Welcome to my Home!

I'm all settled into my new home at Upendo, and I love it! Let me give you a quick tour...

You are most welcome! That's what I would say to you if you visited my home. It's the Ugandan way.

This home is actually a duplex (so there is another section of it) but I'm only showing you my half. The other half is occupied by an AMG Uganda worker and his family.

When you first walk in you will find my living area. It looks a little different now because I moved the chairs around. I kept running into the one so I put 2 together on the long side of the wall to look like a sofa and then the two on the sides.

Next is my dining area where I sit and eat all my meals. Dinner is eaten by candlelight since there is no electricity.

Next comes the kitchen which is complete with running water and a propane stove. You can see here I was in the midst of doing dishes. Some are drying on the counter and some are still in the sink. That window is my bird window. More about that later....

Then there's my bedroom. A nice bed with mosquito net. Underneath the bed is my "dresser." I put all my clothes into one of my suitcases and organized them. And my shoes are next to that. I have a table to place my oil lamp at night (it gets dark by 7).

My bedroom also has a bathroom right inside it so I don't have to open my locked bedroom door to go out in the middle of the night. It comes complete with a flushing toilet, a sink, and shower (and you have no idea how excited I am about that!!).

I keep the windows and doors locked up tight at night. The first night I heard all sorts of creepy noises I wasn't used to. But last night I slept like a baby...if a baby slept with a knife in their bed.

So that's my home! I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Now how's this for irony. I'm in Kampala for a meeting right now and to charge my laptop at the office. But wouldn't you know the power just went off and I wasn't done charging. That's Uganda!

Thank you for all your prayers. I can certainly feel them here. I feel a peace in my heart I haven't had in a long time and God has given me courage to do all kinds of things like taking care of birds in my kitchen...but that story will have to wait for another day!

- Aly