BELMONT — Emily Cushman graduated as the valedictorian from Belmont High School May 25.

Ten days later, she was in Jinja, Uganda, on an eight-week mission at the Amani Baby Cottage, an orphanage.

Cushman is writing a blog during her stay in Uganda, becomingaservant.wordpress.com. She also has a Facebook group, “Becoming a Servant: Emily’s Summer in Uganda.”

“I wish I had the words to fully encompass exactly what I am feeling being here,” she wrote. “I have so many emotions that come and go as the day rolls on.

“Joy is what I feel when I walk out of the volunteer bedroom and into the living room where all my precious babies are. Especially when greeted by little Fred’s heart-melting grin or Justine’s happy high-pitched squeal. I tell myself to wait to hold them, that I’ll be with them all day and I really need to get some breakfast in me. But I fail. I let them crawl all over me. I pat their round tummies and kiss their soft cheeks.”

Cushman arrived in Uganda June 5. She will be in Uganda until Aug. 8. She will be going to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in late August.