Uganda: Day Three.

today marked our first day of actual volunteer work in uganda!

i could hardly sleep the night before because i was so excited to meet the children.

our first stop of the day was at greenlight primary school.

hannah, a volunteer, brought books from america to give to the school.

we read books to the kids and they were ecstatic to receive them. 

it was so refreshing to see the eagerness they had to learn and read.

 he couldn't put it down. 

 the books were the first these kids had ever received. 

after we finished at greenlight we walked to another school called bugamma parents.

jeff and i got to play with an amazing group of kids for over an hour.

the kids were so excited to play with the muzungu's, 

but not as excited as i was to play with them.

(muzungu is what the africans call the "white people") 

it's a term we heard non-stop in africa, and i loved it!

teaching the kids red light, green light.

these kids can run. they were crazy fast.

duck, duck, GOOSE! 

 head, shoulders, knees & toes.

 and then they taught us a few games of their own...

 such sweet kids.

it was so fun to see our boda boda driver representing my home town!

go asu!

 that afternoon we helped some of the voulnteers finish painting mirium primary school.

the little kids saw us in the distance and ran up to greet us.

the kids absolutely loved to hold our hands and be close.

melted my heart every time. 

jeffrey painting away. 

he apparently takes it very seriously!

one of the volunteers free handed this mural. amazing!

 

the kids peeking in to see their school being painted.

little sherry in the blue dress cried every time she saw me. haha!

her mom said she gets nervous if muzungus get too close to her. 

i felt so bad, but couldn't help laugh. she is too cute.

 his squinty nose!

i met shema and instantly fell in love. 

she was striking, so meek and calm.

she'd just stare and watch every movement i made. 

she was so curious.

after playing with her for a while i noticed something wasn't right. 

her skin was burning up.

i was able to talk with her mother and soon found out she was sick with malaria. 

i wanted to cry.

it didn't seem right or fair, that this beautiful child had to suffer so much.

the sad truth about shema, is that there are millions more like her.

according to WHO, every minute a child dies from malaria. 

 that statistic is appalling and overwhelming.

luckily for shema, she has parents who love her and will do everything to help her.

she stole my heart.