Before I start this blog, Edwin and I want to thank many of you who have given your hearts to help Home of Angels and the people in our community throughout the COVID-19 period. This journey really describes life in our broken world. On the way we encounter highs and lows, joys and sorrows, but as a follower of Christ we will never face this journey alone. The challenges and opportunities we face on our journey can be met confidently, for God has promised us His never-failing presence.
Uganda's COVID-19 currently is at 9,801 testing positive and 93 deaths. Mainly because of containers coming in from Mombasa, Kenya, they are finding that many drivers are carrying the virus into Uganda. They are being tested now through the border crossing in Busia. With the trucks also supplying Rwanda and south plus the airport on lockdown, certain items have increased drastically. The worst that I've heard of is a box of rubber gloves for USD $125.00/box. Can you imagine??
An update on Jessica, the lady that was burned in her grass hut and lost her two children in the fire. Jessica had been in the hospital for a month and currently is back home in her village. The doctor who helped her was kind enough to continue assisting her with therapy until her limbs were completely healed.
Regarding the goats, we currently have 565 consisting of 385 mature and 180 kids. Again, because of the pandemic we're not able to sell them until the country is more relaxed and borders open up.
We had planted 200,000 conifer trees as seedlings on our school property for the government. They were transferred to a piece of land north of us owned by a family member, but again, the rains prevented Edwin from driving that far north. Recently, he was able to get there and discovered we now have 190,000 doing well.
We will keep you updated as best we can with pictures and information, but throughout these times with the children not allowed out to do their normal activities, we have less information to share with you. I hope you understand and will be patient until our world heals.
Because we live outside Jinja town, the only place that Precious and Edwin can get clothing for the children is in the downtown market. They both do the shopping for clothing and somehow always seem to get the sizes correct, especially with the girls dresses. When Edwin purchases shoes he just calls a friend and they all arrive at the grass hut that day.
The older children are working currently inside the compound helping the aunties with cooking and the wash. The little boys are happier....they get to go and weed the maize and beans fields. It works out well right now with no school and even though they take turns, it seems like our 13 little guys are loving this job away from home.
This is why we're able to help a few neighbours with food. As long as the rains don't destroy all of it, we can also help some of the hungry people in our community.
As we mentioned in the last blog, our "School of Skills" is now up and running. So far we have
three sewing machines and with Desire phasing out from Home of Angels next year. Thanks to Precious she has learned to make some clothes for herself. These kids are smart and learn very quickly.
When I think of how little Hope and Desire were when they came to us, I almost want to shed a tear to think that they are phasing out soon. These sisters had a little brother Sammie who was kidnapped, disappeared and never found. Since Edwin and I have taken over 10,000 pictures between us, we want to put a photo album together of each child of their life at Home of Angels. Our dear friend Hannah asked if she could have this as a project to do for her class. Technology is not my world so this was really a blessing for me. Thanks Hannah. 😇
Edwin found Hope and Desire on the streets selling charcoal with two blind grandmothers and a little brother. This was prior to building our home for children. Both these girls were caretakers at five-years old. They picked weeds every day to feed the family but when Edwin found out, that was definitely going to stop. Here he had brought them real food and from that day on, we helped the family survive. Both Jaaja's died and Sammie was taken. In 2013, both girls came to live at Home of Angels and since then, I would say they were in a way "Mamas" to the little ones.
We still have one project left to finish and that's to build a small church. We have the land but COVID-19 hit and we didn't get a chance. Our Pastor Richard has been going back into the villages due to requests from the village leaders to have him explain who this "Jesus" was that gave them the food. In the meantime until we can build a structure, we've decided to purchase solar, audible, Luganda bibles. Thanks to you, we were able to order 35 of them. The children also received one and listen to it every night.
I can't resist this....No, this isn't Joseph with a gun to Walter's head. Walter is our new school guard and has come to speak to Edwin at home. Everyone must wash their hands and have their temperature taken before they can go any further. We do it on the forehead, they do it at the side of the head.
Thank you all once again for following our story at Home of Angels. The people in our community have been truly blessed with your love in making a difference in their lives through COVID-19. Many a tear was shed. The children know that they have never been abandoned by Jesus or by you and because of that, they are all growing up knowing how to share love and hope with others.
