MONKEYS
After a FOUR HOUR long church service on sunday we took the afternoon off... My highlight of the day was getting SO close to the Vervet monkeys next to the river Nile. Most people know I love photography and I take way to many photos of everything so I was in my element being amongst so many wild monkeys. Here are some shots of the fascinating animals :)SPECIAL MOMENTS
Last night was another one of those special moments.
The young lady who lives opposite us has been quite unwell. We thought it would be nice to cook a meal for her and her family as well as the family who stay in the room next door. This is an old lady and her two grand children who don't have their parents to take care of them. SO we bought all of the ingredients from Jinja market and cooked a traditional Ugandan meal! - Rice, beans and chapatti (like a flat bread/pancake)
We took it round and all sat outside eating together and each had a soda. Someone said they felt like it was Christmas! One of the little girls, called Promise, saved her chapatti and I asked why she was carrying it while dancing and she said she was saving it for lunch time at school (maybe the only thing she will eat) They were so grateful and kept thanking us but again we were also blessed. Seeing their smiles and dancing with them and singing was just so special and as the sun set we lit some Dalit candles and sat under the stars together. It's these moments I will never forget.
Left: Serving the Ugandan meal to our neighbours
Right: Dancing under a sky of amazing stars (couldn't get a good photo of them)
Spending 4 hours sat in the hospital waiting room was another new experience for us. We saw so many sick people waiting to be seen for hours. At one point a motorbike pulled up and a man jumped off it, running to the front of the queue with his toddler in his arms. The child had swallowed/drank something bad and wasn't conscious. Juliet who was with us saw that no doctors had arrived yet and told them the best place to go to be seen.
Sadly, an hour later the bike driver returned and came to tell us that the father of the child had not made it in time to the hospital and the child had passed away. We couldn't believe it, we had just seen that child. It was so sad to know that he had a whole life ahead of him and it was taken. The worst thing is knowing if this was at home the situation would have been so different and he would have been treated in time. We are so lucky to have ambulances that come out in emergencies and nearby hospitals. It made Will and I feel so helpless and we wished we were doctors to help all of these people! Please keep the father of that child in your prayers as he woke up that morning with no idea that he may lose his child so suddenly..
The first time we visited we were asked to bathe them. This resulted in each of us in a different bathroom surrounded by 8 little kids expecting to be bathed. Will's room turned into a lake which spilled out onto the corridor after the water fight the kids had instead of bathing...
The second visit was interesting too, the staff asked us to take the kids for a walk. I would say the kids too US for a walk. They lead the way as we had no idea where they go. We ended up crossing a "bridge" which was a plant about a foot wide which stretched across a river which was ten foot down below... Bearing in mind there were around 30 children aged between 4 and 7 and only us looking after them, it felt very surreal and would definitely break every health and safety law in England!
However we all had a great time and it was nice to spend time with these children as they don't have their own parents to love them.
I also helped them with their homework and then we coloured in pictures from en Elmo colouring book. I remembered how fun it was to pointlessly colour in pictures! While we were doing this, a little boy called Brandy was sat next to me and said "Aunty Rachael I love you". It was such a lovely moment and we sat colouring and chatting together, very special.
Most of these women come from very difficult backgrounds and many are single mothers. The age range is 16-24 so they are still young and many did not finish school.
We ran a session on self worth for these girls. I asked them to write 3 positive qualities about themselves (the writing exercises also help to develop their English skills - we will be doing some English lessons in the future). Then they passed around paper with their name on and wrote kind things about each other as in this culture, speaking good words over each other is not done enough (I reckon it's the same at home)
We read some interesting comments "She has a soft body" "she has a good nose" and I got told I was "small"... but the smiles we saw when the girls read over their received comments was brilliant.
After discovering what they thought about themselves, and what others thought of them, we then showed them some verses in the bible showing what God thinks about them.
