And They're Off

One of the changes that I wasn't allowed to talk about was the move to village. This past Friday, 26 of the "babies" moved to the Watoto Bbira village. There was a lot of preparation involved. First, all the children that were moving all took a day trip to the village. This was to make the adjustment to their new home once they moved a little easier, to make positive memories of the village. We also put together bags for each of the children, which included clothes, eating utensils, toiletries, toys, books, blanket, etc. We shaved some of their heads, depending on how much hair they had (apparently it's easy for the newcomers to get ringworm when they first get to the village, so they shave their heads so they can discover and treat it as soon as possible.) And we had all of the girls' ears pierced. This is a safety precaution because once their ears are pierced they are considered "scarred" and they wouldn't be a target for abduction for sacrifice (crazy, I know!) Lastly, we took a lot of toddlers on a final "day out" to play in the yard at Serena's. I took
Miles, and he was extremely difficult. Haha. It was still enjoyable though.

The actual move was very exciting and sad. Many of the nannies and volunteers were crying. It is exciting to see these children "moving up" though, knowing they are continuing on the path to a fantastic future! Now that they are gone, the place seems EMPTY!! There are only 19 children left in the upper 3 rooms so playtime out on the playground is incredibly quiet. It's....very strange. They are going to "even it out" soon (move some of the kids from the younger rooms up), which will also be very strange.

Pictures:
1. This is from our last "day out"; Matthew is on the left in the red and Miles is on the right.
2. Vicki's newly pierced ear.
3. This is Grace, post head-shaving.
4. This is Krista, a volunteer from Kentucky, who helped put together the bags.
5. This after one of the groups returned from a village visit...eating lunch before nap time.