Mid July 2011

Yesterday was one of the days that make me want to cry for so many reasons.  The schedule got changed so the women are coming to Hope House on Friday.  So I stayed home to work on receipts.  I got a frantic call from Caitlyn saying that I needed to take some boys to the clinic.  She was at a soccer field in Kampala with 150 street boys and a team from South Carolina that are doing a VBS (sort of).  So I hopped on a boda and sped over there.  Two of the boys were VERY sick and two others had nasty eye infections.  I took them to the nearest clinic, in a taxi with an uncle.  Scary place.  Fairly clean but I didn't see any sterile needles.  One boy got a Malaria meds injected right into his vein.  It took her five times.  The other boy got four meds including Cipro and two other antibiotics that I didn't recognize.  Plus Malaria meds to take.  The bother boys got antibiotics and eye drops.  while I was waiting to pay I leaned on what I thought was a wall and fell backwards and landed flat on my back.  Everyone at the clinic started to panic and wanted to give me an injection and I am almost crying saying no, I have my own pain killers, please no. The boys are all saying get the injection jajja.   It really was pretty funny. So we took them back to the VBS.  Everyone took their meds and I started to do medical care.  Nothing like doing medical care on street boys to put a little back pain into perspective.  The worst part is their feet.  Most of the time, they have no shoes so their feet are covered with sores, ingrown nails, and jiggers.  Jiggers are a little insect that bores into your feet and makes a mess.  The boys just love having some personal attention.  I did that for an hour or two and then when everyone was finished I started to leave.  And ran into a low beam with my head.  REALLY Gina!  God must really need to teach me a lesson, I know I am hard headed but can't I learn an easier way!  I went home.  Took a Valium, and started to rest.  Abby called me and asked me to please get some sun glasses for the two boys that had eye problems.  So back on the boda and down to the nearest market Nattette.  It is about a mile away, usually I walk, because I love the walk, but not today.  Got the glasses and five big puffy coats for our boys and three pillows.  You KNOW you need big puffy coats when it gets down to a chilly 70 degrees. HA!  I had bought five others last weekend so almost every boy has one.  I also bought 6 "jumpers"  hoodies in American English.  Feeling great because of the Valium.  Go home.  I haven't been home 15 minutes when Amanda comes in crying and doubled over in pain.  Drop everything, get another boda go to The Surgery (that is the name of the clinic where we go)  She is on fire and crying!  Got there she had to wait about 30 minutes but then she saw a doctor.  They did an ultrasound on her and ran all kinds of tests. She has a fungal infection but they could not find the source of her pain. She has a pic line in and we are going back today.  (Only tylenol and Ibuprofen for me today!)  I also looked up the clinic where Embasy people go.  So I told her the next time I am taking her there.  It is called Kampala International Hospital. So God put my back pain in proper perspective for me.  I needed that.  Truly was feeling sorry for myself.
May God never have to use a 2x4 on you to get your attention.  I love you all!

Early July 2011

This month has flown by. I have been busy doing some new things that are so exciting.  As you may remember the other missionary, Amanda, and I and shared the responsibilities for Hope House, the program for prostituted women.  Amanda has been training me to be able to buy the jewelry from them to send to the US (harder than it seems-HA) Last week was my first week of going solo.  This means that Amanda will focus on the street boys and I will focus on the women.  Because of my age, it is a really good fit.  I started teaching them salvation through faith alone two weeks ago.  So many churches here teach a conditional salvation, you do well and God will love you, you mess up and he no longer cares.  For women who have prostituted themselves out of desperation and misery this message is very damaging.  Actually it is damaging for anyone!  Also I spend lots of time with our boys at home.  As you know I have really bonded with the older boys.  I would love to begin counselling them on becoming men of God and I think working with Uncle Steven would work.  If you have any suggestions of curricula that would be awesome, or even a good place to start.  These boys have been exposed to such horror.  Many have been sexually assaulted and all have had to deal with rejection and abandonment. Please pray for me as I need wisdom.  We have a summer intern here named Caitlyn.  We all call her Cate.  She is 20, from CA and a barrel of laughs!  Some of you know that I had the bright idea to take a couple of college courses while I was home.  Since I don't have formal training in counselling, or childhood trauma I needed to take some basic courses.  I took Abnormal Psychology and Race and Ethnicity.  In my mind I thought I would easily be able to finish either before I left or shortly after returning to Uganda.  WRONG!  Needless to say I took a two day "holiday" at a guest house in Kampala and finished my coursework.  We have both internet and electricity problems in Wakalyga where I live.  But I am done.  The courses were actually really interesting.  

