LIVING HOPE, GULU

Living Hope...

Some of the Living Hope Women

Today we had the privilege of visiting Living Hope in Gulu. I have been so looking forward to this visit. 

Initially we all have dignity, but some have been stripped of that through bad circumstances. 
Living hope is here to restore dignity back to the women of Uganda who are vulnerable to or have aids. Also women who have been affected by the war. Some of these women have been physically mutilated and have lived to tell thier story. They come here to learn to be self sufficient. 

Living Hope is giving these women a hand UP not a hand OUT...

They have the opportunity to:

• Learn adult literacy and maths
• Have trauma counseling
• Have medical treatment for free
• To have Child care for free so they can go and work 
• Discipleship classes
• Receive food distribution for their family
• Make peanut butter and sell it
• Sew bags, and dolls and place mats to sell

Another incentive that they are about to launch is sanitary pads made by hand from recycled paper and papyrus paper. This is huge for living hope and will give freedom to all women as it will allow them to go out and continue working during their menstrual week when usually women are confined to their homes during this time.   

All of these things have dramatically changed the lives of the these vulnerable women who can now feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves and contribute to the community with honor and respect. If women do not have these things at a young age, they have no choice but to leave school early and get married so they are not a burden on their family. Or get a job which they cannot do if they have no education. Many of these women have had facial reconstruction after parts of their faces have been cut off by the LRA.


Some of the experiences these women have been through are unthinkable and indescribable which is why they are vulnerable and feel hopeless. So living hope does just that... It restores hope alive in these women who have lost everything. Some of these women were raped by the LRA and fell pregnant. Some of these babies have been found in the bushes during the war, because they couldn't be taken care of or the mother was abducted.  These babies are now 18 months old and at Baby Watoto Gulu. 


If you would like to sponsor these women of find out more about their stories go to: www.watoto.com.org.

COURAGE IN GULU....

COURAGE IN GULU...


We visited Gulu today, finally arrived after a four hour journey! We went to our guest house which was amazing.  We drove through a little village with mud huts to be welcomed by big steel gates and a large brick fence surrounding two beautiful houses.  The fence had razor wire along the top of it.  It looks alarming, but it is only for our safety.  There is a guard that stands watch 24hours a day which is comforting to know while we are sleeping.






We visited Gulu Watoto village, the children came running up to us.  We joined them in a game of skipping which was lots of fun, I haven't done that for years!

Children living in the village just outside our guesthouse

This village sits on 100 acres.  It is still fairly new so no as much established yet as Bbirra or Subbi.  There are 8 clusters of houses.  Each cluster is made up of 8 houses too.  This village also has a school which includes all the building for wood works, mechanics, home ec and steel works.  This village is approximately 120 km away from the Sudan border, where the LRA, (Lords Resistance Army) used to have full reign.  The children in these homes have been the most effected by the war.  As each child comes into the village to live with a family they 




often need ongoing counselling for the transition because they have been so traumatised by there past.  Praise God the LRA do not have control in Uganda anymore.  Gulu is the location of The Invisible Children DVD in 2006, that some of you may of heard about. (http://www.invisiblechildren.com).

   The invisible children left this area everyday around 2pm and walked to the nearest village till about 7pm where they would sleep the night in large deserted buildings.  The war got so bad that everyone fled their villages and moved on.  When Watoto found this land for the village it was totally deserted and people did not want to come near it.  But the vision of Watoto was to not only help the children but to also portray a message of peace and encourage the people to come back to the village.  It is only now that people are starting to move back because Joseph Coney (The leader of the LRA) is not around anymore.  There is a man named Sam Childers who is an American now living in Sudan.  He is known as The Machine Gun Preacher.  I have just finished reading his book about his life and how he came to Africa.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in whats going on over here.  It is the story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who've been forced to become soldiers.  He has an incredible testimony of sacrifice, hardship and hope.  Taking back the abducted child soldiers and creating safe house for the children and families.   He is well known to the different Presidents here who have even given him a number of full time military to carry out his work because they all believe in him.  He is taking out the LRA one at a time and he makes no apology for carrying a gun as a christian!  He has vowed to continue his work until Joseph Coney himself is dead!  His story has become so well known now that they are not only making a reality tv program on him, they are also making a movie about his life starting next year....and...starring Gerard Butler, yes... the one from P.S I Love You!

