Elephant Orphanage & Giraffe Centre.

shortly after arriving in kenya we were able to visit an elephant orphanage!

this was one of the cutest things i've ever seen.

baby elephants came running towards us as fast as their little legs could go.

they were anxious to get their morning breakfast, warm milk, from the keepers.

we watched in awe, as they ate and happily played together.

the majority of these baby elephants lost their mothers to poaching. once discovered in the wild, the baby elephants are rescued and brought to the reserve. they are taken care of till they're twelve years old and then are released back into the wild. most of them are just 2 or 3 years old now. 

we learned that a keeper, the guys in the green, sleep next to a baby elephant every night. it was amazing to see the sweet relationships the keepers had with these elephants.

this little guy is the youngest elephant currently, he's three months old.

after the orphanage we visited the giraffe center.

it was so fun getting up close and personal with these massive animals!

look at that tongue! it felt like slimy sandpaper on our skin.

The Namatala Slum.

durring our stay in uganda we spent some time in the namatala slum.

below are some sad but true facts about namatala... 

• children generally only get 1 meal a day and thats through the Child of Hope school

• 20% of the population has HIV

• child sacrafice is practiced as a part of satanice ceremonies

• many of these children suffer from physical or sexual violence at home

• 1 in 7 Ugandan children will not live to age 5 (this statistic is believed to be much worse in Namatala)

• familes live on about 1000 shillings a day which is the equaivalent to about 40 cents - families usually have around 7-10 people 

even though there are so many terrible things these people deal with,

 those we encountered were full of hope and smiles.

it's extremely difficult to try and understand what life is really like for these families.

instead of feeling sorry we filled our time laughing and learning from them.

some of my most treasured memories & experiences have come from the namatala slums.

this boy is pure joy!

 ^^ is she not the most beautiful little girl?? ^^

this was a common occurrence...

kids would hold their hands out, asking to be held,

when i picked them up i quickly realized i should have checked for pants first...

there were so many cute little naked bums running the streets of namatala!

we had a full blown dance party with these hooligans.

it was epic!

(i'll have to post the video soon)

i think we made this little guy a bit nervous...

 they did not want to say goodbye to andrea!

sam (in the middle) is one of my favorite people we met in all of africa.

for so many reasons, jeff and i really connected with him.

sam is kind, so curious, and full of life.

he spoke passionately about improving the lives of those in his community. 

we were always laughing with him. 

whenever we parted we felt uplifted and happier. 

sam introduced us to his beautiful wife and children.

they invited us into their home and treated us like family.

i can't think of sam and not get a huge smile across my face. 

i'll never forget sam's kindness and we'll always consider him a good friend.

caleb is beyond lucky to have parents that work hard and love him.

it's a rare thing to have in uganda, let alone the slum.

 brand new shoes!
these 10 children are all orphans and live in the slum.
an amazing young man named pias, has adopted them as his own.
each of these kids have either been abandoned, abused or have lost their parents to disease. 
pias, with the help of a child of hope, feeds, clothes, educates and cares for them. 
they are all so close and some of the sweetest kids i've ever met!

carley, one of my favorite volunteers,  paid for and surprised these kids with new shoes.

for many of these little orphans, this was their first real pair of shoes. 

they were so grateful and most definitely deserving.

sweet mary.

 and the boys!

sarah & carley, love these girls.