A Zoo Where the Monkeys Run Free and the Peacocks Are Caged

Right now, I am currently working with Pastor Samuel at Return Ministries to plan this years outing for the kids while I am there for my visit.   I wanted to spend some time tonight remembering my time in Uganda last year.  I pulled out my journal so that I could share with you a few stories.  Without all of you sponsoring this zoo day last summer, none of this would have been possible!!!!!!  It may look like a typical outing you might take regularly with your kids, but this was a day they will NEVER forget.

Stories from August 2013
After finishing our time in Ethiopia, my team hopped on a flight and headed back to the states.  I stuck around Ethiopia for another night until I could catch a flight to Uganda the next morning.  What a strange feeling it was to be "left" in Africa.  A year before, international travel was terrifying and now here I was doing it by myself!  What I found as I travel by myself was, I am able to experience people in more genuine ways.  This is now something I am looking forward to doing and it also scares me.  As a good friend once told me, "you have to do it afraid."  So I did, and I will again.

With only a few hiccups, I made it to Uganda the next morning.  After an adventure with my taxi driver (I didn't have the number needed to call my contact...typical Andrea), I made my way to my Ugandan friend Sarah who took me to the guest house that would be home for the next few days.

That is fresh squeezed Mango juice :)

The next morning, as I ate breakfast in the open air dinning room and drank my freshly squeezed mango juice, I could hear the children gathering at the church just down the hill.  They were so excited for our day at the zoo that so many of you sponsored!  Taking that walk down the hill to meet the kids was so exciting!  We hugged and laughed and were happy to be together again.  I was reunited with the little girl I sponsor, Vanessa.  Since I last saw Vanessa, she had become an orphan after coming home from the feeding program one afternoon to find her mother had passed away.  A life of too much hurt, struggle, and pain for one little girl.  Somehow she is still able to put a smile on and sing beautiful songs all day.  She has a big personality you can't help but love.

Vanessa

Shortly after reuniting with the children, our bus arrived to take us to the zoo.  Very few children had ever been to the zoo since it is uncommon for the kids to even leave their small village.  Usually in Africa, you cram as many bodies as you can into a vehicle, but the driver of our rented bus was having none of that.  Pastor Samuel tried hard to reason with the driver, but in the end four children were turned away and told "next time".  I knew these children had no hope of a next time, but in that moment I vowed to make a "next time" for those kids!

Arriving at the zoo, I could feel the anticipation growing on the bus.  I know the kids were ready to charge into the zoo, but another wonderful part of their day was the food that was lovingly brought for them.  We set up a little picnic on the front lawn where we passed out a hard boiled egg, banana, package of milk biscuits, and a bottle of water to each child.  I wish I had lots of pictures to share, but sadly my camera was stollen at the airport on my way out of the country (I didn't follow travel 101).   Thankfully, in the age of iPhones I was still able to bring home a few treasured pictures.
After breakfast, we were off to explore the zoo.   I never thought I would be any help teaching about the animals, but it seems I'm soaking up more information on our outings to the Denver zoo than I thought.  We walked a LONG ways that day, and I helped as much as I could to carry the smaller children that were being carried by their older siblings.  As I would take a child from another child's back, it was great to see the older sibling that is often responsible for their little brother or sister, be able to run and play with their friends.

Halfway through our walk, we ran into a couple who had skin just like mine.  While they were still far off, the children got so excited telling me that my friends were here, too!  They were so confused when I told them I didn't know this couple.  One little girl looked at me and said, "but you are the same color?"  It was shocking to them that I didn't know these strangers, and by the time we met up with this couple we had decided we should all meet them.  We did, and this couple thought it was pretty fun.

After our walk around the zoo, we took a lunch break.  We ate a peanut butter and butter sandwich (yes you read that correctly), another banana, a BIG chapati (google it), and an orange soda.  It was really lunch and a show as the groups of monkeys come down from the trees to try and take our food.  The men and older boys kept us safe chasing the monkeys away because the monkeys did not respond to the women.  These are the pictures I REALLY wish I still had!  I told the children that in American zoos we have our monkeys in cages but our peacocks are out walking around.  By the way, they think this is outrageous!

With full bellies, we set the kids loose on the playground to swing, climb, and laugh.

The things I loved most about this day was watching the children eat and eat and eat again, and also watching them just be kids.  There was nothing to worry about today.  Today was about learning and laughing.  The bus ride home was quiet as the kids  drank another bottle of water, ate chapati, and fell asleep.  Vanessa laid her tired head down on my lap and took a peaceful nap.  Two years in a row she has found rest in my lap, and this year I think she needed it even more than the previous year.
What a wonderful day!!

My beautiful friend Sarah and her daughter Pearl