The book written by Sam Childers

So its amazing that where we are has had such sadness and history of violence and killings, but now is working towards a productive and more safer future.  Tomorrow we are visiting the Living Hope Women.  These women have been vulnerable to or have HIV and have been ostracised from there communities.   Watoto, has helped them in becoming self sustainable making their own jewellery, bags, peanut butter, goats milk and much more.  We will have an opportunity to purchase some of their things tomorrow.  The buliding they are in is the one that the Invisble Children were sleeping in during the night time.




So I have named this post COURAGE because I think that the people here who have been through unthinkble circumstances, heart ache and loss have so much courage to keep facing each and every day.
What does COURAGE mean?

Mud Hut..they look cozy!

Strength of purpose, to do ones best and not to swerve from one's path.  Integrity _ to do battle with the forces of darkness fired up by truth and principle, and dependability to do the right thing.  It might mean having the imagination and vision to know what might happen if you do battle, and yet being driven by personal conviction to fight on.  It means putting oneself on the line and standing up for what is right and true.

SO... I will leave you with this quote to ponder...


"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel"
- Maya Angelou

The Bulrushes

So I thought that I should dedicate one whole blog to the Bulrushes ... Since that was our intended purpose on coming to africa originally. 

There is up to 60-70 babies at the bulrushes. The nursery is where the preme babies are that need one on one care and medical attention. They have better facilities than the hospital at Kampala. Babies have come to bulrushes because they don't have the correct equipment. A simple example of this is once a baby died because he had jaundice and the hospital did not have the photo therapy light to help him. This is such a fundamental necessity and is hard to understand why these things are not available. Another example of the care at the hospitals is that one of the workers at bulrushes went into labour on new years eve. Just as the baby was about to be born, it was midnight and everyone went out to see the fireworks and celebrate  and left her... The baby died because the chord was wrapped around her neck.  Yet another example of such an unnecessary death.  Apparently this sort of thing happens all the time.

We have heard many more stories similar to these and it is hard fathom. Such injustice. Another story...(we are allowed to share stories as long as we do not attach the name of the child it is for confidentiality reasons).  One of the little baby girl that was there came in 2 hours after birth. Her mother died during child birth, (like many here).  The baby was the product of an affair a man had with another women. The wife found out and put a curse on the pregnant mum that she would die giving birth. Now they do not want to give the baby back to the father for safety reasons but are looking for other relatives. 

I truly do believe in curses. If there is a heavenly father who is great and powerful, then there is definitely a power opposing that too or we would be living in a perfect world. The bible says we do not fight against flesh and blood but that it is a spiritual battle that we need to fight here on earth. So when stories like this become a reality they take it very seriously. However, in saying that they always assess every situation as a case by case decision and where at all possible will reunite with relatives so there is room for more needy children who have none at all. That would be very hard to do for staff, having to put a lot of faith in the relatives that they will do the right thing by the child. 

The bulrushes is made up of 4 different age groups..

Special care nursery for very sick and prememature babies

Monkeys 2-4

Girrages 4-6

Hippos6-8 

Elephants 8- 2yrs

Then they go into a home in a village. They need to be walking to go into a home, otherwise it's too much for the house mum with 7 other children. They encourage the little ones who have siblings in villages to walk sooner than 2 so they can be reunited. 

Today we took 4 babies to the hospital. It was very sad. They take children to the hospital nearly every day. Even though the facilities at bulrushes are actually better, they don't have a doctor. Any time a child needs prescription medicine they need to go to the hospital.


SPONSORSHIP

With a population of 26 million people and half of them under the age of 15, Uganda is a young developing country left parentless by the AIDS epidemic. Your sponsorship will help Watoto rescue some of these children, place them in families, and give them a future and a hope.

