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Hello again, time for another update from me!
I am continuing to try and visit other projects, so on Saturday I visited two orphanages with a couple of friends. The first orphanage we visited was called 'Dwelling Places' which offers a rehabiliation programme to ex street children, as well as support and educational programmes to their families, with the hope that eventually the children can be returned home. I was very impressed with the excellent facilities and members of staff that we met who offer such a fantastic service to troubled children on the streets of Kampala.
We then went to visit a completely contrasting orphanage called 'Sanyu Baby Home,' which is home to over 40 children aged 0 - 4 years, with the majority aged under 2 years old. As soon as we entered the home I was completely amazed and overwhelmed by the number of cots with babies holding out their arms to be held! The majority of these children were abandoned at birth, it is hard to believe that there are so unwanted babies brought into the world and this is just one home of many in Uganda! Such babies may have been conceived as a result of rape or are brought into the world by a mother simply too poor to care for her child. Many babies are abandoned at hospitals or in toilets etc and are brought to such homes. This home was a complete contrast to the previous, with obviously far less funding and only 3 members of staff to care for so many little ones, which must be exhausting! We left the orphanage feeling quite sad and deflated, but it also left me feeling that it is definately a project that I would like to get involved in!
Well it has taken me a while to adjust tol iving alongside cockroaches and growling dogs, but I have recently realised that I have been sharing my bedroom with rats! One night when I was trying to sleep I heard a scratching sound coming from under my bed and then the sound of something scampering across the floor. I was so scared that I didn't dare turn on my light as I couldn't bare to see what it was. So like a truly pathetic female I phoned my host brother, who searched my room and convinced me that it was probably just a cockroach!
However the next evening whilst I was sat reading on my bed, I saw a rat run out and back under my bed again! I was completely stunned but too embarrassed to call my host brother again, so instead I didn't move out from under my mosquito net until the following morning! The next day I crawled out of bed very hesitantly as I was terrified a rat might dart out and touch me! To cut a long story short I bought several traps, laid them in my room and the following day found that I had managed to catch one disgusting rat! Nearly the whole of that night I had to listen to my ipod, to hide the sound of the scratching, I was a nervous wreck! The traps that I bought are like a glue filled tray, which the rats basically stick to. So the following morning I knew something had been caught as I could hear something wriggling around! I couldn't bare to look at it myself and gave my host brother the pleasure of disposing of the revolting wriggling creature!
The trouble is that my bedroom is used as a general store room for my family, so it is very messy and stacked high with books and boxes etc, a perfect hiding place for rats! So today I have been on a cleaning mission and have attempted to fill in 3 possible rat holes that I found, hopefully there will be no way in now! I am sure that my host family must think I am completely crazy, as rodents are so common here that they are not fazed by them at all. You never know, maybe by the end of my time here I will learn to treat these creatures as my pets!!
Take care everyone
Lots of love
Naomi xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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