Little Ray of Sunshine: Allison's African Adventure- Day Tatu

16 May

First Clinic Day- Village Kinjunjubwa

Today was the first day of clinic and it flew by! The drive this morning was absolutely beautiful and I cannot believe how many people were waiting for us, who had camped out for us. Many of them were wearing their nicest clothes to meet us!

We saw tons of people today....

- Rosemary- Has Post-polio and last year got a bike so that for the first time she didn't have to crawl everywhere. It was so wonderful to see how she has improved!

- Steven- a sweet, darling little boy who I think had a head injury. He was absolutely off the wall and always moving so naturally I fell in love.

- Erastus couldn't speak or hear but could read and write. He was just so sweet and really so smart.

- Roscuito and his kids are absolutely darling and so sweet!

We saw so many people today- lots with low back pain which given their lives isnt that surprising. We got to give out shoes and nothing compares to seeing their faces when they get them! It is so wonderful to treat people who are just so grateful and friendly. Translating is a challenge, especially when there are so many languages spoken in a small area and you definitely have to change the way you speak to get all the information from the patient. As we were packing I got to talk to Issac, one of our translators for a while. We talking about how beautiful it is here, the skyline, if I should move there, Wales, how pale I am. There we were, my very white skin beside his chocolately dark skin. All of the people helping us have been so king and gracious to us and so nice about how we speak their language. It rained for the first time today and for some reason African rain is far more beautiful. It was so peaceful and cooled everything down and washed away a little bit of the constant red dirt.

At dinner we finally got our luggage! Never I have been so excited to see old clothes! I was sitting there opening it in wonder and overjoyed with having clean clothes. I couldn't help but think I felt just a taste of how the kids at the orphanage felt when getting a pipe cleaner bracelet or the people today getting shoes. We are so blessed and have absolutely no clue how much so.