This year Watoto have celebrated the opening of their first Watoto Gulu Babies home on 10th June 2010.  With babies being cared for and providing homes in Gulu, the Suubi Village and Kampala at Bullrushes to make up 3 babies home facilities so the children there can begin their new life with a future and a hope. You can help continue to support and sponsor any of these Baby Watoto children online direct from the Watoto website www.watoto.com where you can view a Baby Watoto photo and profile. 

Day Six in Africa, Hope Restored...

Today is day six.. The past 2 days have been very full. Yesterday we went to Bbirra village. It was an amazing experience.

One of the school buildings in Bbirra

We had lunch with a house mother - Mamma Rasty and 8 of her children. Ruth 12, Andrew 11, Jennifer 11, Joshua 6, Zoe 3, Benjamin 3, Joshua 5, and Zac 4.   We were so privileged to be welcomed into their house with big smiles. There are 4 boys and 4 girls. 1 bedroom is for the girls with 2 bunk beds and 1 bedroom for the boys with 2 bunk beds.

Then the house mother has 1 room for herself. It's is a very modest house, but they are very house proud. We had a traditional lunch and gave out many treats for the children like bubbles, stickers and pencils. They were so excited...

Our host family that day

Some of the rules for the children to remember!

Girls playing hopscotch

After lunch we played all sorts of ball games, it was fun but exhausting in the heat. Then Jennifer took it upon herself to give me a tour of the village. We walked past the school grounds which had little sign posts dug into the grass. Jennifer said that these were the rules that the children live by...

During our walk we saw many children playing and enjoying everyday life on school holidays...

Visiting Bbirra Village restored hope for me in my heart.   After visiting this village, it is very clear to see that this system totally does work.  The children are very happy and well adjusted like any other happy family in this world.  For the children who have biological families outside Watoto, they go and visit them during school holidays. Jennifer was very excited about this. 

It was so nice spending time with the senior mother, Mamma Rosa. She has a huge heart for the children and was very interested in our lives back home. We also got to meet the village managers who were very proud of their village. 

That evening we visited the cultural centre to watch dancing from across africa. It was lots of fun and so interesting. Women were dancing with 8 pots on their heads.. Unbelievable!

As I write this I have just finished a long day with the babies a the bulrushes. I feel so fulfilledafter hearing some of the heart wrenching stories of these babies that would not be alive today if Watoto was not here. They have such an incredible future... RESCUE, RAISE, REBUILD...... A NATION... One child at a time. 

Adjusting to Life in Africa

So it is day 3 in Africa, Uganda and I am slowly adjusting to everyday life here.  After growing up and living in Australia, I dont think I could ever get fully used to the sights, sounds and smells of Africa.  It's so true-you've really got to see it to believe it.... 

Incredible heartbreaking love one minute & heart wretching anguish the next. My senses are becoming so alert as God is revealing so much of His heart for humanity to me.

I have been trying to keep in contact with friends and family, but it is so hard because of the time difference.  

The problem is that Australia is 7 hours ahead of us here, so when I am getting up in the morning it is around 1 pm in the afternoon in Australia.

Then when we are doing our daytime stuff all our friends and family are sleeping in bed.  There is a short window of time, but our itinerary has been pretty hectic.  

Facebook is a really easy way to see what we have been up to.  

The guest house here is really nice, and we have 3 house hosts, Doreen, Alice and Dorice  who wash and iron our clothes and cook us yummy meals.

We also have a driver named Isaac and Colin who go with us everywhere and follows our itinerary.  So we are very Safe. This is Colin...... and Dooreen and Alice...

 

We drove up to Suubi Watoto village, it was 45 mins away from were we are staying but took us 2 hours in the traffic coming back.  This village is amazing it has a school and lots of houses for the house mums who care for 8 children each.  Each of the students have the opportunity to do home ec, wood working, mechanics, and all the same subjects we do in Australia..  We saw a group of year 12's graduation ceremony full of dreams and and their  whole life ahead of them.  Thats what its all about when the babies come to Watoto.  TO< RESCUE< RAISE< AND< REBUILD for a better future.

Year 12's Graduating....

