Day Camp!

There were no chairs for the teachers in the classrooms at BDI, so we bought new plastic chairs.  We and the teachers loved them!  

Dallas teaching math.

Alex's math class.  Fun to teach these kids!

Kat, our carpenter, sawing away with Javier.  She has built so many awesome things for BDI.  We will take a picture of the finished products.  She is making desks and shelves.

Alexa and the K class.

4x4 country!  This is the road that leads to our apartment.

It is kind of fun to drive on these roads, though!

First week of camp!  For our fourth and final week in Uganda, we led a week-long camp that is similar to the one that we led at LDO.  The difference is that at LDO, we spread it out so it would go along with normal classes at LDO.  At BDI, we ran the entire week from 9 am to 3 pm.  Fun!

Teaching a Bible story about Jesus' birth.  The team took turns teaching using felt.

Three-legged foot race!  Latifah (teacher with white shirt) is making a line out of charcoal bits.

Umaru and Leticia hopping along.

This girl, Saidat, had cerebral palsy so Alex helped her around the course. 

"Trust Fall" - pretty scary for Rose!

Kat, you can catch her!  

Dallas teaching Proverbs 3:5 - Trust in God!

Alexa leading a game, "Phone Line"

The BDI teachers wanted to have the kids do a foot race on the street.

Pretty rough terrain to run on, but the kids are used to it.  See the barefooted ones?  

The locals enjoyed the race, too!

C'mon, Dallas!

With so many kids in a small space, it is inevitable that some of them will get hurt or fall.  Umaru is wiping away his tears and still have some love left.  

Kat maintaing her position as Queen.  Denis is a tough King to topple.  (4 Square)

Grillin' corn.  It is a very popular snack in both Kenya and Uganda - the corn is grilled and then eaten - no butter, no salt.  Very tough to chew, but very delicious and filling.

Kat and Umaru

Jesca and Kooga

(We know her sign name but not written name) and Dallas with the grilled corn.

Javier and his pyramid of BDI kids!

Back at the apartment - here is Samuel doing his chores.  Many Ugandans mop their floors this way.

Javier with an ice-cold Pepsi and chapati - a very delicious African street food (similar to a tortilla but much more delicious)

We noticed that the residential kids did not have sweaters and were often cold because of the heavy rains - so we went to the market again and got them all new sweaters!  Here is Alexa giving Samuel a sweater.

Dallas got himself a new soccer shirt with "Uganda" on it.  This country has left an impression on our hearts, just like Kenya did.  

Another day of camp!  Here is Bentior and Leticia listening to Kat teach about the lost sheep.  (Luke 15)

Florence praying.

This is the largest room at BDI and where all the kids have their "chapel" and they eat here.  This room is still under  construction and will be converted into a permanent dorm for the residential students.  The kids will then probably eat in one of the classrooms.

Guess who Kat's talking about?  :)

Denis, the soccer guy from the previous blog, is an awesome addition to the BDI group.  He is a very hard worker and enjoys time with the kids.  He always quizzes the kids after we teach Bible stories, and it is great to have him because he knows Ugandan Sign Language and can communicate fast and challenge the kids.  

Another game - drink, hold the water in your mouth, run across, and squirt it into the glass bottle.  The first team to fill up all three wins.  It is a fun game to watch, and sometimes the kids will spill all the water before they even reach the bottles!  A lot of laughter here.

Squirt!

Javier leading a balloon tag game.  He split the kids into groups of four and did an elimination-style tournament.

Pop that balloon, Kooga!

It looks like Greco-Roman wrestling.

After the kids played, the ODO team and BDI staff had a game of their own.  Dallas and Alex formed an alliance and sure enough, they were the last two and they had to duke it out to see who won.  Dallas' balloon fell off, and Alex popped it.

Servin' lunch.  Agnes and Alexa makes sure that all the plates are juicy.

Dallas leading an activity - "Spider Web".  Here he is acting like a big, hairy spider.

George makes it through untouched. 

Joel Tonny and the kids.  They love him!

You are a plank, Samuel.  Think like a plank!

Joel Tonny made it through the web!

Denis led a game where the kids had to eat bread with their hands behind their backs.  It was hilarious!

A classic game - potato sack hopping!

Hop, hop, hop

Musical Chairs!  

That's all for now!  Tomorrow is the last day of camp and we will go swimming and serve the kids hot dogs, popcorn, and sodas.  The kids have started to ask us about our upcoming departure and they, like the LDO kids did, told us to stay.  It will be another difficult departure for us.  It doesn't get any easier to say goodbye, because these children are so pure and full of joy and love.  We are happy that we have given them all the love that we have to give and a fun camp with good memories.  This is probably the last blog while we are in Africa, as next Tuesday we will be flying to USA.  Please pray for our safe flight and our next blog will chronicle the trip from Uganda to USA.  

God bless!