To love is to serve

We know it's been a while since we've blogged but we've both been busy happily hosting- Rachel's boyfriend Nap is here and so are my (Arielle's) parents and sister, Briana. It's been great having all of them here and having them share in our life here. We've gotten to experience some really neat things since they've been here and I think they are all falling in love with Uganda just like us!
Yesterday we all went to a village about 15 minutes outside Jinja called Masese to hand out more shoes for "Shoes Across Uganda". My parents and Nap were able to bring about 150 more pairs of shoes that people had donated. Thanks again, so much, to those who donated shoes for us to give out! Without all of you, we would never have been able to do it! We were expecting about 150 children but, of course, word spread quickly and there were at least 350 children there! It was crazy and chaotic and we were so thankful to have Nap, my family, and a few friends along to help us attempt to control the crowd of desperate children and mothers. It was really sad to realize as soon as we got there that we didn't have nearly enough shoes for everyone but we also knew that regardless of how many pairs of shoes we would have come with, there would never have been enough. Children would have just come from farther away. It was just as chaotic as our last "massive shoe dump" and it was a bit overwhelming trying to literally hold back the crowd while trying to get the shoes passed out. As the pile got smaller and smaller, children and mothers got more and more desperate because they knew that if they didn't get shoes soon, they wouldn't get them at all. I can't blame any of them for pushing, shoving, and throwing their babies at us, completely ignoring our repeated demands to back up and form lines. It got so out of control that we finally had to pack up the remaining pairs of shoes and take them back to the van. We later gave them to a town official who will finish distributing them for us.
In addition to shoes, we also came with lots and lots of beans and chapati so that even if all of the kids didn't get a new pair of shoes, they could at least have a free, nutritious meal. With the help of some town officials, we organized all of the children into a massive line and served them all. They were so excited and grateful for the small meal that we were able to provide. It took some stretching at the end, but we were able to feed all of the 350 children! They each took their tray of food, found a spot on the red clay ground amid their mud huts, and happily ate their food, flashing their gorgeous smiles in our direction every once in awhile. What started as a very chaotic, sometimes helpless situation, ended much more calmly and we were all able to truly enjoy this wonderful opportunity to serve.
We love this country, culture, and people so much and sometimes it's easy to get lost in the chaos of everyday life. Yesterday was a time for us to embrace the chaos, see past it, and remember how awesome our life and experiences are here!