One of the fun activities that I have been doing with our boys is cooking with them every Saturday morning.  This coming Saturday I am going to make noodles and sauce and coleslaw.  I know, odd combination but I only have my local market to purchase supplies.  The boys love it!  I love it too!  I serve them tea and we all try my creations!  HA!  

Thank you so very much for praying for me for my bronchitis, I am almost completely over it!  For me four weeks is a pretty short run!  

Today is computer training for the women.  I have been teaching them how to use a keyboard and how to get familiar with the computer.  Then after the lesson is over I take three women out to lunch.  We have a restaurant that we walk to that has good local food.  Last week I bought medicine for several of the women who had the flu.  HIV and the flu are NOT a good combination.  I want you to know this: that YOU are the ones that make that possible.  Every time I can show love to the women or to the boys it is because of you.  "We" bought Bibles for all of the women.  We take them to lunch.  We buy them medicine.  We make fun little meals every Saturday morning.  Thank you!  

When I teach a Bible study or counsel a boy I know that I am covered in prayer by MANY people who love these precious souls also.  Thank you!

On a very fun note before I close.  I was at Owino, the HUGE market filled with used clothing and other items, looking for school shoes for the boys.  I came across a woman selling sandals and she had a pair of Birkenstock sandals, in my size and they were RED!!! Of course I bought them.  A small thing that made me so very happy.  Nice shoes with a good arch and in a color that I love! 

Thank you again for all of the love and support that you give me, the women and the boys.  May you feel Christ's grace, mercy and compassion in a new and fresh way every day!

Mid June Update

I hope this day finds you doing well.  Last night we celebrated the birthdays of two boys, Shafik and Kataregga Derick. We had so much fun.  Birthday cake, popcorn, pineapple, and soda.  Today is Amanda's birthday so she was a part of our fun as well.  The boys are all doing well.  None are sick although we have gone through the Flu and Malaria.  The boys have been back in school for almost a month and most seem to be doing well.  Some are still struggling with reading.  It is hard for them because they are older than they should be.  Big Bashir is almost 16 and he is in P-5, fifth grade.  But he has a great attitude..  The majority of our boys are in P-3.  The school does not provide ANY books so I have been buying them books to use.  That will allow them to work better at home.  They are very diligent with their homework.  We have had a team here from Colorado and they came and spent an evening with us.  52 people!  

The most exciting news is the progress that we have made on the house. The walls are roof high and they are framing the roof in.  They have dug the toilets and have laid out the foundation for the kitchen,dining room.  We are very excited about that.  The other news as far as the boys are concerned was culture day yesterday.  We bought all of the boys the traditional long white tunic, called a kanzu.  The boys would have also liked to have a suit coat to wear over it, but at least they had a kanzu.  Amanda, Caitlyn (the summer intern) and I went to the boys school and took them treats during lunch.  They were excited and embarrassed all at the same time.  Not too many families come with three white women.  Davis and Emma had no embarrassment whatsoever.  They wanted to take us all over, show us where things were and hang all over us.  It was really sweet.  I took them Ugandan Moon pies, a new pencil and a pack of candy coated gum.  The gate guard at the school was so drunk he could barely talk in Lugandan, to say nothing of English.  I guess you have to do something to make the time go by faster.  Several of our boys got in trouble for fighting in school, and I wanted to say that maybe if the school guard was sober, he could have stepped in.  But I think we got it all worked out.  Our counselor is going to start going to the school and seeing the three boys that are struggling, during their breaks.  All of us want to see the boys succeed and are doing everything possible to make sure that it happens.  They have all come so far from when Abby originally took them in off of the street.  Like all of us though, they have not arrived yet.  Keep praying!

