5 Home Visits in 1 Day!!

On our first Wed in Kibaale, we started the morning with leading Devotions for a P4 class - Nassuuna Grace’s class, actually. (I think she was mortified to have us there …kind of like, oh my! What are THEY doing here??! This is so embarrassing! But that’s just b/c she’s verrrrry shy and she seemed OK once she realized that we were not going to draw any special attention to her!). We led our Devotion on the topic of PRAYER… but truthfully, WE had already learned so much more from them on the topic!

Here’s a little “aside” …their class settings are amazing! At 8:00am (sharp!) the kids all line up outside the main school building – here they sing songs, recite the Lord’s Prayer, and receive announcements from their school leader. They dismiss to their select classes… singing loudly all the way!

Once they get to their classes… there is MORE (loud!) singing!! This is initiated by one of the students (no matter what age… from 4yrs old and up, this happens!) and it is infectious!! I LOVED hearing the kids sing. The kids would praise God like this for ~10min. and shortly after the Teacher arrived the singing would turn into prayers… the kids would spontaneously kneel down or turn to a corner and begin praying – outloud, all together – it was amazing. We were blessed to experience it.

(this is Grace)

After Breakfast we loaded up the Truck and went on 5 more Home Visits!! It was pretty wonderful to be able to be the “vessels” for delivering the items that our Friends and Family had bought! This day, we delivered WATER COLLECTION SYSTEMS (pretty basic – but costly and necessary – they consist of a gutter which was fixed onto the house, and a large (220 Litres) plastic barrel for collecting the water.

The first home we visited was George’s. He is one of 7 kids in his family (he had one sibling die from Malaria). He is the only one in his family who attends KCC – he has siblings at the local Muslim school. He is doing well in school (is in S1 – which is rare for kids in Uganda …many do not pass p7 – and if you fail this 2x you cannot go on in school). His Family had a nice house (in good condition) and some ways to make a living…. Goats, Matooke crops (which were not doing well b/c of the extended dry season) and coffee trees. Until now, George has had to walk 1hr each way to a Borehole in Kibaale to collect water for his Family’s needs. His Mother was very grateful …and was leaning over the barrel singing, “God is so good…” as we drove away.

The second home we visited was James’s. James is the 5^th child of 6 in his Family. Both his parents died from AIDS about 10yrs ago and his older brother stopped attending school to raise the kids. James is in S3 and his favorite subject is Physics. His Jaja (Grandparent) lives with them now and they have to walk 30min to the nearest Borehole to collect their water.

The 3^rd home we visited was Joyce’s. She is the 3^rd of 6 kids and her Mother works hard in the nearby fields. Joyce walks 1hr to get to school each day and around 20min to collect her water for the Family.

The 4^th home was Bennett’s. I have to confess… he stole a pretty special part of our hearts. His house was in terrible condition (not really even suitable for attaching a gutter to!). His Mother died ~10yrs ago and his Father left his family. Bennett lives with his Jaja (who is very frail and not healthy). I don’t even know how far he has to walk for water… I got too caught up with how little he had (his Grandma had NO supplies for cooking or cleaning, no food). It seems that Bennett probably only eats what he’s given at school. ….But you should see this Boy! He’s soooo lovely! Bennett is in P4 at KCC. We left his house knowing that we would be back with some basic household items and food staples …and hopefully a plan for getting him a more stable house.

The final home we visited that day was Annet’s. Her parents left her… for better opportunities in the City (sad, huh?). She is cared for by her Jaja. Annette is in p4 at KCC and walks about 1hr to get water. Annet was very excited to come home with a new Water Collection Unit!!

One thing I am quickly realizing is that pictures are not going to do these experiences any justice!! Hopefully they will give you at least a glimpse of what we’ve been able to be part of!