Through the Eyes of a Student

Last Friday turned into friendship bracelet making day. The nurses that I share the same working space with have been quite bored and looking for things to do. I remembered that I had brought some string from home and taught them how to make friendship bracelets. Well that turned into all the student teachers wanting to make them, and I even let one of my students Lucky make one as part of her therapy time (For the record, I can justify that as a fine motor activity!)

The bracelets Lucky made for herself and her friend Sumaya

Teddy working on her bracelet! i was so impressed that she could do it basically without the use of one hand!

Well all of this led to Lucky spending most of her day in the sick bay (the building I share with the nurses) and with Lucky "borrowing" my camera. This was the result.....

Sumaya and I 

Nurse Joanne ironing her clothes and our collection of walkers in the background

I thought this picture was funny simply because the shoes being there indicate when the nurse is around. The two nurses live in this room in the sick bay and sometimes it is hard to know if they are around... so we always look for their shoes outside their door

If I stick around the sick bay long enough after school, it becomes the local hang out - with Desire

Auntie Aisha (boys house mother) and Ayati

One of the girls dormitories. They sleep 18 students to one house mother

I also found this picture funny. This is the nurses medicine cabinet, but it is also my storage for my keys, water bottle,  phone, coffee, and hand sanitizer every day.

Every afternoon some of the older students sort beans for the next day's meals

The dining hall (the other hang out after school because there is a TV)

Another view of the dining hall and Kato

Bless working on a mat. Bless always needs to be busy making something (which he does well) or else he is getting into trouble

Some of the students dishes... each student is responsible for their own dish each meal, and they  each know which one is theirs (I have absolutely no idea how!) 

I hope you all enjoyed a few pictures that I normally would not have taken and that maybe it gave you a little better picture of our school. I apologize that there is not a picture of Lucky... while she likes to take my camera, she hates to have her photo taken.

A few other pictures for you

Clare and I ventured to Katalemwa to order some knee and ankle braces for her and to pick up a wheelchair for  Kato that was being repaired. The people at Katalemwa know me far too well now. If we buy any equipment or assistive devices it usually comes from there,

HAWKS WIN THE STANLEY CUP! I watched the 3rd period of the game and the celebrations after via skype with my parents!

As always, thank you so much for your love and support! And for those of you wondering I will officially be back in Illinois on Sept 10th!

Sometimes I Wish I Were An Octopus

Have any of you ever wished you were an octopus? Have you ever thought that your two hands sometimes were not enough? That is how I feel EVERY.SINGLE.DAY! 

Here are 5 Reasons why I wish that I had 8 hands (ok they have tentacles) like an octopus:

1. There are just too many little hands to hold

Everyday I face the problem of kids fighting over who gets to hold my hand, especially when I have been outside the school and everyone runs to greet me upon my return. They all want to walk me to my house, and they ALL want to hold my hand...... this proves difficult when I only have two hands and they often are full of groceries at this time!

2. Trying to teach a child to walk without a treadmill and without a body weight support system requires more than two hands

In the United States, when working on walking with someone that has trouble supporting themselves, we stick them in a harness and put them on a treadmill. This way as a therapist you can help them move their legs properly... So I have a walker with underarm supports and while a child is walking I am also aiding in pushing them, trying to help control their legs, trying to make them move their legs, and trying to be prepared for them to fall! While I love this type of thing, sometimes it is just too much! On Monday my sweet friend Clare came back. However, she has been seriously sick and any strength she had she completely lost.... her legs are like spaghetti noodles while she tries to walk and of course every teacher has their solution as to how I can help her better... and of course my solution is GET ME A TREADMILL! But then I remember I live in Africa and I have to tough it out.

Clare learning to play Boccia ball

3. Trying to make a child do an exercise properly while also trying to entertain the child proves difficult

4. When you cook inside and your sink to do dishes is outside it would greatly reduce the number of trips in and out!

5. Esther... as you all know I love this little girl, but sometimes she terorrizes me during therapy :) Along with just about every other 2 year old she loves to dump and throw everything. If I had an extra arm (or 6) I could more easily control her while also doing therapy.

At my house Esther is the most entertained with my tape measure.... she played with it FOREVER!

Now do you understand? :)

Meet Our New Students:

Apio

Apio is one of our smarter students. She is one of only a handful of students at the school that is able to read! She is starting in our most advanced group, but is struggling to make friends :( 

Apio

Ayati

This girl made friends the instant she arrived... she is very warm and has no problems socializing with everyone! However, as Ugandans say she is VERY VERY stubborn! She likes to hit the bigger boys and then cries profusely when she is hit back, and if she doesn't want to do something, by no means can you make her do it! To add to that she does not understand English or Luganda, but is quickly learning! The other day, after I had been gone all weekend, she told me "Teacher you've been missing me"!

Ayati

I hope you all have a great weekend! I am definitely sad to be missing summer at home. My friend Bobbie (from Indiana) and I agreed that summer is definitely the best time to be in the midwest! 

A Very Hairy Weekend

Alright.. any guesses what this post is about..............????????

Well... here is a BIG hint!

Yes... that is right you guessed correctly, I got my hair braided.... and all of that fake hair (except one package) is now attached to my head! Here are a few pictures... don't make too much fun of me!

Getting my hair braided my Auntie Rose - Margret and her son Matthew came to visit me!

