Blog by Jess

One of the days while I was at the home I was talking to a boy named Hebrew. While I was talking to him the subject of food came up in our conversation. I asked him if he had eaten today. He said "No." So I gave him my Power Bar. Instead of eating the whole thing by himself, he shared it with everyone around him. I thought this was pretty amazing.

Jess

Gerrold

Let me introduce you to Gerrold. He was my special helper when we worked at Hope last fall. He was my "tell me their name" friend. With the many children at Hope, everyone should have a helper like Gerrold. I would quietly point to a child who I knew but could not remember their name. Gerrold would discreetly whisper their name to me, again and again.

He is a quiet and gentle boy. I got to know him better during this trip. He has an older sister, Gladys, who also lives at Hope. There is much pain in their eyes and I don't know their whole story. He would like to be a Religious Studies teacher because he loves Jesus so much. Almost daily, Gerrold would slip a piece of paper in my hand with a carefully written note, telling me of his love and prayers.

On the day we left, Gerrold was helping with the photos of the students. Note on the photo above the little white bracelet on his wrist. These children have very few of their own possessions. I don't know where Gerrold got the bracelet, which is really a hair band. As we finished the final photos, Gerrold called me to him and said that he would like to give me his bracelet. I was so moved and humbled by the love of this little boy. He has next to nothing and gave me what little he had. I am wearing it now and will remember to pray for Gerrold and be inspired by his selfless love.

I want to love others the way that Gerrold loves.

Cathi

Mama Regina

Hello from Amsterdam!

We were not able to add many blogs from Uganda, so I will be adding them while we are here! I want to tell you about a very special person at Hope Children's Home. The wonderful lady in the photo above is Mama Regina. She is the cook at Hope Children's Home. Not only does she cook, but she loves Jesus and all the children. She has a true servant's heart. She cooks three meals a day for the one hundred children who live at Hope as well as lunch for the school children who do not live at Hope. This is well over 200 kids! All prepared over an open wood fire. She is one of my heroes.

The day that we left, I brought a couple of jars of peanut butter to her. The Santiam Team had given us their leftover peanut butter and I consolidated then into two jars. You would have thought I gave her the world! She did a little "Thank you, Jesus! dance" and gave me a big hug. Her joy was contagious! All for two small jars of peanut butter.

Here is Mama Regina serving the children lunch.



We love these children and take care of them for the short time we are with them. Mama Regina and the other mamas love them and care for them everyday throughout the years. They are the hands of Jesus.

With love, Cathi

Photos of Students

Dear Family and Friends,

We spent the morning at Hope Children's Home. Thank goodness that Douglas had come with us! Our goal was to take photos of the children who attend Alpha Omega School (which is a part of Hope Children's Home and is located on the home's property), but do not live at the home. (see above photo of dear Fatuma) Show Mercy would like to have sponsors for these children as well. The sponsorship would cover a uniform, shoes, school fees and one meal a day. This may be the only meal some of these children will eat. Here is Show Mercy’s website if you are interested in child sponsorship. http://www.showmercy.org/

We had no idea there were so many. We had purchased a white board this morning. The teachers brought first the “Baby Class” which is pre-school. There were over 50 kids, this is in addition to the pre-schoolers who live at Hope! Douglas wrote down their Lugandan name and their “Christian” name as well as their age. (I will crop out the white board out later and just show the child's face.) Douglas was incredible, knowing the spelling and getting all the names right. Jerry realized that things would be more fun if we gave each child a sweetie (piece of candy), so Jess and a 15 year old boy named Vincent zipped off to one of the many little village “stores” to buy candy.

We worked up until the time the students break for lunch, around 1:00. By this time, we had taken over 100 photos, and this is just the Baby Class through P-1 Class. We then stayed for another 45 minutes so that we could visit with the older kids. It was so hard to leave after just a short time with them. However, we had a big job for the afternoon.