Some prayer requests are:

1. pray that the counselling will help the boys release their anger

2. pray that they will continue to improve in school.

3. pray for the construction of the home in Bombo

4. pray for the health of the boys and staff

5. praise that the boys' behavior has continued to improve over the last month

6. praise that God has provided all of the funds for the house in Bombo  

Very Early June Update

I figure by the time I get done with this e-mail it will be June 1.  May has just flown by.  Things are going well here.  I have a nasty case of bronchitis, but I am taking cough medicine and a good antihistamine.  I went to the doctor and they drew blood to check and that was fine, so it is probably viral.   I stayed home from church on Sunday and Monday I spent most of the day  in bed watching movies.  Today I went to town to go and mail some letters and to pick up a few things.  Then I came back and went back to bed.  The cough medicine has codeine in it, so it makes me pretty sleepy.  The boys are doing well, they all went back to school on May 23.  The street program is going well also.  I have REALLY enjoyed being with the ladies.  I have been doing a Bible study with them and teaching computers.  I have five keyboards and three laptops so for the last two weeks they have been learning how to manage with the keys.  Tomorrow should have been their first day on the computers, but I am too sick to go.  They are HIV positive and I don't want to give them my bug too. I have also been taking a couple of ladies to lunch on Wednesdays.  So fun. One of the ladies, Beatrice, has a baby that is a week older than my grand-baby and I get to love on him!  One of the older boys from the street got picked up in a riot in the slum and put in prison.  I went with Amanda and Uncle Abdul to try to get him released.  He is out but has to report back in June.  I have decided that I never want to go to jail in Uganda.  It seems funny to me that all of my years of working with kids in AWANA  are now turning into a blessing for the boys.  When we go to Grace house, an orphanage for 50 street boys, Amanda tells a Bible story and I sing and explain the story.  Those that know me well, know I can't carry a tune in a bucket but I do know a lot of kids songs!  There is a former street boy, his name is David-I call him Bead David because he runs the program for making the paper beads, has been hired for the summer.  Bead David is a great young man and loves the boys so much.  He asked me to come and share with Amanda to their little house at night.  Two tiny rooms probably 8 X 15 feet each, no electricity, dirt floors, no mattresses, only cardboard.  There are 40 - 50 boys that sleep there.  So now I have a new audience to sing to.  It is so very humbling.  I don't know how I managed to get such a great assignment!  

While I was in Phoenix I spoke to a Bible study that included Adam Mick the former youth pastor at MVBC.  His Bible study folks were so awesome.  They contributed money and along with another couple of people I came to Uganda with just over $200 dollars to buy a sewing machine, treadle of course.  Here is the cool part... I bought it on Sunday from a guy who works at another orphanage, Uncle Abdul.  Someone had donated it to them and no-one had ever used it.  .  They now can use the money for something that they really need and after I bought some needles, thread, oil, and a couple of spare parts I have about $5.00 left.  God is so good!  I will be using the machine to fix all of the uniforms for our boys, fix clothes for the boys living on the street and hopefully it will be used to train some of the women at Hope House (our program) to sew.  Even a few of the boys are interested and maybe one of them will end up being a tailor!

Two Saturdays ago I made french toast for all of the boys for breakfast.  Last week I made pancakes.  We had so much fun.  I have some photos that I will post on facebook.  This week I am going to make fried rice with sweet and sour sauce.  One of the people from my church, MVBC, gave me money to buy every boy a Bible.  They now have their very own Bible.  I have pictures of that too.  (My camera is with Uncle David right now-but watch for the photos!)  

