Today we went to see about a girl.

When we decided to visit Uganda, there was no question we'd visit Mbale. Not for the food or the landscape, but for one 11 year old girl: Kasifa. 

She's been our sponsored child through Compassion International for the past two and a half years. We've seen pictures of her and have sent letters back and forth. But today our hearts exploded when we saw how her smile forms and heard her high pitched infectious laugh, which we loved so much we now want it as our ringtone.

We learned she plays net ball. Her favorite food is metoke. Her favorite animal is a dog. Last year she went to an airplane museum. She has baseball sheets. She cracks her hard boiled eggs against a wall or any furniture nearby.

She is fantastic.

We saw her school. Saw her classmates. Saw the chair she writes to us from. Saw her eat breakfast. 

We met her mother, grandmother, brother and sister, who all embraced us with open arms and million dollar smiles. They whisked us off to their home. As their guests, we were offered a live chicken, which we later learned was a high honor. We were honored, but could not accept. The chicken stayed in Mbale.

We brought Kasifa a few gifts from home, including a TCU shirt. She looks great in purple and is now an official Horned Frog.

We had lunch at her school. She had metoke, rice, chicken, cabbage and Coke.

Then it was time for goodbyes. It's a good thing there's no language barrier for hugs. 

Today is a day to remember.