Another amazing experience of today was a trip to the Owino Market (see one of the many entrances in the photo above.) Before we got out of the car, Douglas said, “Now Jerry, you leave your wallet here in the car with Richard, and Cathi, you leave your camera/purse.” There are so many people in the market and pick pockets are a real issue. Owino is like a huge flea market with a million people, not a single muzungu to be seen. Each little store had its own area, manned by one or two people. The floors are dirt, or wooden planks. It is really a series of connected shacks with 10-12 foot ceilings of sheet metal, with an occasion flicker of sunlight. There are areas of specialty: jeans, t-shirts, dresses, children's clothing, almost all are used. Douglas did all the negotiating for us. We had quite a list from the home, including 20 bras for the older girls, 10 uniform shirts, 4 pairs of shoes and play clothes for various kids, backpacks...We spent about $70 for all. Douglas did much better when folks did not know we were with him! One time, he had negotiated a price for some boy’s jeans (5,000 Ugandan shillings, which is about $3) and when the sales person saw that we were with Douglas, he doubled the price! Douglas would have nothing to do with that. Everyone was actually very nice, talking to us and of course wanting us to buy stuff. I was even complimented on my braids! Micah was using his Lugandan slang, which greatly amused all the shop keepers. Before our first trip, I would have been so scared, now it was actually quite fun. However, I wouldn’t attempt it without a Ugandan guide!

Richard returned us to the hotel, with all our bags of treasures. Jess wanted to take a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) by himself to Garden City (a shopping center about a half a mile from our hotel), much to my concern. He took the phone and called when he had safely arrived. Whew! We decided to meet him there at 8pm for dinner. It was an adventurous walk, in the dark, with pot holes and lots of traffic. The crazy boda boda drivers were driving up on the sidewalk because of the traffic jam! We ate at Spur, a South African restaurant chain, loudly serenaded by the beat of African drums on the courtyard below. (Did I mention they were LOUD?)

Love, Cathi

Richard da Man

Dear Family and Friends,

The photo above is of Richard, our taxi driver. We met Richard last fall and have been involved in a micro-finance project with him. He is actually standing in front of it! On Belay Ministries, our nonprofit, made him a loan for the car in January. Before this time, he rented his taxi, then made payments monthly. What he paid in rent payments could easily have covered a car loan. However in Uganda, car loans are not available, or the interest is so high that it is not practical. So Richard was basically giving a good bit of his monthly income to make his rent payments. He paid for all maintenance, gas and insurance.

He has been paying back our loan, depositing payments in a bank in Kampala. He will pay off the loan in about 10 months. At that point, he will pick a fellow taxi driver and make him a loan to buy his own car; this loan will be repaid to Richard with a small amount of interest. When it is paid off, Richard will find another driver and repeat the process. His life has been changed by this project! His monthly income has increased and he can now afford to send his girls to a better school (and afford to feed his family!)

The highlight of today was going to Richard’s home and having the privilege of meeting his darling daughters and lovely wife. They live in a village just outside of Kampala. The roads were incredibly bad! We bounced along, until we came to a truck blocking the way. We were close, so Richard parked the car and we walked the rest of the way, over bricks and rough stairs. The walk in itself was an experience; we were "muzungu’d" all along the way, of course! Jerry had brought outfits and books for the girls and a new Bible for Justine, Richard’s wife as well as a new Harmonica/book for Richard. They were so thankful and excited.

Their house has 5 rooms including a kitchen, two bedrooms, living room, and an as yet unfinished bathroom. The floor is concrete. They do not have electricity or running water. There is a spigot and outhouse outside. Lights are run on a battery and kerosene. Richard built the house himself. No permits are required. Basically in Uganda, you build what you want.

We had such a nice visit. The girls are absolutely darling and warmed right up to us. Daisy is the oldest at 6, Oprah is 4 and Divine Mercy is 18 months. They are all bilingual. Daisy was reading to me in English. Divine Mercy was somewhat subdued as she is recovering from malaria, which kills so many children as well as adults here.

Justine had sent their friend Livia to a local shop to get cold drinks for us. Livia is a friend (relative) who did not have a place to live, so she moved in with Richard’s family and helps with the girls and housework. We walked around Richard’s property. He has about 1/3 of an acre. Then the girls and Justine walked with us back to the car. Justine told me how her parents had both died when she was 9 years old, just one month apart. She was raised for part of the time by her older siblings, and then at a children’s home. There were 5 children in her immediate family, but her father had 14 total with various step mothers. Justine also told about how she would like to return to university and become a dermatologist. She also wants to have 3 more children, all boys! Below is a photo of this beautiful family.







