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!