Hi everyone.  It's Jill D. here filling in for our amazing blog writer Jill P.  We just wanted to let everyone know that we have arrived home.  It was very hard to leave Uganda and the wonderful people that we met along the way, but we are happy to be back home again.  Thank you all for following our adventures and for keeping us in your prayers!

Love,
The South Salem Nazarene Watoto Team

On our way home ...

Our time in Uganda is coming to an end, and we are all sad to say good-bye even though we are simultaneously eager to be reunited with family and friends back home.

We enjoyed our last big outing yesterday afternoon - a river trip up the Nile River to the bottom of the Murchison Falls.

This smaller boat tied up at the rock just before our boat, and this is as close as we could safely get to the falls. The white foam is a natural and never-ending occurence caused by the force of the falls and a combination of dirt and animal scat. Our boat was larger and a double-decker with a covered top which thankfully protected us from the scorching mid-day sun .

Once we had our turn at the rock, the boat crew temporarily tied up there and said we could get out onto the rock for a quick photo. Jill P. and Heather were the first to jump at the chance. Surprisingly, our SS Naz group and one other man on the boat ride were the only ones to take advantage of this great opportunity. the other passengers had no interest or were too scared. Their loss!!

The one "new" creature we saw along the river, which we had not see on our previous safari outings, was the crocodile. The first few we spotted slipped into the water so fast that we barely had time to get our cameras out. But this one, about 6 feet long, was very accommodating and stayed put for several minutes so we could get plenty of snapshots.

We also saw so many groups of hippos (called "schools" just like fish) lazing in the water that they became commonplace and not worth photographing. There were also many interesting varieties of birds, such as the African Eagle - similar to the American Eagle but with more white feathers.

After the riverboat trip, We spent our last afternoon at the Paraa Safari Lodge relaxing in the swimming pool before dinner (maybe inspired by the hippos?), then packed our bags and prepared for the long trip home.

This morning we headed out at 7:00 to take the ferry across the Nile and drive back to Kampala.





The ferry coming from the other side had such a full load that it took 3 tries - and required rebalancing the load by moving cars back - before it could make it up onto the shore for disembarking.

We waited patiently on the shore for our vehicles to get on and then we boarded, bidding a very fond farewell to the Murchison Falls National Park.

We are now back in Kampala the Guest House, preparing to leave for the airport at 6 p.m. and take off at about 10 p.m. for the first of our three flights to get home. We needed to stop by the Watoto Central Church en route back from the safari, so we couldn't resist one more quick shopping session at the Living Hope craft store. Then we enjoyed a nice lunch at the same American-style restaurant where we ate on Saturday as our final group outing in Kampala.

It's been an amazing trip, filled with heartwarming as well as heartbreaking experiences, wonderful people we will never forget, and more blessing than we can begin to count. We are so thankful to Watoto and the many friendly Ugandans we met here for making us feel so welcome and so appreciated!!

We'll send another post when we arrive back in Salem. Thanks again to all of you for following our adventures and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers!

Blessings,

The SS Nazarene Watoto Team

Another Game Drive

This morning we left the Lodge at 6:00 for our second game drive in Murchison Falls National Park. It's the largest of Uganda's parks, at 5,861 square kilometers. Shortly after entering the park before daylight, we saw a small pack of hyenas in the road. They crossed to the side and gazed at us for a little while before heading off into the tall grasses. We tried taking photos, but the darkness made it tough to see them.

We saw huge herds of antelope - much larger groups than we saw yesterday - in open areas where they gather for the evening to have a clearer view of approaching predators and strengthen their protection from attacks. We also saw numerous giraffes as we drove along the dirt roads but no groups of 10 as we saw yesterday. They are so graceful and majestic, each time we see one feels like a special treat.

The Cape Buffalo also gathered in big herds alongside the road (see the dark shapes beyond the brown antelope). They lifted their heads to smell us as we approached, since they have poor eyesight and must rely on other senses to detect danger.

Periodically we also viewed some warthogs, which looked incredibly similar to the Pumba character in Lion King.

