Day 5 - Waking Up in Jinja! Yoga at The Source Cafe, and Arise & Shine Babies' Home

Day 5 was here!  Some of us started the day by taking a yoga class at The Source Cafe.  This was an extremely welcomed hour and half of stretching out our jet-lagged, achy bodies!  It was tremendous.  Of course, we weren't sure what to expect, but we found the instructors to be great and the skill level to be mostly do-able, but also challenging! And there were some other Mzungus there, too ;) 

We were given a sort of "chip" at the beginning of class, and later learned it was to be used for a chapati :) Our first chapati!

Incredible. The coffee was also amazing.  

I bought a few bags to bring home :) We quickly decided that this could not possibly be our only stop here, during our trip... 

We enjoyed checking out the one-of-a-kind 

goods for sale, right outside the cafe.

I was happy to find Soren's trip souvenir request, here :)

After yoga, we went to Arise and Shine Uganda's Babies Home.  This was a place we all had really been looking forward to visiting and helping out at! Arise and Shine was started by a truly remarkable woman, Sharon, who I'm proud to now call, 'friend':)  Check out this video about AASU by The Archibald Project, on vimeo. Don't forget to pause the blog playlist (at the top of this page), so that you can hear the video audio. ;)

There are so many adjectives and emotions that filled up our first moments that day at AASU Babies' Home.  It really is difficult to put into words, and had us all on emotional overload. 

Though the "Aunties" who care for the babies are capable and quite loving, the situation is desperate for these children, as resources are so very limited.  How this must grieve these selfless women who care for them - most of them, mothers themselves!

The babies and children here have at least one deceased parent (many moms having died in childbirth), some with two deceased parents.  Several of them do have a grandparent or other relative checking in on them, or visiting them.  Many children are resettled with family once someone is able to care for them, and that is the goal.  When this isn't possible, adoption is the next goal. 

Here's a video, made by Heather with His Heart For Africa, featuring the Arise and Shine kids!:
AASU Cool Kids

Momma's On a Mission has been praying about ways that we can continue supporting and encouraging the Aunties and kids at Arise & Shine Uganda Babies' Home, through sponsorship,devotionals etc.  
Stay tuned (and pray with us!) 
This is surely what He would have us do!
Every child should feel safe and loved in a forever family!

 When we arrived, we helped the Aunties start sorting through all of the many donations we'd brought.  After seeing how necessary the items TRULY were, and the difference they made for these kids, we really can't thank those who supported these efforts, enough.  

Little Tendo was soo excited to have a helpful job - 

she unwrapped each and every new crib sheet :)

It was a most humbling experience to clean, bathe and care for these children without parents.  A room of 6 babies under one year of age, and hardly a peep.  The sighs of relief while being held, the eye contact and the snuggles... this keeps me up some nights.

Justine was the first little I held.  She confidently walked right up to me (diaperless), and grabbed my index finger, leading me around.  It took me a nanosecond to swoop her up. ;)

toys!

I'm going to go ahead and speak for our whole group, when I say that this day was pivotal both for our trip, and for our lives. It was an exceptional, humbling, difficult, emotional day.  

And because of ALL of those things, it was also a true gift.