Thursday, July 28, 2011

ALL of the kids at Home Again will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart. I know I’ve said it a million times but it is the honest truth … since I first went to Uganda last summer … not a day goes by that I don’t think about those kids and wonder how they are and what they are doing.
I became especially close to about 15 of the children who are either not in school yet or only go to school for half a day. Each morning after breakfast I would walk over to Home Again and hang out with the kids until lunch time then go back again in the afternoon until dinner time. Sometimes I would bring books or crayons and coloring pages, other times we would spend time outside playing on the jungle gym, sometimes we would sit inside and sing songs, chase each other up and down the hallway, we always found a way to have fun.
I spent quite a bit of time just trying to get to know each individual child. I learned a lot of their stories, where they came from, and found out how they came to Bringing Hope to the Family.
I’m going to try to continue posting blogs now that I’m home so yall can meet some of the kids I got to spend my summer with.
Though we often think of these children as orphans … I know in my heart they are looked after and loved by their Father in Heaven who will always want them and will never fail them. There are no orphans of God. It is by God’s grace that these children were brought to Home Again to be taken care of. And I have seen God’s unfailing love for each and every one of these kids. Their needs are always met even when it seems impossible. They also have incredibly strong and loving women looking after them here on Earth … Mama Eva, Mama Jackie, and Mama Foster.  
If you haven’t heard the song Orphans of God … go to youtube … and listen.
This is Kabahumuza Donnas. She is one of the sweetest little cuddle bugs in the house but so strong willed and determined when she wants something. I could spend all day long holding her. She always does this thing where she sucks one thumb and holds one ear. And when she does it while she is smiling or laughing I die inside because she is absolutely adorable!
Donnas’s father is unknown and her mother is mentally ill. Donnas was removed from the care of her mother after she was rescued by a bystander as her mother tried to drown her in a nearby river.
She always gets the giggles when you give her a kiss and she is always mischievous with a guilty grin on her face.  One day in church she made me play a silly game with her and I got sucked in. She was sitting on my lap and would continually drop her flips flops off her feet each and every time I put them back on with that little grin on her face. I finally got tired of leaning over every 3 minutes to pick up her shoes and gave her my money for my offering to keep her entertained. It was time to put the offering in the basket so I carried her up there and told her to drop it in the basket. She refused ... so I helped her put it in the basket, she looked me in the eye and began howling! We had to play the flip flop game again ...

I spent about 15 minutes picking crayon out of her teeth after this. If she wasnt eating the crayons she was eating the paper.



Reading books and playing with shoes.  