Now you see him ...

... and now you don't !

In the distance we could barely see a pair of lions that appeared ready to begin hunting for the day, as nearby antelopes were on "danger alert" and ready to spring into action as soon as they detected which direction the lions planned to take.

And our biggest excitement was seeing two elephants - not that close to our bus, but the closest we have come yet. The tusks on the male were huge and helped us spot him moving among the grasses.

Unfortunately, Uganda once had the greatest variety of animals in Africa, but under the regime of Idi Amin in the 1970s many were hunted and killed for their horns and tusks or as "target practice" for the Ugandan army. Rhinos completely disappeared from the park area, but thanks to a successful breeding program, there is a growing herd that will eventually be re-introduced to the National Park to continue multiplying. The park also shares its revenue from park entrance fees with the neighboring territories, giving locals an incentive to immediately report poachers and help enforce the rules protecting animals.

We came back to the Lodge in time for breakfast - a delicious buffet with a combination of some local African dishes plus American standbys such as omelets, toast, hash browns and waffles. We have some free time now until lunch at 1:00 and then we'll board the boat for a 2.5-hour safari cruise along the Nile River.

On the way into the park, we saw many baboons in the road and in the bushes alongside the road. Our driver Moses barreled along barely slowing down for them - causing all of us animal lovers on the bus to yell out "Get out of the road" to the baboons, as if they could hear us (or understand English, even if they did hear us). We laughed at ourselves afterward and quickly realized that these baboons have plenty of experience scooting out of the way of the tourist buses.  Our host Paul told us these baboons are shy - but the ones near the Lodge are more aggressive, and will climb in the bus windows if left open to look for food that tourists have on hand or even grab purses and backpacks that might have food.  Reminded us of the bears in Yellowstone and Yosemite!

We finally snapped some photos of a baboon when we dropped our off guide this morning - the first time the bus has been going slow enough for our cameras to capture the animals.

Sarah promised the baboons would be out in force when we come back this afternoon, as they will be looking for food they can scavenge from "clients". 

It's hard to believe that we leave tomorrow night to fly home. Meanwhile, we are taking advantage of the free Wifi at the lodge to touch base with loved ones back home (Internet access in the middle of the African jungle/savannah - who knew??).

 We'll be savoring these last hours in Uganda and soaking in as much as we can of the animals, natural beauty and friendly people. If we don't get a chance to send another blog update before we leave, we'll see you soon back in Salem!

Blessings,
The SS Nazarene Watoto Team

The Lion King in 3D

What an incredible day!  We were amazingly fortunate today to see several lions in real live 3D in their natural African habitat at Murchison Falls National Park. We have so many spectacular photos from today's adventures that we'll share when we get home. But meanwhile, here's a sampling:

After a 5-hour drive from Kampala, our first stop at about 10 a.m. was at the top of the Murchison Falls, where the turbulent Nile River surges through the rocks and creates a breathtaking waterfall with perpetual sprays shooting high into the air. Where the sun hits the spray, a gorgeous rainbow arches over the falls, seeming to reach down into the waterfall.

From there we drove onward to our destination, the Paraa Safari Lodge. When the hotel staff greeted us in the lobby with ice-cold washcloths and glasses of fresh-squeezed passion fruit juice, we knew we would love it here! We feel like we have landed in the lap of luxury here compared to the chaotic, noisy streets of Kampala. The lodge is overlooking a more calm part of the Nile River, with scenic views from the restaurant of the riverbanks and beautiful native landscapes.

After lunch and settling in, we joyfully immersed ourselves in the swimming pool here - the first time we have felt completely cooled off since we arrived in Uganda. Garth, Jill, Celeste, Renee and Cindy are staying in the Queen's Cottage, which is an apartment-type building set apart from the main lodge. It was added when Queen Elizabeth first came to stay here, and it has the distinction of including air conditioning (something we have not experienced yet in Uganda). It also has a large veranda that provides a great view of the Nile River and is surrounded by various creatures such as warthogs, crocodiles and hippos. The rest of the team is divided among several nice rooms at the Lodge and has no complaints.