After leaving Justine and the girls, we made a quick stop to see Douglas’ home. He lives in a one room apartment without running water, a kitchen or bathroom. The outhouse/bathing area are outside as well as a spigot for water. He does not understand why we would want to have hot water. His place was so neat and tidy. He has a bed and a dresser, a TV and DVD player. His apartment is in the yard of his landlord and all are surrounded by a tall solid locked fence. He feels very safe there. Here we are below, as Douglas opens the door to his home.




We had dinner at the hotel, which was expensive, but no one got sick! A long night followed as it is hard to sleep on these braids! I would love to take them out, but don’t want to hurt Gorett's or Miriam’s feelings (my hairdressers)!


Much love to you all,
Cathi

New Hairdo!

Dear Friends and Family,

Here is my journal entry for Saturday.

Saturday, 14 June
I keep using the word, "privileged." We are so privileged to be able to work with Hope Children's Home, and I am humbled. I keep coming back to how we are so blessed to know these children, these Mamas and teachers. I want to love them and pour into them. They love us back in such amazing and humbling ways. Today, I sat with Esther, Victoria and Fatima. Victoria and Esther read to me from the Bible that we gave them last fall. Victoria read about Adam and Eve and Esther read the story about the Dry Bones coming back to life. (an interesting and thought-provoking choice.)

Even before the day began, I had a wonderful time with Victoria. She came to the hotel with us last night, spending the night in our room. ("A chance of a lifetime." according to Pastor Pross, the person who runs the home.) I was up around 7am and was reading my Bible online. Victoria got up around 7:30. I wondered, what am I going to do with her until 9:30, when the team meeting starts. Conversation making can be challenging. I prayed about it and just let it happen. First Victoria offered to read the Bible for me. She read Psalm 31, which talks about God’s presence in difficult times. Then we read some of the Bible in Lugandan, thanks to the Uganda Bible website. It is such a pretty, happy language.

I asked Victoria if she wanted to watch some TV, which is a great treat. So we sat on the bed together and watched TV and talked. She told me about her abusive aunt and the nice lady who stepped in to defend her. She told me that her aunt used to take her into the woods and tie up her hands and beat her. When she was 8, Victoria became a Christian through a crusade at the church. She also said that through Susan Stubb’s sermon, she learned to forgive her aunt. Again, what a privilege to be a part of these children’s lives.

Later, at the home, as I finished up mending Margaret’s sadly torn dress (2 side seams, both shoulder seams and one sleeve almost gone…), I settled in for a chat with Victoria on the back steps. She asked if she could “twist” my hair. I said sure! Little did I know what I was in for! Gorret, one of the wonderful house mama’s who I have had a chance to get to know a little bit, came up and wanted to know what Victoria was doing…it was all over them. Gorret took over, along with another mama, Miriam. They lovingly braided my hair for over 3 hours! As they braided, Esther (the girl we sponsor) stood and helped by holding my hair back out of my face and smoothing my bangs so gently. They did half of it before lunch, then took a break for lunch. Everyone, especially the Mamas and other staff got a huge kick out of it!

After lunch, most of the team and lots of the kids went to the field to play soccer, so the house was strangely quiet. As the women braided, an accapella group came and practiced in the next room. They sang in Lugandan as well as English. I just sat there silently praising God with the choir and was loved on by these gentle women. Without being asked and without expecting to be paid, they gave up their day to serve me. We came to bless and serve; we are the ones getting the blessing and being served!

Much love to all,
Cathi

Together again!

Dear Family and Friends,

Jerry arrived safely yesterday. We picked him up at the airport with our taxi driver and dear friend, Richard. Our friend Douglas also came with, so Jerry was given a grand welcome!

We said goodbye to the Santiam Team late afternoon. A number of the kids were struggling with stomach issues. Many were very jealous that Jess gets to stay another few days. We will miss them all.



The photo above includes a sweet girl named Fatuma. She is on the right side of the photo. When we met her last fall, she was so shy and sad. She was a student at the school, but did not live at the home. Her home situation was not good, in fact it was very abusive. We were so concerned about her and whether or not she would still be at the school. We were so happy and thankful to find her well and happy. She is now living with her grandmother and has hope for the future.


I will write more soon. We are heading out to 1,000 Cups, our favorite coffee place here. Well, it is the only one we know about!

Much love,
Cathi