Kids helping kids

I was sat with some of the boys in the Village of Hope the other day, and discovered that a few of them thought that I just visit them and play with them and spend the rest of the time at Suubi House (the place I stay). They genuinely thought that's all I do here in Uganda. Although I LOVE playing with them, it's not all I do. In fact its not a set thing in the program we created for me, I go there in all the free time I get.

I wanted to show them some of the things I do here, not only to let them see what I do but also to give them a day out of the village and see how some of these children are living....

So I took them to Home of Hope (disabled home) on Saturday. 12 boys aged 9-14.
(The same ones I took out to town)

They worked so hard! The older half spent the first part of the day mopping and cleaning the home and then washing all the children's clothes - no washing machines like home!

The slightly younger ones came with me and we took a load of the kids out in their wheelchairs for a walk. They love going out as they can't all do it often - 35 kids, not 35 staff or enough hours in the day...

Josh with Waswa

We ended up walking all the way to the sugar plantation and then had to go all the way back. We all nearly fainted, dehydrated and became frustrated with the uneven dust/rocky ground and uphill on the way back but it was good fun...

Then we had rice, beans and chapatti for lunch and spent some time with the kids. 

Then the boys painted some tyres which had been cut into swings, and also painted wooden beams to be made into frames. This is a fantastic idea which uses local resources and recycles old wheels which is cost effective and gives good supportive swings for the disabled kids. I went back today to see the finished product, now it's been put up and fixed into the ground... amazing!!

 Final Product at bottom...

The boys worked so hard and had a great day, seeing the struggles of kids with disabilities and also seeing them as real people, instead of the general opinion that "there are special homes for lame people who can't do anything". Coming from some unpleasant backgrounds themselves, they can understand how lives can be changed when someone invests in your well-being and future so could appreciate what is done at Home of Hope. The photos show them really enjoying spending time with the kids!

Here are the finished new swings!!