At 4:00 pm, we headed out in the bus with our wonderful driver Moses (Kibirango Moses, director of Marantha Tours and Travel www.maranthatoursug.net) and Sarah, a professional game guide who works at the park - who boarded the bus with her AK47 rifle in hand, to scrare off any aggressive animals that might not want us to be intruding on their turf. (Fortunately, she had no cause to use it today.)

The first wildlife we spotted in the partk were herds of antelopes. There are 5 varieties here, and we saw hundreds of each kind except the Bushback. We learned that the small and graceful Oribi mate for life, the large Waterbuck have meat that is too "stinky" for lions to eat, and the beautiful Ugandan Kob are the offical animal of Uganda. The males have uniquely shaped horns, while the females do not have any. Below is the Jackson Hardebeest antelope, which has a longer, flat face. In this species, both males and females have horns as a way of defending themselves.
 

The highlight of the day, though, was definitely seeing the lions. Our host Paul and the guide Sarah said it's rare to see lions at this time of day - and some groups who go on safari spend several hours and don't see any animals. But God blessed us immensely by showing us 3 of these magnificent "Kings of the Jungle".
 

We got incredibly close and personal to this lion (the same one pictured above). He was lying in the sun sleeping when we first spotted him, then he woke up when we approached. Thankfully, he wasn't cranky that we awakened him. Sarah  (our guide) explained that he lost one of his hind legs five years ago apparently from being hit by a Cape Buffalo, but he has continued to survive in the Park thanks to the female lions that do the hunting and bring meat back to the males.

 Later we came across this pair of lions who were more awake and basking in the sun, but still were mellow enough to allow us to come very near and watch their antics.

 

We got a big kick out of watching them as the female got up and stretched, and they started moving around more. Fortunately, they were not yet in the mood to hunt for their next meal, so they were not the least bit interested in us.

Our next treat was watching a herd of 10 giraffes casually saunter by alongside the road, and paralleling the Nile River (visible in the background). Moses did a fantastic job of keeping pace with them so we could snap some great photos. We were even close enough to see their beautiful long eyelashes, which Sarah had told us about. We saw other giraffes throughout the park, but these were definitely the closest to the road.

Before heading back for dinner at the Lodge, we drove past the "hippo pond" where more than a dozen hippos were relaxing in a pool off of the Nile River. Two of the hippos were playing with each other, and this one delighted us by showing off his big mouth - what's known as a "hippo yawn".

Tomorrow morning we head out again at 6 a.m. for another game drive at the Park, and later in the day we have a boat safari on the Nile, where we will get to see the Murchison Falls from below for a different perspective. It's hard to imagine that we'll see anything that tops our splendid safari today, but we know we'll enjoy it no matter what.  About the only thing we didn't get to see up close today were elephants. There was a group of about 6-8 elephants on a hill that we viewed through binoculars, but they were too far away to get good photos. Maybe God will bless us again tomorrow with an up-close elephant experience!

We already feel very blessed to be here, relaxing from a physically and emotionally time in Kampala and soaking in the beauty of Africa's natural habitat.  We spend lots of time laughing, enjoying each other's company, taking photos, and savoring the wonderful fresh fruits and vegetables available here.

Sometimes it's hard to believe we're actually here experiencing all of this - in a part of the world none of us has visited before, and most had never thought we'd ever see. We are so appreciative of this opportunity and very grateful to all of you who have and continue to support us in this mission trip. We are all missing our families at this point and eager to see them soon - but we are savoring these last few days here and making the most of our remaining time.

Blessings,

The SS Nazarene Watoto Team

Going on Safari

It's 4:30 a.m. and we are packing up to leave for the 5-hour drive to the Paraa Safari Lodge for our next adventure. We'll be visiting Murchison Falls National Park, which looks gorgeous in the photos we've seen and promises to show us hundreds of species of birds and animals.

A pleasant surprise is that we have a different bus to take - one with comfy cushioned seats! The driver says this one also is less bumpy, which will make the trip SO much more enjoyable for us.