Will explained the verses to them and then we moved on to making bracelets to remind ourselves that we are not an accident but knitted together in our mother's womb and are all special, made for a purpose. Sarah sat and taught them how to make the bracelets and we ended up dancing and they were all smiling!
One lady we met was a mother of 4 children. Her husband is an alcoholic and does not contribute financially or help at all with the family. None of the children attend school as she cannot afford to pay any school fees. She is struggling to even pay rent for the mud and wood house she is renting in the slum which costs 20,000 (£5) per month. To make money she makes brooms from wood she finds. She said this is difficult because when she is collecting wood she sometimes gets caught on private land and dogs are sent to chase her. This is particularly hard because she is also picking wood with her youngest child on her back so you can imagine the difficulty of the situation.
Another woman I met is Sarah. She Was abused my a man and fell pregnant. He disappeared and she had to find somewhere to stay. A friend who lives in the slum let her stay with her. When she finally gave birth, to her surprise, it was twins! Sarah is now living with her friend and her children, and her two twins. She has no way of earning money with the babies to take care of so she can't see a way of getting her own room in the slum. It's like a vicious cycle and it's awful to see such a loving and caring woman suffer and be helpless in the situation. We spent time rpaying with her and she said she became a Christian a few years ago after a local church did outreach which was comforting to know she has hope in Jesus. I sat holding her twins Michael and Lucy who are adorable. Well, they were until one wee'd all over me..
We took it round and all sat outside eating together and each had a soda. Someone said they felt like it was Christmas! One of the little girls, called Promise, saved her chapatti and I asked why she was carrying it while dancing and she said she was saving it for lunch time at school (maybe the only thing she will eat) They were so grateful and kept thanking us but again we were also blessed. Seeing their smiles and dancing with them and singing was just so special and as the sun set we lit some Dalit candles and sat under the stars together. It's these moments I will never forget.
Right: Dancing under a sky of amazing stars (couldn't get a good photo of them)
A SAD EXPERIENCE
The lady who lives opposite us "Mamma Danny' is 22 and has a husband (Moses) and one baby (Danny). She had some stomach complications which she asked the church house group to pray for. We later learned from her that she thought she was pregnant but hadn't felt the baby for a long time. She was in so much pain. We visited her one evening and prayed for her and consequently Will and I decided to take her to hospital early one morning (the queues begin at 6.30am) She was in there for 4 hours before having a scan. Sadly, it was bad news and Mamma Danny had lost a baby, quite a while ago. It was still inside her which was what was causing the pain. She was then treated and we took her back home. It has been a very tough, sad process for her and she is now recovering. It was great to see her so happy and laughing during our evening meal together.Spending 4 hours sat in the hospital waiting room was another new experience for us. We saw so many sick people waiting to be seen for hours. At one point a motorbike pulled up and a man jumped off it, running to the front of the queue with his toddler in his arms. The child had swallowed/drank something bad and wasn't conscious. Juliet who was with us saw that no doctors had arrived yet and told them the best place to go to be seen.
Sadly, an hour later the bike driver returned and came to tell us that the father of the child had not made it in time to the hospital and the child had passed away. We couldn't believe it, we had just seen that child. It was so sad to know that he had a whole life ahead of him and it was taken. The worst thing is knowing if this was at home the situation would have been so different and he would have been treated in time. We are so lucky to have ambulances that come out in emergencies and nearby hospitals. It made Will and I feel so helpless and we wished we were doctors to help all of these people! Please keep the father of that child in your prayers as he woke up that morning with no idea that he may lose his child so suddenly..
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| Hospital waiting room! |
WALKING THE PLANK
We also revisited Sonrise children's home this week. We discovered this organisation through Will and I playing with a huge group of children at a pool one day and finding out they were all orphans from this place in Jinja. After taking the woman's details (Brenda) we have visited twice now. They have a great set up, each bedroom in the big building has around 6 beds (usually TRIPLE bunks) and a nanny who is responsible for that room. They all attend school and also have a homework/learning hour when they get home.The first time we visited we were asked to bathe them. This resulted in each of us in a different bathroom surrounded by 8 little kids expecting to be bathed. Will's room turned into a lake which spilled out onto the corridor after the water fight the kids had instead of bathing...
