Every Day is a Blessing

When I came home from Uganda a month ago, I was sure I would never forget what I had seen and experienced.  I always knew the unimaginable poverty, the plight of "untouchables", the sight of children rummaging through garbage dumps looking for food and witnessing children so young, so sick.  They were all sights I'd witnessed before, but this time something was very different.  No water and famine was that difference.

Edwin and I want to be sure to thank all of you who helped us put in bore holes for 30,000 people.  All of you are an example of the blessings I'm talking about.  We are currently in the process of drilling two wells and God willing, we pray for huge aquifers.  I'll keep you all updated when they hit water and be sure to show you the excitement of the people having clean water for the first time in  their lives.

The other side of life in Uganda is of course our Home of Angels, a very happy home filled with God's love and His angels of protection inside the compound.  We currently have 25 children.  They have no idea when they were born, let alone know that you would ever celebrate it.  We let each child decide what day they want and celebrate once a year with balloons, streamers and cake.  They sing two different versions of happy birthday, blow candles out, eat cake, play games, sing and have fun for the day.

We'd like to show you these events and also introduce you to our newest staff.

Meet Sarah, our new Aunty.  Sarah is Aunty Joy's daughter and has moved down out of her village to work for us.  She has the best teacher and is proving to have the same work ethics as her mother.

We would like to you meet James, our new guard.  James came from Lira, a town close to the Sudanese border.  He has a wife and a new born baby but he had no chance for work there so he moved to Jinja in hopes that his wife will be able to follow one day.  He teaches English and also teaches the Bible which makes him a huge asset for us.

James has a gentle way with our children.  They listen to him and learn quickly.  The best part is when they actually understand it and can explain to the child who doesn't.  It will be interesting to watch their grades improve and more exciting....for us to communicate in English together.

It's birthday time...a party for everyone.  Thank you Northview for our two ovens because yes, the girls spent the morning baking banana bread and chocolate cakes.  Jaaja spent the afternoon cleaning up.....😊   The other children blew up the balloons and decorated the grass hut with streamers.

As tradition calls.....the water fights start.  

Uncle Edwin was there to cut the cakes to be sure there was enough for everyone.  I must tell you this was a very exciting time as some of these kids had never had cake before.  To get anything sweet is a dream come true for the new children.

Edwin is in charge of washing the floors.  I can't bend like this or might get stuck in that position.  Because of no rain since June 2016, the red dirt still manages to come through the cracks in the windows and everything must be cleaned daily.

This is what I call a real "Blessing" 

Can you imagine kids being so happy doing their chores every morning?

Meet the family, except little Jimmy who was at his brother's funeral in the village.

Derrick passed away in his village due to unknown causes.  That's probably because there are no doctors or medicine there and no one knew what was wrong with him.    R.I.P  Derrick

Thanks again to so many of you who have helped raise these children, put them through school and provided their medical needs.  Thank you also for donating the gift of "Life" to so many people in our community.  We have started drilling the first bore hole and will continue on to the second when that one is finished.  I am hoping to be able to share all this with you in pictures and video.

God bless you all

The Gift of Water

How do we respond to those at risk?  What do we do to make a life changing difference to people that are suffering?  One of the things we do in Uganda is look after the widows and orphans in their distress and that's exactly what you've all done to help us by answering our plea for clean water.

You did it....You raised $13,000.00 to drill a bore hole for water in a community that were suffering beyond what you could ever imagine.  How do I know this?....I was there and witnessed the death and suffering of so many due to what we take for granted..... water.

For 15 years this community had been promised to have clean water, but that promise was never fulfilled.  I saw dead chickens, pigs and dogs thrown into the water and watched these wonderful people have to drink and cook with it.  This water is filthy but when the rains come, it will turn black and be full of typhoid and cholera.

Edwin and the community leaders held a meeting with the people before Sunday church.  No one had been informed about this bore hole so it was a complete shock to everyone.  They sang and danced until it was time to discuss business.  Edwin and the officials appointed a treasurer, chairman, and security guard to protect the bore hole from children, animals and provide daily cleanliness.  The management will raise funds from the community members for making repairs in the future with each family paying UGX 500 shillings, equivalent to $2.50.

They had given up hope until today but their faith has been restored as you can see in the video below.  We are all so grateful to you for providing this water.  The drilling will start next week and I'll be sure to keep you all updated.

As you know, I have always had this dream to do something about "Kids helping Kids"?
This is just another example of two young boys donating the money out of their piggy banks for the children in Uganda so they will have clean water.  This is about nurturing our children in Love and Grace.

 Kids helping Kids

Thanks to all of you that donated to help these people in our community get clean water.  It was a real eye opener to this Canadian grandma and I must tell you.....I am so proud of all of you for caring.
You may not realize it, but you saved many lives.  We just found out tonight that the media will
be arriving to film the beginning of the drilling process.  They want to share with Uganda about the people in Canada who cared about them enough to provide this gift.