Hopefully we'll have Internet access there and can post more updates. Plus we'll work on sorting through the hundreds of photos we took yesterday at Baby Watoto in downtown Kampala (called The Bulrushes - think of the Old Testament story of Moses being left in the bulrushes) and post some of our favorites.

Blessings,
The SS Nazarene Watoto Team

Our last full day in Kampala

Our time here in Uganda is winding down, and today was our last full day in Kampala before we go on a three-day safari and then fly home.

Last night we celebrated the completion of our portion of the house with a special dinner out at a "one of Kampala's finer restaurants". After the questionable places we've seen along the road to and from Watoto, we were curious to see what a finer restaurant would look like.  We were pleasantly surprised that it was a beautiful place in a part of downtown Kampala that we hadn't seen previously. There were paved streets and parking lots, sidewalks, traffic lights and modern-looking bank and government buildings. The restaurant was called Fang Fang, and we joked that "If was called Fang Fung, it could be a Chinese restaurant." Turns out it was a Chinese restaruant, and the food was marvelous. But even better was the company. We were hosted by one of the Watoto pastors, Andrew, and his delightful wife Angela. They were such a fabulous couple and so passionate about their ministry and the work they are doing through Watoto.  Besides the Central church downtown that we attended on Sunday, there are 4 other Watoto churches in Kampala - and Pastor Andrew leads the Watoto West church. We loved getting to meet them and hear about how fast their congregation is growing.

Our team leaders, Garth and Jill Dettwyler, with Pastor Andrew and his wife Angela

Pastor Andrew also said we should attend the Saturday evening service at Watoto Central - so we cajoled Paul (our host) into bringing us there tonight. It was just as wonderful, upbeat and energetic as last Sunday's service, but was a "regular" service compared to the other service which was a special celebration to commemorate achieving the church's goal of raising $1 million to give to others. We were impressed that this service also was completely full - and we found out from Pastor Andrew that the Central Church actually holds about 1,200 people (not 700 as we had heard earlier).

At the end, there was a call for people who wanted to give their lives to Christ, and more than 20 people came forward to meet with pastors and counselors. What a great blessing!

Earlier in the day we did some shopping at an African craft village and bargained our way through many fun purchases of gifts to bring back home (and a few things for ourselves too :)  After a while, the merchandise in the little stalls all started looking the same, but it was fun to see quite a variety of traditional African jewelry, clothing, decorations, carved animals, etc. 

The women definitely relished their time there more than the men, but Garth admitted later, "I had more fun than I though it would."  And Paul, who serves as host for many visiting groups, told us later that we were bigger shoppers than the other groups. The way we looked at it, we were just doing our part to serve the Lord by boosting the local economy :)

We stopped for lunch at a shopping mall that was one of the more modern places we've seen, and ate at a restaurant that had "American" food like burgers, fries, sandwiches and some awesome ice cream milk shakes. And judging from the number of other white people we saw, it's a local hangout for non-African foreign visitors. Some of us loved the Heinz ketchup (made in Egypt, with real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup) so much, we made Paul take us to the supermarket in the mall so we could buy some to bring home. He thought we were crazy, but was accommodating as usual.

The afternoon was a very special experience for all of us, even though it was probably the most heart-breaking time we've had here. We visited the other Baby Watoto center in Kampala, which is smaller than the one at Suubi and located in central Kampala in an older building that Watoto purchased and converted. It serves as the intake center for infants and toddlers who are handed over to Watoto by police, local agencies and others who find abandoned children in need of care. Because it's in town, with fast access to the International Hospital, all babies come here first for medical evaluation and treatment, and the younger infants stay here until they are 6 months old and can be transferred to one of the Baby Watoto facilities at a Watoto Village.

There were 47 children there today, and the capacity is a maximum of 60. The facility includes an incubation area for newborns and preemies, with nurse specialists to care for the children. This afternoon the center was caring for 3 preemies and 1 newborn, plus about 12 special needs children. One girl was 4 years old, but looked less a year old and was not able to walk because of severe malnutrition, while another boy with a feeding tube was 2 1/2 years old but probably weighed less than 10 pounds and was the size of a newborn. Another little girl who had the most beautiful face and eyes we've seen was also considered special needs because of malnutrition, but fortunately had no serious health issues and will soon be able to move on to the Village.

