Fort Portal - YES Hostel

So as the trip reaches its 3 week mark we are in Fort Portal, Uganda volunteering our time to an NGO. This NGO, Youth Encouragement Services, works with children who are HIV / AIDS positive or have lost all family to the disease. Talking to Carrol (the founder of the organization) truly showed us what situations this children were in before they were helped. Some of the kids were living with a mother who could not care for them because she was so sick from the late stages of the disease, and others were living alone because the disease had already taken their parents. What YES does is it finds these kids who are so misfortuned and brings them into an orphanage.

The one home that we visit and work with is the Manna Rescue Home. Here there are around 20-30 kids who are all HIV positive. At the rescue home they recieve proper nutrition in the form of 3 meals a day, a bed, a playground, the medicine they need to fight the disease, and most importantly the love that these children deserve. It was incredible to play with these children as the littlest interaction could make the smile go from ear to ear. While coloring with the kids our inner children came out as we took the paper and made paper airplanes. Minutes later the kids were outside throwing the planes all over the yard. From coloring, to airplanes, to soccer, to just talking with the kids you can tell that your efforts were most definitely paying off.

Yesterday we also did our fair share of manual labor at the YES farm. This farm was put in place to guarantee that the children always have food. The foundation is also building a house on the property for a farmer to stay there 24/7. If there was not someone there to protect the crop the neighbors would "accidentally" farm into their yard. So yesterday was dedicated to helping around the farm. Britt, Zach, Dan, and Kirsten took the dirty end of all the work when it came to hoeing, weeding, and de-grassing a large area for the farm. Ian, Devon, Kathryn, Lizzie, and I did the more busy work when we had to move bricks and aggregate and move them to another location using shovels and 2 wheelbarrows. And our Super Man Zik took the more skilled end of the labor and plastered and smoothed the inside walls of the house. We all played a big part in moving the farm along.

Since we've been in Fort Portal we've had a few un-welcomed guests. A few thousand to be exact. Last night while some were cleaning dishes and others were inside just have a relaxed evening a whole nest of winged termites came out. Apparently they only come out twice a year and it is only for the purpose of mating. Thankfully the termites did not bite. When Devon, a member of the cleaning crew at the time, turned around in the kitchen looking for her co-leader Britt she had stated that Britt was, "Lost in a tornado of wings". When all was said and done and the termites had done their bussiness all that was left in the morning were wings.

We also had our first Ugandan earthquakes and we didnt even know it. While some were talking about it in the morning others, me being one of them, had no idea it had even happened. I am definitely upset I missed them as I have never felt one before. Zik described it two ways. One being "It was like a train was running through nearby" and the other being "It was almost as elephants were running". But family and friends need not worry as even me in my light sleeping habits did not awake from my beautiful malaria pill affected dreams.

Hope everyone is keeping away from Swine back home. And all other sicknesses as well.

We Love You All,
Kaan Yarar