickly turning brown; his legs seem to add a few inches every day. Although he is growing, he is still our cuddly little pup. If we forget to close our door you will almost certainly find him sprawled out asleep in a pile of clothes that he pulled from our dirty laundry.

Coming Soon- Nico

More Pictures!

Getting dressed for the first day of school!

From left to right - Jimmy, Didas, Lucas, Malayaka, and Che Che.

Piling 27 kids into the van. They were actually more excited than they look here.

This is Diego, the youngest child at the house. He just turned one last month, and his mother (Jacinta) and sister (Mercy) live here as well. He rarely wears clothes, and when he does it's often a dress. He only has 2 expressions, confused and happy, and this one in the picture is confused. It makes for funny photo shoots when he wears his sneakers naked, and this was the only picture without some indecent exposure.

This is William, he's 4 years old and has a twin sister named Isabella. This costume is his favorite thing to wear to bed. Willie's usually very sweet, though he knows how to cry and pout when he's unhappy. He loves to play with soccer balls, playground balls, beach balls, etc, and he'd kick a ball in the air for hours if I agreed to sit and watch him.

On the left is Achen, she's 6 years old and her smile takes up her whole face. Her laugh is incredible too. She can only see out of her right eye because, as a newborn, she was abused badly and left for dead by her mother. She's a tough kid who loves to climb on anything and her smile, which lacks 2 front teeth right now, could light up anyone's day.