As the babies awoke from their naps, we split up among the different rooms and spent time holding, cuddling and playing with the babies - plus helping out with diaper changes. Raelene got to experience this task for the first time ever, but looked just like a pro!

It's incredibly difficult to comprehend how so many women here can abandon their babies or even worse try to kill them, but thankfully God is looking out for these children and through Watoto is helping them become healthy, well-loved and well-cared for babies who will soon become part of a new family. Another bright spot was hearing that the center helps young teen mothers who are not yet capable of caring for their babies, to help prevent them from abandoning their infants out of desperation. The young mothers spend the day at the center to bond with their babies and learn how to care for them, hile having trained professionals on hand to help out and provide the necessary (and expensive) medical care for preemies and other infants with health issues. One teen/infant pair were just getting ready to "graduate" with the girl taking her baby home, which uplifted us.. 

We have a whole new appreciation for the tremendous prosperity and high quality of life we enjoy in the U.S. compared to what the Ugandans have. And we are inspired by their cheerfulness, friendly nature, resilience, and ability to put their faith in God and Jesus.

We are not sure about Internet service at the lodge while we're on the safari, but will post updates when and if we can.  So don't worry if you don't hear from us - we did not get eaten by wild animals!

Blessings,
The SS Naz Watoto team

Goodbye to the Crew, Hello to Baby Watoto

Today was an emotional day for us, bringing tears of joy and sadness. We started with a special dedication of the construction we did on the house. We sang, prayed and celebrated with the fabulous crew who worked alongside us to build a house for the manager of the Baby Watoto house. It feels like we've known these wonderful men for a long time, not for only 5 days.

It was very hard to say goodbye to the crew - a fun, dedicated and friendly bunch who were so patient with us when we didn't know what we were doing with bricks, mortar and trowels. Together we built the walls for the master bedroom, office and bathroom. The next crew will finish the second bedroom and living room/kitchen area.

Next was a highlight of our trip that we've been eagerly anticipating - a visit to Baby Watoto at the Suubi village. This is where infants and toddlers are raised in a beautiful, well-equipped facility until they are two years old and placed in a family home at the village.

 In this room there were 28 babies less than a year old. We got to play with them, hold them, feed them and simply adore them.

Garth Dettwyler, who is co-leading our team with his wife Jill, had his hands full - especially with the little boy in stripes who just wanted to be held and cuddle. He cried whenever Garth put him down.

Meanwhile, the toddlers enjoyed playing in the pools at Baby Watoto. A perfect place to be on such a warm day!

After finally managing to pull ourselves away from these precious children, we went downtown to the Watoto Central Church to drop off donations of sports equipment and outdoor playthings (jump ropes, frisbees, etc.) that our church is donating to the Watoto Villages. We also got to visit and go shopping at Living Hope, a ministry started by Marilyn Skinner (wife of Pastor Gary Skinner, who founded the Watoto Church and Watoto Childcare Ministries) that helps women in Uganda earn income by learning a craft skill such as sewing or making jewelry.

These women use old pedal-driven Singer sewing machines to create beautiful purses, bags, scarves, aprons and more.

We have so many wonderful photos, but with a slow Internet connection this is all we have time to share for tonight.

Meanwhile, within our team, we also had highs and lows today. Both Celeste and Kathy were not feeling well today and missed some of our activities, but seem to be on the mend and doing better now. On the positive side, we celebrated Dan Page's birthday tonight with a surprise birthday cake and a card from the group.  Dan will likely never forget spending a birthday in Uganda! We wish him all the best and are thankful to have him with us here!

Thanks Amelia, Jesslyn and Apryl for your comments to the last blog post. We loved hearing from you - and Dan appreciated the birthday wishes from his daughter and grandson.

Blessings,

The SS Nazarene Watoto Team