Donnas with Mama Eva


I miss her sweet little face giggling while I gave her kisses each morning. Oh, what I would give to give her a big hug right now or swing on the swing set with her in my lap!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Since the beginning of the summer I’ve frequently had these “I can’t believe I’m really in Africa” pinch me moments. While I’ve been here in Kaihura my main role has been working down at Home Again, the orphanage. Almost every morning as I walk down the hill I am greeted by children running to the door shouting and waving at me … it makes my heart smile each and every time. The other day I was having a hard day, all the kids were screaming and crying, spitting and hitting and I was stressed out to say the least. I decided it was time to go outside … I didn’t care if it was muddy. As I was sitting on the swing, swinging with Bridget in my lap, I was looking around and I couldn’t help but feel so blessed and so happy to be right there … scream crying children and all. I had one of those moments where I couldn’t stop smiling and thanking God for giving me this opportunity. I was brought back really quick as one of the children on the monkey bars spit and missed the kid he was aiming for and it hit me instead. I laughed … is that bad?
These moments also come all the time while I’m walking to and from the trading center, or Home Again, or the clinic. For some reason as I’m walking I always find myself talking to God, wondering how I got so lucky to be wind up in this little village in Uganda surrounded by the most amazing people I’ve ever met. They are so warm and so welcoming and love me just the way I am.
I know one of my favorite memories from this trip with be my talks with Faith. Almost every night after dinner and a shower I head over to her room or sometimes she’ll come over to my room and lay on an empty bed and we just sit and talk. I love it!! We talk about anything and everything. How I ended up here, why I came back, what my church at home is like, how the day was, stories about the children, how are my family and friends (especially Hannah … Faith misses you … you need to learn to answer your phone … I know you’re working but COME ONNN!! Hahah). I’ll miss this for sure. Faith is so easy to talk to and so funny but she doesn’t even notice it and I always leave feeling a little bit wiser.
“Were in Africa” … For the 4th of July we were invited to a party in Fort Portal. There is an American family that has been living there for 15 years. We went with the Sasser’s, the American family living here in Kaihura who have been so great to us!! We met several other Americans, some also living in Uganda, some summer interns, etc. It was a lot of fun and great to hear what everyone was doing here in Uganda. On the way there, Karin (from CA who doesn’t listen to country music) made a statement about how she never would have thought she would be on the way to a 4th of July celebration, listening to country music, in Uganda.
This past weekend I went to Kampala with the Sasser’s to drop Karin off at the airport (and to go shopping and stay at a hotel with a real shower … ulterior motive … not important!) After driving all morning, shopping all afternoon for fabric and batting for the craft shop, and searching for the perfect gifts at the craft market we made our way to Fang Fang Chinese Restaurant. We sat on the little rooftop terrace, told the waiter to have the table of men behind the bushes to stop staring at us and ate some of the best Chinese food I’ve had. Then what did we do … went to the movie theatre and watched Transformers 3 … front row! “Am I really in Uganda?”
HA, yes I am. I may have taken 2 hot showers in less than 12 hours just because I could but I was certainly still in Uganda. I feel like I truly completed the full African experience by riding the Kalita bus home from Kampala. Chris boda-ed with me to the bus park … made sure I got a ticket and got on the correct bus and told me to make sure I told the person checking tickets that I needed to get off in Kaihura. I got on the bus and waited … and waited. An hour later, no joke, my shirt soaking with sweat we were finally off. I was in the backseat with 7 other people and as we approach Kyenjojo, 3.5 hours later the lady next to me decides it would be a good time to start throwing up. Thankfully into a bag. I gave her my water, she drank some and then tried to give it back … I politely refused.
I have a little less than 2 weeks left here. I don’t know where the summer went but it FLEW by … I am not and don’t think I ever will be ready to come home. I mean really, this morning I woke up and opened the curtains to find a cow staring at me. We made eye contact … it was as if he was saying good morning before he went on his way grazing!
I don’t know how I got so lucky to be blessed with this opportunity but I am forever grateful to everyone who has been praying for all of us back at home. I have learned so much this summer and can only continue to wait and see what God surprises me with next. His timing and plans for my life are nothing less than perfect!!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Some of you may remember me coming home last summer talking about a girl named Joyce that I formed a special bond with during the two weeks that I was here. Last year when the team came she had only been living at Dorcas for a few weeks. She didn’t speak any English and she clearly felt out of place and uncomfortable with her new environment. For some reason she and I had an instant friendship and I spent a lot of time with her, sort of looking out for her and even teaching her a few things. She was not attending school and had not been to school previously. I taught her to write her name, in the beginning it was similar to a preschooler trying to write their name. It was written backwards and the letters were a mirror image … eventually she got pretty good at it and just the other day I saw her write her name on a paper. (I like to think I had at least a little bit to do with that!)
I can’t even describe how happy I was to see her when I came back to Kaihura a couple weeks ago. There is a picture of her and me hugging and crying right before I left last year. I remember telling her I would be back to see her. The look on her face when I walked up to Home Again and she realized it was me was absolutely priceless. We were both smiling from ear to ear; I just grabbed her and hugged her as tight as I could. We were both crying … again.
I heard part of her story last year but have been able to hear the full story and am able to understand things a bit better. I would like to share it with you so you can all get to know Joyce and love her as much as I do!
Kanyana Joyce was born in 1999. She is 12 years old and has been living in Kaihura a little over a year. As much as the staff have tried and based off of various and often inconsistent stories from Joyce herself, efforts to identify her parents and where she was previously living in Uganda have been unsuccessful. Apparently she is originally from Rwanda … often times you can tell where a person originates by facial features and bone structure. It is believed that Joyce’s mother passed away leaving her to stay with her father and grandmother. Her father decided to leave and left Joyce under the care of her grandmother for about 2 years. The grandmother began mistreating her and Joyce decided to go in search of her father. The Kyenjojo police found her wandering and brought her to the Kaihura police station where she stayed for a couple days before leaving. She was found again and brought to Bringing Hope by the Kaihura Police. She was placed at Dorcas where she lived until Easter time.
When I found Joyce at Home Again this year when I arrived I wondered why she was no longer living up at Dorcas. I thought maybe she had finally been moved so she would be around more children her age. One afternoon I went to the office where all the files on the children are kept … I was trying to learn the stories and backgrounds of some of the children I have been working with. I found the answer to why Joyce had been moved. She walked down to the town centre one day and was defiled by a rogue man staying at the trading center. After this incident it was clear that Joyce needed to be living in an environment where she would be given more supervision and guidance.
She is now attending school. She is in P2 … the oldest in her class but at least she is in school. Her English has improved since last year and I can actually talk to her a little bit without total confusion. I just got back from spending a couple hours with her. I was swinging with her and some of the other children after school. And one day this week I am going to go shopping to get her some new shoes and socks for school and a few new clothes and personal items she never received when she came here last year.
(Wish I could post the 2 pictures I'm talking about but will have to do it later. Can't upload pictures onto this computer. My computer is broken ... hence the lack of blog posts!!)