We went shopping at River Road with Sylvia and Joseph, assisted by Perpetua, a bead jewelry crafts lady we met at the Masai market and friend of face mask artist Doreen. Back in Children's Garden Home, the older girls got cranking at production to fulfill the orders we secured from buyers in Singapore, London, USA and Holland.
Shopping for bead materials at River Road in Nairobi.
The Little Fingy's BEADwear craft team in action.
12 Oct 2011: Travel to Kampala, Uganda
Thanks to Moses, we arrived at the Easy Coach station at 6am for the 12-hour coach ride to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. A big part of the journey at the Kenyan side was bumpy due to innumerable potholes. Vehicular suspension must be good business in Kenya!
When we were eventually dropped off at the Nakumatt Oasis in Kampala, we were pleased to find the driver from the Backpackers Inn waiting. We did a quick shopping for drinking water and snacks at the supermarket, drew some cash from the Stanchart ATM, and headed off to the Backpackers where we stayed for 2 nights.
Uganda is filled with friendly people and much of the country is farm land. We don't get harassed along the road and we got to enjoy walking around Kampala and soaking in the colours and buzz.
13 Oct 2011: Seva at the Home Of Joy
Thanks to Devna's introduction, we got to know Nisha, an Art of Living devotee in Kampala. Nisha brought us to Home Of Joy, a centre run by The Salvation Army for physically disabled children from poor families in Uganda.
There are 40 children living here under the care of a team of 11 dedicated staff, led by centre manager Major Rose Ndeke.
Brian aspires to study and become self-reliant one day.
Wheelchairs were all worn out and unusable.
The only first aid box was in poor condition and also inadequately stocked of necessary medical supplies.
So we decided to help these wonderful children who are all trying their best to carve a life for themselves.
We appreciate Rose Ndeke for her openness in sharing with us not only the critical needs of the home but also her detailed financial breakdown. That helped us to grasp the home's situation within 3 hours of our first visit and develop a seva action plan.
On 15 Oct, we sponsored 30 new mosquito nets for the children. It was fun shopping at the wholesale market with Rose, supported by superb bargaining prowess from Nisha and Aparna.
On 20 Oct, we bought them a weighing scale so Moses, the first aider, could administer medicine based on the correct weight of each child.
We also sponsored a new first aid box complete with 3 months of medical supplies.
In addition, we placed an order for 4 new custom-made wheelchairs for the disabled children living in the home.
We are grateful to Melvin, Judith and Arthur for their kind donation to make this seva project possible. They have made a definitive difference to the children in Home Of Joy.
Thanks also to Nisha for the introduction and support as part of our Art of Living seva initiative.
Project cost = Ush2,200,000
Sponsors = Melvin, Judith & Arthur
14 Oct 2011: The Haven Apartment - Our Hideout in Kampala
We moved to The Haven Apartment at Rubaga for a 1-week stay. It's a wonderfully furnished service apartment where Robyn and Jin had plenty of fun doing all sorts of experimental cooking, making chapatti and baking cakes!
One week of relaxation at The Haven Apartment.
Robyn doing her morning kriya at the lounge.
Experimental cooking...
...with results of yummy flying colours!
We travelled to the city for walkabout. The wholesale market area was abuzz with life and they seem to sell more clothing than the whole world needs!
Kampala is jammed with so many vehicles, especially matatu. At the junctions, matatu could bunch up so closely in multiple lines that we couldn't even squeeze through between 2 vehicles.
To find out the whereabouts of the boarding point for matatu to Jinja, we navigated into the Kampala Old Taxi Park. It's amazing how the matatu were able to manoeuvers into and out of that tightly parked maze.
15 Oct 2011: Robyn hit by a motorbike!
We were to meet Nisha at the Nakumatt Oasis to go shopping for mosquito nets for Home Of Joy. While crossing the road at the roundabout, a boda-boda motobiker brushed very close to us but too close for Robyn, who was hit and flung forward to the edge of the road in a tumble. It was a fright for Alvin who was holding Robyn's hand, only to find the grip lost at the moment of impact. Amazingly, Robyn rolled and stood up, although in somewhat of a daze. The boda-boda zoomed off. Poor Robyn sustained a blue-black bruise to her thigh and a bang to her tummy. Fortunately, we had Magnolia herbal essential oil to tend to her wound. Hardy Robyn still walked all the way to complete the shopping before we returned to The Haven to rest.
This was Robyn's first minor road accident and we were thankful that she was safe from greater harm!
16 Oct 2011: Happy Birthday, Robyn Turns 13!
It's a unique Ugandan birthday for Robyn as her 13th birthday was spent pretty much in the kitchen in a service apartment in Kampala, Uganda.
Jin downloaded a cake recipe from the Internet that needs no oven baking. So Robyn had a steamed birthday cake with imaginary candles, topped up with a huge serving of fresh pineapples!
Happy Birthday, Robyn
Steamed birthday cake, by Jin.
After 13 years of feeding, Robyn is fast catching up with mummy's height and daddy's size. We shall have many more years of adventures, travelling and seva.