Hair Down

Hair braided.... yes that is a HUGE braid!

It doesn't look too bad when pulled back

We are hair triplets! Christine, Desire and I all have braids!

The house mothers and the teachers at the school have really been encouraging me to get my hair done, and I would have never imagined how great of a ministry opportunity it became. It took over 10 hours, so I had lots of time to talk with the house mother that did my hair about her life, her faith, and the children in her dorm. It was a great time to be able to share our struggles with some of the children, and to try to encourage her to pray for patience and love for each and every child! Also, everyone here feels as if I am now a true African!!! I think it has really encouraged everyone here... even the kids. Some of the kids that are non-verbal will point to my hair and give me a big thumbs up :)

Other Things that Happened Last Week Week:

Guitar Lessons

One of the nurses pulled me aside last week and asked if I could come play the guitar for them. I quickly informed her that I had absolutely no idea how to play the guitar. She was quite disappointed as she had taken the guitar from the headmaster of the school by assuring him that I knew how to play. I told her that after school we would try to teach ourselves off of the internet.  Well, we tried to learn the chords G, A, and D somewhat successfully... We laughed so hard as we tried. We did learn that you can play "Old McDonald" with just those three chords, and the kids laughed hysterically! If anyone would like to teach us how to play guitar over Skype.... or if you could help tune a guitar over Skype, please let me know :)

Musau (nurse) Josephine practicing her guitar skills - with Komba watching and laughing hysterically

Two Two-Year-Olds

One day this week these two little sweeties followed me home and wanted to come in and play. Lets just say I prefer the one to one ratio of adults to small children! Our time ended with a ball stuck in the sticky trap for mice/cockroaches.... last week it was my foot... this week the ball... still nothing that it is intended to catch though!

How could I not love these two sweet faces! Jeremiah and Esther

Did you really think I would forget to mention the Blackhawks this week???

Sumaya

Lucky

Shimri

Moses

Miriam

Sorry this post was so late this week.... what can you do when there is no internet :(  Thanks so much for your love and support!

Love,

The Most Random Blog EVER!

Hopefully my title warned you this would be a random post, I normally try to compile my thoughts for the week into some sort of theme to make it all come together, but this week I have none of that and the result is pure randomness.... hopefully you can follow along!!!

Some Random Quotes (and of course they have to do with skin color)

"Teacher Laura the outsides of your arms are red and the inside is white" - John (one of the teacher's sons)

I soon realized that they do not know the word tan. Yes, the outsides of my arms are tan from walking around here and the insides are significantly lighter because I am never laying out in the sun. I asked one of the teachers if she knew the word tan and she said that she learned it in mathematics along with sin and cos-sin  :) (If you are struggling it has to do with geometry and triangles)

"How do you have a black baby" - Stranger

When I came back from Germany Esther would not let me put her down, so she went on  walk with me and a student to buy bananas. A man along the way called out asking me this. I really wish I could have come up with a witty answer, but instead I just replied, "She's not mine"

With Esther

What.... the Puzzle Talks???

My Grandma sent my dad out with some puzzles for the kids and one of them talks. Christine was working on the puzzle for the first time and could not figure out where the noise was coming from. She was looking all over, looking under the table, and finally figured out it was the puzzle! Shoan also had the same problem.... he knew it was the puzzle but wanted to know where it was coming from. So he would put in a piece and then stick his ear down by the puzzle looking for the noise. When he finally figured out where the noise came from he put his ear there and over and over again kept lifting the same piece out and then putting it back in!

Christine working on the talking puzzle

The Movies

Awhile ago I found out my good friend Christine had never been to a movie theater. We decided then that before I left we would go. On Monday, it was Martyrs Day and since we had no school Christine and I headed to see the movie Oblivion. We had so much fun, and Christine was absolutely amazed at how large the screen was! For the record, we both went to the movie and had free sodas for the same cost as it would be for just me to go to a movie in Chicago!

This might be the worst picture ever - with Christine at the movie

The Battle with Mice and Cockroaches

So... as you all know this literally has been a battle for me. One day this week I moved my sticky trap to the middle of my bathroom floor because that is where I kept finding mouse droppings.... well you can see how well that ended.....

Hard to see... but that thing is stuck to my foot with my foot in the air!

Chelsea Dagger
In honor of the Blackhawks, I danced with the kids to Chelsea Dagger this week. If you live in Chicago (or Illinois) and do not know this song, you really need to start watching the Playoffs. It is killing me to not be able to watch the games when we are this far in the playoffs! LETS GO HAWKS (Yes you will continue to hear about the NHL on here until the season is over.... the first thing I do every morning is check the scores!)

"Da dada da dada da dadadada"

And just a few other pictures from the week

Since Sumaya's parents decided to buy the walker, we can now go for walks outside! She did so well!

I love these kids - Shoan, Sumaya, me, Jeremiah

Meet Kato Hussein and Andrew

(Left to Right) Kato, Andrew, Ethero

Kato and Andrew are two of the highest level boys at the school and they are both EXTREMELY helpful. These two boys do lots of work around the school and they help their fellow students constantly. They are very polite and very fun to have around! Hopefully both of them will graduate this year!

Alright, I hope all of you survived my randomness, and that it is finally getting warm back home! As always, thanks so much for your love and support!