I left for Uganda on January 4th and returned April 4th and believe me, it was an action packed 3 months. The kids started their own ministry "God's little Angels Ministry" and they have committed to help 2 families a month. We had a projector donated and our good friends, the Long's had a sturdy 200 x 200 screen for our grass hut to show the Jesus video on. We were blessed to find a young man named Jonah to teach the children about the Bible every Sunday afternoon and they will soon be inviting their friends in the community to watch the story too.
We distributed the Gleaners food throughout Uganda and again, our wonderful friend Johnny Long donated his time to make us a video to present to the Gleaners to show the volunteers where their efforts had gone.
We had Catarina from Coquitlam B.C. come and stay with us for 2 weeks. Her expertise was going into the schools to teach the young girls about womanhood and safe sex. Catarina also sponsors Hope, so it was nice for Hope to meet her in person. We look forward to the day when all sponsors can come.
So here it is 4am…jet lag time once again and I would like to show you some of the things we did in the 3 months that captured my heart. We are very proud of these kids, coming out of the situations we found them in and turning their lives around to help others.
We had planned to get the second chicken house finished but due to all the problems with money, we have to be patient. The roof will soon be covered in steel sheets and the finishing touches done. Until then, we will concentrate on only broilers.
We recently purchased 750 more broilers from the profit of the last 600. This might look a little different from our chicken farms but with the guidance of our chicken farmers in Canada, we seem to be doing well. Only 2 died upon arrival from Germany due to suffocation. Sula and James are with them 24/7 and I am convinced they are giving it their very best to make this project work.
School is out for Alan…Yes, he may be 3 years old but he goes just like his big sisters and brothers. Shaban takes his donated wheelchair and picks him up every noon and wheels him home on his lap. These are not posed smiles….it's how they are every day riding through the gate.
We made a decision that every sponsored child that has a visitor will come with us to the airport to pick them up. Hope not only met Catarina but saw the Nile River and Lake Victoria for the first time too. We realized these kids have never seen all the things they learn about in school so this was a real treat.
We arranged for Catarina to go to a average of 2 schools or institutions a day to speak about feminine hygiene. For some of these kids, they hide for one week a month and miss school, not understanding what is happening to their bodies. She then had a class in our grass hut with the teachers, showing them how the kits can be made by hand and for them to continuing showing others. Thanks Catarina for helping so many understand what we all take for granted.
Hackers for Charity is a non-profit organization that leverages the skills of technologists. They solve technology challenges for various non-profits and provide food, equipment, job training and computer education to the world's poorest citizens. This Acer laptop was fitted with a tiny chip that holds everything these children need to learn from. From adding 1+1=2 to Calculus, it's there. Every subject taught in school from our Grade 1 through Grade 12 is also included. We have been very blessed with John and Jen Long (HFC) in that they want to equip our children with these chips if we can purchase the $200.00 laptops. We have already set up our classroom thanks to Nina and her husband, so we would be able to have a structured class atmosphere. Please pray that we can do this. Also, if you would like to read more about HFC please go to www.hackersforcharity.org
The children participated in helping the elderly at the only "Home for the Elderly" in all of Uganda.
Because of the suffering here, we made a decision to always be a part of helping them. The kids planted all their maize and distributed soap to them for washing. If we ever get a van, we are going to help them take the elderly to hospitals but as it is now, they have no way to get there and they just pass on in this home. God has put it on all our hearts to do something and we are definitely listening to Him.
Oh my goodness….It's 100 degrees and Frank our guard won't take off his new Alaska hat.
Meet Jonah, our new Bible mentor. Jonah was from an orphanage too and he knows that without the love of God, he would have never made it. He wants to make sure our children learn the Bible and know all scripture, so he teaches for one hour every Sunday afternoon.
I am so excited to find someone shorter than me….These are the Karamojong people from northern Uganda. They have a reputation for being violent, uncivilized and stubborn and are also known
for herding cattle. The women here have tattooed their faces to show their beauty but we only saw the beauty from within. What a wonderful group of people who really were very grateful for the food the Gleaners had prepared for them.
Thanks to Thomas once again. The 500 solar lights are going to only the poorest. The people are so very grateful to you for this gift and one day we hope you will come and see the difference you have made in their lives. Edwin is teaching them how to use them here.
We realized after Hope going to the airport to meet Catarina, that these children had never been anywhere. We decided to take them on a little trip in a real van. This included their own town Jinja which many had never seen before, let alone been in a van. They had the most wonderful day and it made our hearts happy to see them so excited and grateful.
Sometimes Edwin and I just watch these kids changing by the minute. They are such a beautiful family and the one thing you will never see is arguing….they never show anger towards each other but always show love. Laughing and giggling from morning until night. They have a very rigid daily schedule and I still have a hard time with it but these are Ugandan kids and it's normal. Up at 6am…chores until 6:30am…tea at 6:45am. Off to school until 5:30pm….back home to wash their clothes and have a bath. Dinner at 6:30pm and back to school at 7pm until 9pm. Homework until 10pm and solar lights off. And by the way, they do get lunch at school.
If anyone wants to watch the video of the container arriving and some of the people we fed with the Gleaner soup, you can go to: http://youtub.be/XH4_PHM3u3U
Thanks to all of you for following our story.