I have found a new friend, one of the street boys named Joel.  He is new to the street, about 16 and wants to be with me all of the time.  He got beat up pretty badly his first or second week here and he got taken to the clinic by Bead David.  One of his eyes was really damaged and he had drops that were a steroid to reduce swelling and an antibiotic to fight infection.  No-one wanted to give him his drops so I did.  I have put thousands of drops into kid and adult eyes.  I guess the drops did it because whenever I am there he wants to hold my hand and talk to me.  His English is pretty good.  His story is really sad, they all are.  But not many boys want to share with me so soon.  Joel has though, and I am honored.  

The work has begun on the new house on the new land.  They have been digging trenches for the stem walls and clearing land.  Still no water or electricity but the ball is rolling.  The plans are so very nice.  I was supposed to go to the land this week to take pictures and to look it over.  I will be going to the land with the teams who are here to help us build so I need to know the way.  I have been there several times but I have never really paid attention to HOW to get there.  But I am too sick for that too.   Hopefully later on this week.    I love you all so much and I thank you for wanting to read my rambling posts, but most of all I thank you for your prayers. 

Vacation in Rwanda-Genocide Memorials

Just a few thoughts from my time in Rwanda.  If you would rather not read about the genocide, I won't be offended if you stop right here and close this post.  No worries!  I have been looking forward to coming to Rwanda for over a year.  As a Believer, and a spoiled American it was easy for me to be lulled into thinking that people are basically good and that Christians are even better.  I knew somewhere in my heart that it wasn't true, but God always seems to need to use a 2 X 4 over the head with me to get my attention.  Going to the memorials yesterday was my 2 X 4.  I knew I needed it and I was right.  The UN claims that more than 800,000 people were killed in the main genocide that lasted roughly 100 days in 1994.  The Rwandans estimate that 3 million people were killed during the five years that led up to it and the years since.  I kept hearing in my head, "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it"?  And that time clearly illustrates that.  These were not atheists or non-Christians killing Christians, this was Christians and Muslims killing Christians and Muslims, over race.  We went to the National museum first.  It contains a number of mass graves for 250,000 people with more remains placed there even this year.  It also has a museum with pictures and artifacts.  Next stop was the Ntarama site.  Here in the church over 600 people were killed. The skulls of many of the people are displayed on shelves behind the pews and in the children's church building (approximately 10 feet by 20 ft) there is still blood on the wall where they smashed the skills of the babies and children. You are not allowed to take pictures inside any of the buildings, but I will be posting on my facebook page some from the outside.  The last site was Nyamata.  Here in this church and in the area surrounding it 10,000 people were killed.  The church was packed with people, primarily women and children and old people, the men were outside trying to defend the church.  That is why so many were killed at that site.  They have left all of the clothing from the people in both churches on the pews in heaps.  Dirty bloodstained heaps.  At the Nyamata site they also have two mass burial grounds and one is an open crypt that you can enter and they have displayed the bones from all of the people who died inside of the church.  Mostly skulls and long bones.  I wrapped my fingers around one of the skulls and it was about the size of an eight to ten year-old. Sobering, the evil that Satan can do in and through our weak human flesh.  The worst part though was watching testimonials and reading the lasting effects of that 100 days.  Thousands of homes were burned, thousands of people were left maimed.  Thousands of women were raped.  Thousands off orphans were left. Millions of hearts were left broken. All because of sin.  The Rwandan government is working hard for racial reconciliation.  Those brave Believers who are working in Rwanda to bring Christ's love, forgiveness and healing need our prayer every day

What happened to make so many people easily remember the first part of the great commandment and yet forget the second part? On a personal level, do I forget that second part, to REALLY love my neighbor in the sphere of family, friends and "enemies" that God puts in my path?  I was reminded in a fresh way that loving God is easier than loving others, apart from His love.  I am not so different from the murderers in Rwanda.  I need Christ to fill me with His love every day and I need to submit to His will.  If I stay stay in Uganda for one more month or ten more years my job is really the same.  God may change the place where I am but my heart needs to be His every day.  

Thank you for praying for me,the staff, the women, the boys, and the street children.  God is using our hands and feet to Love others and to preach the Gospel.  I love you all.