Day Five: More babies!

Back volunteering with the babies today - though I actually spend a large part of the day helping with the laundry, which is where the home really needs the most help. My non-glamorous responsibilities include pre-scrubbing various baby stains off lots and lots and lots of baby clothes before they go into the washing machine. The clothes are all donated, and some make me laugh, like the "My Grandma Went To Aruba And All She Brought Me Back Was This Stupid T-Shirt" shirt I remember a little girl named Angela wearing the last time I was here. It's not funny at all though, really, when you think about it. Angela probably never even knew her grandmother, and there's no way in hell she ever went to Aruba.

I do get to hang out with the babies during feeding time though. I really like this one kid, a one year old boy with a smile that would melt your heart, and big, bright eyes, and bumps all over his face. He is adorable. I teach him "give me five", and he thinks it is the best thing ever.

We stop at another Internet Café where I pay for 45 minutes of internet time and I can't even connect to my Hotmail inbox. Service is pretty unreliable - you pretty much click a link, then wait...and wait...and wait...and hope the connectivity gods are in your favour. Linda gets lucky, and is generous enough to let me connect from her terminal. I read a quick email from Mike, with her remaining 2 minutes, and don't have a chance to reply.

Early to bed for me tonight. Tomorrow we spend a long day on the bus; we are heading to Gulu, a war-torn area in Northern Uganda, to visit an Internally Displaced People's (IDP) Camp. I know I'm not prepared and I know that nothing will prepare me for just how sad and overwhelming it will be visiting these camps. Having seen War Dance, and Invisible Children, I understand what I am in for, but still...

From there, we continue to Murchison Falls for a 2 day safari, which was our add-on to the trip. We've seen the pamphlets, and our accomodations there look pretty swank. Something feels wrong about visiting an IDP camp, and then only hours later, hanging out at a swim up bar at luxury lodge. I bet the ride there will be deadly quiet after Gulu.

I need to change some more money and do some laundry, since everything I have is either sweaty, or covered in baby goo, or both. It is all going by so fast. This place is amazing.