On Wed night we had little Birthday Party for the Lovely Miss MAZZY! …yup, she’s 2!
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.
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 5th 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 3rd home we visited was Joyce’s. She is the 3rd 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 4th 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!!
Tuesday afternoon was VERY cool. James, myself, and 2 staff (Jamie & Rose - who work with the sponsorship program) went on a home visit equipped with GIFTS which were generously donated by our wonderful Friends and Family at home...let me tell you, I could not be more proud to have you as my Friends...
We went to the home of our Sponsor-child, Nassuuna Grace. She lives about a one hour walk from the school (which she does in her bare-feet... along a dirt road which includes a loooong hill!). Grace lives with her Mother and 2 step siblings. Her father had been a successful business man in town but he had left his family for another and when he died (very recently) he left NOTHING for Grace and her Mom except for their home (no beds, or pots or anything...). As I mentioned b4, we went to the market... where we bought 3 Bed sets (mattress, sheet and blanket), cooking pots and utensils, bowls and cups for eating/drinking, some staple foods like maze, big bars of soap and basins for washing clothes and paraffin for fire/light... we also grabbed some Sodas and candy as a treat (which made Grace pretty happy!).
Grace met us at the KCF (Kibaale Children's Fund) office after school (she's in p4 - the equivalent of gr.4 at home) and we drove her home. When we pulled into her yard, her Mom came running out to hug us and kept crying "thank you, thank you, welcome". We were welcomed into her home where she laid down grass mats for us to kneel on. She was overwhelmed with gratitude (I am NOT exaggerating). She would not stop sighing and thanking us... and saying "I had nothing but now the Lord has come!". Then she suddenly got up and left the house... only to return 5min later with two CHICKENS!!...alive, flailing and with their legs bound (thank God!). These were what she was saving to buy soap and so she insisted on giving them to us to show her gratitude. I really wanted to leave mine with her, since it would be so much more useful to her (and I was not excited about cheerfully carrying my chicken away with me)... but that would rude... so I did. I was brave :0) ...Dion would have been ashamed of me b/c i felt a little freaked out about the flailing chicken thing.
It was a pretty awesome experience ...the Family was so blessed. And James and I felt honored to be part of the giving! Thank you Friends!!
