kaley

"The kids here are no different than the kids at home. They all want to play games, to draw pictures, to share with you everything they can in such a short period of time. With a week left, it is becoming more real that our time here will soon be cut short. It has been easy to grow accustomed to having kids crawl all over you and hold your hands; it will be hard when it is time to let go.

It has been a bit more difficult coming over the language barrier. Today I began to pick up on some Lugandan with the help of a twelve-year old boy named Steven. I am slowly learning through these kids and each day I find out a little more.

In the past couple of days, I have been doing art projects with the kids, more specifically, making friendship bracelets. It is amazing how quickly some of the girls took to it and each time they see any string at all, their eyes light up.

Today was the welcoming ceremony for Change the Truth. The kids dressed up in traditional Ugandan outfits and proceeded to play music and sing songs about how grateful they are to be at SMK. It was so much fun to watch until we were grabbed on stage by the dancers to partake. Needless to say, I have some dancing skills I need to work on before I will feel comfortable holding my own on stage with the kids.

I think it is really amazing to look at some of the ten-year-old girls I have met on this trip and keep in mind that I have a ten-year-old cousin back home. They all love to sing and dance, the music is just a little different.

I can’t wait to see how the rest of this trip will play out and I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity that I had to come to Uganda."