Alei's Uganda Updates - #2-4

If you haven't read Alei's first Uganda update, scroll down a bit first and then come back to these. I'm posting these together because they are quite a bit shorter. I'm anxious for you all to "meet" baby Daniella because I'm praying that we will all witness a miracle in her little life.

Update #2 -
Hey! I'm extremely exhausted, so I'm typing up a short message before going to bed. I've been getting up at 6:30 in the morning so I can spend time with Daniella before we head off for the day. Today we went to the building site for the boys home. We worked in the sun for 6 hrs. Well, half of us did. The half of the team traveling through chicago had a cancelled flight and didn't get in till this afternoon. We tossed bricks, cut down grass with machetes, and built walls. I'm exhausted! I was so happy to head to sanyu afterward to see Daniella. We were there for an hour and a half, and I spent the whole time with her. I spent a good half hour just feeding her. Just drops of milk at a time, and she kept it all down!! Praise God. I've been praying for her soo much and even today she seems better. She wasn't constantly turning her head restlessly, although she still won't look at me. Dwight said that her mother had intentionally been starving her to try and kill her. The evil in this world amazes me. Please pray for her. I don't want to leave her like this. 


Update #3-
Day 3 was great! We worked at the building site again, so we're all so exhausted and worn out. But we have a few days planned without any hard labor, so we'll get to rest. I spent over 10 hours in the direct sun today and yesterday, and I've managed to protect myself besides a little burn on the back of my neck. I'm sooo excited for tomorrow. We're heading to the market area where we get to shop and where the other half of the team gets to exchange their money. After shopping we get to go to a pizza place for lunch. Then the girls will be heading to Hope House, which is the home where the ex prostitute woman live. They make jewelry and headbands to keep themselves off the streets. We get to spend time with them and hear their stories. So excited for that! Tomorrow night we'll be going to the slums for our first day of working with the feeding program!

Pray for Daniella. She threw up both of the bottles I fed her today, and I think she's running a fever. Also, a little girl named Esther had a stroke while we were at sanyu today. So keep her in your prayers.

Update #4-
Today has been a looong long day. I feel like I'm getting sick, my throat hurts so much and my head aches. Tomorrows a working day so pray for that. I'm gonna skip ahead in the day and tell about Daniella first. She definitely has water in her brain, her head is way too big for body, and she previously wasn't focusing with her eyes. She has focused on me a few times when I'm talking to her and kissing her. It's been really hard because I'm not allowed to hold her. I can't risk her getting sick at all, because she could die from it. Today they gave her an iv. I Almost cried when I saw it taped to her hand. She's finally going to be able to get the fluids she needs. The poor girl has been so dehydrated and sick, and unable to keep anything down. There was the nurse who takes care of the sick babies there tonight. She spent a lot of time with Daniella, thank God, because I haven't been able to hold her all day. Daniella drank her milk and didn't throw it up. I was so happy but so sad because I could see her stomach bulging from the milk in there. Mom, I can't send you a picture because we're not allowed to photograph the kids. I might be able to get permission from the Administrator. Her eyes are really sunken in, and Emma is researching it and thinks there's a possibility she might have hydro cephalic, totally don't know how to spell that. Also referred to as water on the brain. 50-60% of kids who are not treated die from this. Idk, might be lots of money, but maybe we can look into fundraising for it? I've officially fallen in love with this girl. She's the most precious thing I've ever seen. I just can't imagine anything happening to her.


On a happier note, today we went to the Hope house and met all the woman who were prostitutes and are now making Jewelry to support themselves and their kids. It was incredible and they were beautiful woman who were so thankful that we were there. I bought a lot of jewelry from them. Actually, I've officially bought too much stuff here. After that we went to the slums to feed the street boys, we played soccer with them and tried to paint their faces, but they really just ended up painting our whole bodies. After playing for a while, Jesse, a guy from our team gave a little devotion and then we started handing out food. I wanted to cry when we handed out our last bowl and there were still kids there begging for food. Just to think that they didn't get to eat that day, because we didn't have enough food. It was really hard. I also almost cried when a little boy I played with a lot came over and handed me a ring he made out of beads and told me, "dis is for you" in his cute little accent. It was so sweet. I'm loving Uganda, and it's gonna be hard to leave it. Gotta go to bed, it's late and I have to be up at 6.
Love, Alei

Emma, Linny's daughter, has also done a post on baby Daniella if you would like to read it -
http://emonamission.blogspot.com/2011/06/baby-daniella.html