Uganda: Day Six.

day six in uganda, africa was spent in the hilltops of baduda. 

it was just last year that help international volunteers,

 built a health clinic in a small remote village.

to get to this village we had to take a two hour PACKED taxi ride,

(packed as in 27 people, and chickens, in a 12 seater van!)

and then ride on the back of a boda boda up crazy steep hills.

on this particular day we were helping with an eye camp.

this is the reaction of random school children seeing us pass by.

probably the best picture. ever.

this sweet little girl stopped to wave hello to the muzungus walking by her home.

after our taxi and boda ride, 

we walked to the top of these hills to reach the clinic. 

hotel? 

my favorite, little winnie. 

we finally reached the health clinic!

jeff and i were testing out some of the glasses that would be given away. 

we'll probably be wearing these exact same glasses in... 60 years?!

let the eye camp begin!

over 80 people came from miles away to have their eyes checked,

 and to see the optometrist.

we gave eye examinations to every individual,

and wrote down their visual acuity.

it was really sad to see so many people with major eye infections and impairments. 

there were a few that couldn't see the letters at all and were basically blind.

others didn't know the letters because they never learned to read.

it was a remarkable day and experience for both jeff and i to participate in. 

after we finished the eye exams we spent hours playing with the children.

jump rope is one of their favorite games.

because they don't have real rope to jump with they improvise.

tying two pieces of banana leaves together actually works!

these kids are amazing.

they could go on forever without messing up, 

and most were jumping bare foot!

i joined in on the fun!

this gentleman captured all of our hearts.

 we finished the eye camp for the day and were about to head home,

when this man walked into the clinic, very slowly, with his walking stick in hand.

 he sat down and patiently waited to be seen.

all of us were debating who was going to have to tell him we were done for the day.

we soon found out that he had walked several miles,

 just to have his eyes checked.

it broke our hearts to tell him that the doctor still had 50 people to see, 

but that he would be the very first one the doctor would help the following day.

he didn't complain or put up a fight.

this sweet man simply thanked us and stood to start his journey home.

feeling bad that he came all this way and didn't get to be helped,

we thought we'd share an apple and some crackers with him.

this simple act of kindness brought so much joy.

he said with shock in his voice, "for me? is this really for me"?

i'll never forget the smile that flashed across his wrinkled face.

the beautiful view at the top of zion's health clinic.

this is brenda & vicky. 

these girls are cousins and children of the community leaders.

they were so great at including and interacting with the other kids.

they're both studying hard in school to become a teacher and a lawyer.

she is too much cuteness.

these are all of the incredible volunteers we lived with for two weeks!

most of them had been in uganda for three months, working on diverse projects.

they have so many amazing abilities and talents, we learned a lot from them.

the whole group had an "award show"later that night, 

and these were the awards given to us... too funny!