The village is up high on a mountain and has spectacular 360 views, quite breathtaking.  This particular village was actually built for Watoto so is totally perfect for their needs and in good conditions.. (the other buildings were bought and modified).  The staff there were sooo friendly and dedicated.  Its amazing to watch these women in action.  Truly a serving heart.. A job at Watoto would be classed as a great long term job because they are so well looked after and they know it!  The staff have a HUGE heart.. Some are also a house mums...

People here only get paid $100 per month and the "rich" people get paid around $500-$800 per month, and petrol is still around the same as in Australia... I just don't understand how people survive.  I guess thats why there are so many abandoned babies, people just cant afford it.  People who are Poor in Australia would totally millionaires here.  At least in Australia we have medicare and family allowance, there is nothing like that here.  We are well looked after by our Government in Australia, even though sometimes we don't think so.

It has been quite sad on many occasions,  just cant believe how some of these babies are.. They are not like babies in Australia who are robust and fat and happy. These babies were mostly malnourished when they came to Watoto.  So so sad.   Some had not  been touched or hugged for weeks after being left abandoned.  Some are found days after birth with the placenta still attached.   When they turn 2 they go into a home with brothers and sisters and a mum

.  There are many male teachers and pastor's in the children's lives who influence them and direct them.  Each village has "cluster" of houses and each cluster has a head mother that takes care of all the disputes and then if she cant resolve it she goes to the pastor of that village who will then resolve it.   

They are teaching the children and women how to be self-sufficiant.  Some of these methods include making jewellery ect, peanut butter, goats milk ( they are starting a goats farm at Subbi).  Also carpentry and metal work.  All the furniture like cots, rocking chairs and tables are made in Watoto.  Also the metal windows and wooden doors for each house.  

It is a truly amazing system that works. 

The sights sounds and smells here are indescribable.  I just cant believe that people live like this when there is so much wealth in the world.  Its truly sad.  This country has hundreds and hundreds of NGO's which is Non-Government  Organisations full of orphanages etc.  Thats why we see quite a lot of  white people here or 'Mzunges' as everyone is all calling us.  This means white person in Ugandan!  So many people come from around the world to volunteer.  There are many long term volunteers to who stay for months or even up to a year.  I am part of a global team which has 8 of us in it.  This is the last team for the year.  Our team consists of Sandy from Canada, Melissa USA, Carol from New Zealand, and the rest from Australia - Cassani, Georgia, Kay, Anneliese and me!  We are all getting along great and has been lots of fun hearing every one's unique stories and how they came to be at Watoto.  Here is our team...

                                                                                                                                     

Today we took 17 of the babies for a walk down to the shops.  It was very hot and so hard to cross the road with all the traffic.

The traffic here in unbelievable.  I would have to call it organised chaos.  The travel agent told us that the biggest fatalities/injuries of tourists in countries like Uganda is being hit  by traffic.  I thought that was funny but now that I am here I totally get it!  People just create lanes where there are none and there are mopeds everywhere.  Our travel insurance doesn't cover us for driving them!!! It is unbelievable, we have seen whole families travelling on the back of one.. seriously we have! with babies too!  Trying to get a photo but nearly impossible.  Here is one of a women dressed beautifully.  It doesn't look right! 

People pay the owner of the moped to drive them around.  There are also mini buses that are taxis.   They are everywhere.  We saw a sign on the door that says "licensed for up to 14 people".  There are never 14, always many many many more!  One great thing that I like about all the buses is that they have big signs above the windscreens on them saying "God is Great" or Jehovah Jirah!" (Meaning God Provides).. Love it, because God does provide in the midst of their circumstances!

The Pearl of Africa!

We arrived at the train station with our families only to be greeted by our cherished friends who had come to farewell us on our way!

I was feeling very numb in the weeks leading up to this day, but that changed as soon as I saw my friends and the train about to leave.


There were many tears and even a few ugly cries as we parted, watching our families wave goodbye.  My 4 boys' big sad eyes overwhelmed me with emotion.  I was lucky to have the train ride with my daughter Angela to spend that little bit more time with her on.  She was doing a piano exam in Brisbane the next day, so travelled up to Brisbane airport with me t meet my parents there.

The most moving moment for me was looking back up at my parents and Angela as I went down the escalator, and to see my mum holding back the tears.  And my dad so proud yet hard to watch his youngest daughter leave the country without him to be there and protect.