The second visit was interesting too, the staff asked us to take the kids for a walk. I would say the kids too US for a walk. They lead the way as we had no idea where they go. We ended up crossing a "bridge" which was a plant about a foot wide which stretched across a river which was ten foot down below... Bearing in mind there were around 30 children aged between 4 and 7 and only us looking after them, it felt very surreal and would definitely break every health and safety law in England!
However we all had a great time and it was nice to spend time with these children as they don't have their own parents to love them.
I also helped them with their homework and then we coloured in pictures from en Elmo colouring book. I remembered how fun it was to pointlessly colour in pictures! While we were doing this, a little boy called Brandy was sat next to me and said "Aunty Rachael I love you". It was such a lovely moment and we sat colouring and chatting together, very special.
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| Walking the plank... |
SELF-WORTH SESSION
On Wednesday we spent the morning at Youth Support Uganda with the women's tailoring group. These vulnerable women are sponsored to do a course with YSU where they learn business and tailoring skills to give them a way of generating their own income and produce some stability into their lives.Most of these women come from very difficult backgrounds and many are single mothers. The age range is 16-24 so they are still young and many did not finish school.
We ran a session on self worth for these girls. I asked them to write 3 positive qualities about themselves (the writing exercises also help to develop their English skills - we will be doing some English lessons in the future). Then they passed around paper with their name on and wrote kind things about each other as in this culture, speaking good words over each other is not done enough (I reckon it's the same at home)
We read some interesting comments "She has a soft body" "she has a good nose" and I got told I was "small"... but the smiles we saw when the girls read over their received comments was brilliant.
After discovering what they thought about themselves, and what others thought of them, we then showed them some verses in the bible showing what God thinks about them.
Will explained the verses to them and then we moved on to making bracelets to remind ourselves that we are not an accident but knitted together in our mother's womb and are all special, made for a purpose. Sarah sat and taught them how to make the bracelets and we ended up dancing and they were all smiling!
SLUM HOME VISITS AND THE WEE
We went to Masese slum on Monday morning. There were 8 family homes that we visited. We gave 1kg of sugar and a bar of soap to each family who were extremely grateful, and then after they shared their stories we prayed for each of them. The stories of these women are heart breaking. And when I say women, most "families" are just the woman and her children. Men are rarely or never there and the women are left to care for the family.One lady we met was a mother of 4 children. Her husband is an alcoholic and does not contribute financially or help at all with the family. None of the children attend school as she cannot afford to pay any school fees. She is struggling to even pay rent for the mud and wood house she is renting in the slum which costs 20,000 (£5) per month. To make money she makes brooms from wood she finds. She said this is difficult because when she is collecting wood she sometimes gets caught on private land and dogs are sent to chase her. This is particularly hard because she is also picking wood with her youngest child on her back so you can imagine the difficulty of the situation.
Another woman I met is Sarah. She Was abused my a man and fell pregnant. He disappeared and she had to find somewhere to stay. A friend who lives in the slum let her stay with her. When she finally gave birth, to her surprise, it was twins! Sarah is now living with her friend and her children, and her two twins. She has no way of earning money with the babies to take care of so she can't see a way of getting her own room in the slum. It's like a vicious cycle and it's awful to see such a loving and caring woman suffer and be helpless in the situation. We spent time rpaying with her and she said she became a Christian a few years ago after a local church did outreach which was comforting to know she has hope in Jesus. I sat holding her twins Michael and Lucy who are adorable. Well, they were until one wee'd all over me..
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| Danny also wee'd on me but he's just so cute when he's asleep.. |
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