First Day in Africa

Today was amazing. We just got back from visiting the Acholi slums and I had to sit down and write immediatly! The Acholi people that live here used to live up in northern Uganda but fled or were forcd out of their homes as a result of Joseh Kony's terrorozing and killing in the area.
So, they have no easy source of income since they were all farmers and now live in a city and they have makeshift homes in the slums.
We were each given families that we would meet and give some chosen donations to. We were told how many kids they had and their ages and we went "shopping" in each other's donation bags to find stuff for them. My first family was a a wife/husband and 4 kids. The enitre family has AIDs and so the parents are not able to work much and have very little. They all share a one room area, kind of like a hut.
First of all, just entering the slums was an experience. I was a little nervous about the whole thing. Would they be happy to see us? Would I be comfortable? Would I have a sense of guilt or depression or something else that's not usefeul but only painful at the moment? None of that happened. Those kids were SOOOO happy to see us! Iwas told they wold be but they REALLY were! :) They are fascinated by white people. (Musungus) They would shout musungu! musung! and come running to us to touch our skin and shake our hands. It was such a warm and loving feeling. It was amazing, really. The kids were so open and trusting and loving. and adorable!
So, we met our two families and went with them to their homes to give our our stuff.
I gave out toothbrushes, notebooks/pencils, shirts, books and we all communally gave food, soap, and de-worming pills.
The second family was a woman and her four daughters. Her oldest one was away in school. Her husband had died. I gave this adorable little girl a t-shirt that was huge on her. She loved it and put it on over her dress and danced around in it :) It was such a moment :)
So, both of these women had a translator come with us (a teenage girl) because they wanted to tell me things. THey wanted me to know that they can not afford to send their girls to school and they need help. The woman with AIDS can not work in the stone quarry like many women do because she is too weak. She makes beautfiul beads but it is not enough money. It was so hard to listen to their stories and not personally be able to do something to help them. One of the girls really realy wants to go to school but her mom can't afford it. I promised to pass their stories along and talk to our group leaders about this common issue. The women were happy to hear thins, but I wsh there was more I could actually do. They were also so grateful for the things we brought the kids. The women were just as open and warm as the kids. They really touched my heart.
As depressing and sad as it was to see how they live, I was also incredily inspired by their open hearts, positive outlook, love for their children, and embrace of me.
OK, I think I'll end here for now.
I have to clean some red dirt off of me so we can go to dinner.
I survived the long plane rides and thankfully had an open seat next to me on both flights. Yeah!
I couldn't fall asleep last night and didn't sleep much of the planes so I think I've slept only a total of 9 hours since Friday when I left. I'm sure that will catch up to me soon!

I'm thinking about all of you at home.

Love, Heather