Angela was just beaming with happiness for me... She will only realise one day how hard it was for her mother to leave all her children behind.  I am carrying their hearts with me.

They know this has been a life long dream of mine that is finally becoming a reality.

We were so excited boarding that it was clear that we were the loudest and happiest on the plane!  Especially because there was over 600 channels including 140 movies to choose from which I love!

My favourite moment was when I got to open up all the letters, cards, notes and drawings from my children, mum and special friends.  They truly touched my heart.

Then,not long after take off, dinner was served.  We only then found out that our amazing friend Hirajan, who works for Emirates organised for all our meals to be first class!!!  Other passengers around us were very jealous Im sure.  Thanks Hiranjan! You are so kind, thoughtful and generous.  We didn't realise that first class food also meant yummy expensive chocolates and a bottle of Moet Champagne to share!

So our bellies were very content...but not so much our legs for the lack of room or space to sleep for the 15 hour journey.  And I hate how you have to walk through business class first on your way to Economy...just to see what we are missing out on!

We arrived in Dubai at 6:10 in the morning.  It was midnight in Brisbane.  The airport is HUGE.  Much bigger than anything we have back home!  After our plane landed we had to go on a bus and travel
15 minutes to the entrance of the airport!  Thats how long the airport is!

Ok so our first introduction to Dubai was this....

And after our intial shock and laughter we discovered a wheel chair toilet which was "normal"  We were so happy about that!


I am now on the flight from Entebbie airport as I write this.   (I will post this a day later)  There we will meet the Watoto team who will be there to greet us.

Then something amazing just happened...One of the flight attendant who was so beautiful to us, heard we were visiting Watoto and said she had been there before to give toys and things to the children.  They often haave left over stuff from each flight and they save it up for different places in need.  So during the flight she brings out six bags full of wet ones, baby bottles, baby food and lots more.  These items are things they give children during the flight, and she asked us to give it to Watoto!!
This is Terri... beautiful on the inside and out....

Finally we arrived....
  Here are the first sight of Kampala as we were driving to our guest house....

LEAP of FAITH

Well, I can't believe I have 4 sleeps to go till I fly to Africa-Uganda!

I was accepted as part of a global team to visit Kampala, Africa.  I will be volunteering for 18 days in the orphanage named The Baby Bulrushes in Watoto Children's Village. 

I am Testament to dreams coming true...however, this has not come easy and has been a learning process for me. 

You see, in order for this dream to come true, I had to step out in faith and actually allow myself to dream bigger and beyond my existing circumstances.  God keeps reminding me of the scripture in Ephesians 3.  I have to say this would have to be my favourite at chapter in the Message bible at the moment. 

Verse 20;

God can do anything you know, far more than you can ever imagine, guess or request in your wildest dreams!  He does it not by pushing us around, but by working in us...

Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy!

 

Paul was in jail when he was urging us to believe God can do anything we can ever ask, think or imagine in our wildest dreams!  (The Message Bible is the best!).  And only then, if we grasp that concept, he urges us as humanity to reach out and experience the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love.  I can't even imagine the incredible Faith he must have had to write those words we read today in the scriptures.

So I figure... I am not even in jail and I often don't even expect God to heal a migraine I may have....  I realised that I am not trusting God in every area of my life.  I don't want to miss out on the amazing plans and purposes God has for me and my life.

In verse 12 of The Message Bible, Paul says that when we trust Him (being God), then we can be free to say whatever needs to be said, and bold to go wherever we need to go!

This challenged me, so I started speaking out loud to friends and family that I was going to Africa.  There is such power in the words that we speak out. (James 3:7-10)

What surprised me was that all my friends and family actually encouraged, supported and believed in me and had more Faith then I had for my own life!

So here I am four sleeps away from embarking on a faith filled journey of the heart to a continent that I believe God weeps over and rejoices over both at the same time.

This is an amazing leap of faith for me and I am so overwhelmed by God opportunities and provisions throughout the year that has made this dream a reality.....  

However, in my quiet times with God He softly whispers in my heart that this is only the beginning!