Just to make them smile

Day 15 in Uganda

Today I learned to make Chapati. George had a friend to come visit. She told me all the steps to make it. Wilson was supposed to show me, but all he did was laugh at me. After we got the dough ready, I rolled it out to make it flat. Wilson told me to stack them with a little flour between each one. He got the charcoal ready for me and we started cooking. After the first two I got the hang of it. After I got about 5 done, the uncooked ones stuck together. George came outside and said I was doing it all wrong because one that I had gotten loose was way out of shape. But he didn’t know I had already cooked 5 good ones. When he saw them he was so proud. We rolled the ones that were stuck together back up into balls and started over. By then our fire had cooled down. The wind was blowing so hard. Dirt was blowing everywhere. When we got to the last one it took about 20 minutes to cook because the fire was about out. I was very pleased with the outcome. I will be cooking more for sure.

Kids were watching outside the door as we got necklaces ready to take pictures of them. I started dancing like a hillbilly to the music you could here from the choir. They laughed. I acted silly just to get a smile from them. Later Christie and I sat on the porch and took the rest of the pictures of the merchandise. Kids came from all around. I made funny faces and they made faces back at me. I saw Charles and started making silly faces. It wasn’t long before his frown turned upside down. I tried my best to get a good picture of Mustafa, but Christie says he always acts silly. He reminded me of the monkey on the Lion King. All the kids put on their best silly faces and I got a picture of them and would show them. They would laugh. Hope (Gideon’s sister) brought me some yams and roasted g-nuts. I went inside to take the g-nuts out of the pan and put them in a bag so I could give their pan back. I got to the kitchen and Gideon was out back and gave me some bananas. Those kids love me and I love and adore them. I gave them all a hug and told them I loved them. Hope always tells me she loves me before I ever get it out of my mouth.

Elijah and Nora wanted to give me some more milk and it just so happened our milk from the day before had spoiled. I followed them home. I carried a jerry can for Joviah. I watched Elijah milk his cow again. It wasn’t dark this time. I saw he also had another cow that was pregnant and some pigs. They also have some very small piglets. The younger kids went down with me so I could get a closer look. They were a little bigger than my hand. One of the kids picked one up for me to hold. It squealed and the momma pig grunted back. I had never held a baby pig before. I was so tickled. One of the piglet’s front legs was messed up. Instead of bending backward they bent forward. I was so sad for the little pig. We let them go back to nursing from their mom. I think this was the highlight of my day. Every time I see a little pig I want to hold it. Yeah I know I am weird. When Elijah was done, I hugged all of the kids. An older man came out and he wanted a hug too. I love this family. They are so awesome. I will never forget the kindness they share. Never.