Adventures in Africa: Another week gone....

This has been another pretty uneventful week. I've been continuing to teach preschool, which I love more and more every day. I have to say these last couple of weeks have been extremely hard for me. After everything with Walter and the boy that went back to his dad things got really quiet at Amani and I haven't really gone on any more adventures since Nikki and Natalie left, so I was just kinda going through the motions every day, teaching preschool and playing with the kids... And more and more volunteers have been coming. There are 10 of us now. And we couldn't get a safari before I leave so they're all going to go at the end of the month when I am gone, and they have all these other plans that I'm going to miss out on. Meanwhile back home I'm missing my friends' weddings and I have just been wondering why I'm still here. I am so grateful I was still here for Walter, but since he's been gone I have felt a little bit purposeless here. But the last couple of days God has been revealing to me that just being here, even if nothing exciting is happening and I'm not having any more grand adventures, is still a challenge and a growing experience. I still have a lot to learn. And though I didn't think it was possible, my love for these children has continued to grow and I've gotten even more attached to them.

Yesterday we went to a special needs home where one of our kids now lives. He has a disease I cannot pronounce or spell that affects his muscles and/or bones. I don't really know. He was here when I came two years ago, and he just transfered to this home a few months ago. He's five now and just started walking before he left Amani! He is a precious little boy and I just adore him. It was so sweet getting to go visit him and meet the other children at this home. I was amazed that these two single women live at this home with 13 special needs children and take care of them full time, around the clock! They have a child with epilepsy, another with autism, another with AIDS, several with various emotional issues, and so on. I can't imagine how they manage to run this home day to day and care for the children on their own! It was truly inspiring to see.

Today is Uganda's independence day, so we took all the older kids with us to go see the excitement in town. There were all these soldiers marching and a band playing the national anthem. We missed most of it, so we ended up taking all the kids to town for juice and cake. It was still fun to dress all the kids up and take them on a fun outing all together. Also today, the boy we took to visit his grandmother went home to live with her, and he seemed pretty excited about it so that is a huge blessing! Two more of our kids' parents are coming this weekend from America and will be going to court next week to hopefully get legal guardianship so they can take their kids home!

Since I've been here I've seen 8 children meet their adoptive families, 7 new kids arrive, 2 get reunited with their families, and 1 pass away. There have been so many heartbreaks, and so many wonderful moments. I have so many beautiful memories to take home with me. I have one week left and I'm savoring every second of it. I'm no longer going to question why I am here or what I'm going to do when I get home. I am going to focus on being present and on giving love to these kids. I have no idea how I'm going to part from these children. They have absolutely captured my heart and so has Africa. Again.