Good evening from Kampala. I hope this email finds you all
well and that you had a nice Easter.
I am currently sitting outside my little house and Liddy the
guard dog is cuddled up under my chair.
She is probably miffed that I am sitting on the chair and that she isn’t! The other day I came back to find her lying
on the chair outside my house sunbathing.
She is a wee cutie...but it’s ok Harley, don’t worry I won’t bring her
home!
Last Saturday I had a nice day visiting my friend Sharron
and her family, in the village, close to the Tanzanian border. It was lovely to see them all again. They couldn’t be more hospitable and
welcoming. The amount of gifts they gave
me is always slightly embarrassing, but at the same time so sweet and humbling
that people with little can be so generous.
I came home with handmade mats, baskets and decorations, sugar cane,
passion fruits, eggs and bananas...Thank you so much to all of you who kindly
give towards Sharron’s brothers’ school fees.
Shadrach and Shafic are both enjoying school and are incredibly
thankful. Thank you also to Uncle Jim
who kindly gave towards Shafic’s eye operation.
He has undergone three operations now, following an accident at school
involving a fork! But we praise God that
he did not lose his eye and is no longer in pain. Had you all been here, I would have shared my
fruits and eggs with you, as a thank you.
Watch out though – baskets may be coming your way!
It would appear that Easter celebrations are quite big here
in Uganda. Everyone kept asking me how I
was going to celebrate my day. I was
blessed to visit Mama Sara and her family.
I talked a lot about this family during my last trip. They were the family who lost their father,
just after he was released from prison.
Two of the girls were in my healing hearts group and the mama attends
the savings group. It was lovely to be
able to treat them to some cake, soda and ice cream. I don’t think I have ever seen such a small
child consume so much ice cream. Baby
Shuchran just kept eating and eating and eating. It was lovely to get some smiles from him on
Easter Sunday. This was a first. He used to always fear me – the muzungo.
YWAM Kampala has been so incredibly kind and welcoming
towards me. It is such a blessing. On Tuesday I went with them to Katwe Slum to
do outreach. I have taken a long time without going in the slums and I have
been missing it so much. Katwe slum is not my usual slum but I was
soooo blessed to meet children that I know from Kisenyi slum. Upon reaching the area for the outreach,
Simon, a boy who I have known for years, came running up to me, calling ‘Auntie
Ruth’. I love this boy so much, so it
was good to know that he is alive and smiling, despite all his difficulties!
The youth that we met with and spoke with were incredibly open. It was a privilege to spend time with them
and pray for them. Katwe is different
from Kisenyi, many of the issues and challenges are the same...but there are
also differences. I was struck by the
number of young girls/teenagers that were around and engaged with us. I even had the privilege of crawling – yes I
literally had to crawl! - into a make shift shack to pray with two young
prostitutes that were exhausted after their night’s work. I could do little for these girls and the reality
is heartbreaking...but I was able to encourage them that they are special and
loved. Let’s pray that sticks with them –
Mary and Mercy. Is strange to think
these girls are so much younger than me, yet have experienced far far more of
life and its pain.
I was also able to join YWAM again this morning for an outreach
program in a local school. ‘Guess How Much
I Love you’ was shared again, as I tried to explain to the children how special
and loved they are. I was mortified
after my part, when one of the team members from India said...’You can tell you
are a teacher.’ I honestly don’t think I
am that ‘teachery’, I am not sure I ever ‘mastered’ it – but they seemed to
think so – bless them.
The local school continue to be so lovely and welcoming. The children enjoyed listening to Rod
Campbell’s story, Dear Zoo, this week.
Next week we are going to be making lion masks. I am not sure if this is a good idea or not
with 40 odd primary ones, but time will tell!
Yesterday was a really significant day. I went to the village with Uncle David from
African Hearts Community Organisation, to pick up Dennis. I talked about Dennis a lot during my last
trip. He was the boy in the slums that I
was championing. The one who said he
wanted 2018 to be the year of change.
Around January he had been resettled in the village with his
family. But the village is remote and he
was idle. The fear was that he would
return to the streets if we didn’t find something meaningful and purposeful for
him to do. I praise God that we were able
to bring him back to Kampala yesterday to start an apprenticeship in
welding. In many ways this is just the
start of his journey. Please pray for
him. Let’s also pray for his
mentor/trainer, that he would treat Dennis well and do the things he has agreed
to do – it’s hard to know who you can trust!
When I told Dennis that people back home were praying for him and had
offered to help me support him financially, he was incredibly thankful and said
to pass on his thanks and his greetings – so thank you.
I am continuing on with my Luganda lessons but it is tough
going. Today I was learning about ‘exceptions
to the rule’ – why have rules when you have so many exceptions – not sure I
will ever grasp it!? However on the way
home from my lesson I stopped at the local shop and was encouraged greatly. They were so impressed by my Luganda, one
lady even told me (in English I might add) that my Luganda was better than hers. I responded in Luganda –‘Oh goodness, you are
lying!’ To which she responded, ‘I am not lying, I
come from a different part of Uganda and I don’t know Luganda well’. We laughed together. How ironic is that – to be told by a Ugandan
that your Luganda is better than theirs!
Am blogging tonight rather than tomorrow, as I am off to the
village with Isaac, his wife and the children to visit their Jjajja
(grandmother). Let’s pray the village is
not as wet as it was yesterday. I have
to say it was like an extreme sport on the boda yesterday on the muddy roads. At least I got to practice my Luganda though
as I told the driver to go slowly, as I feared falling down – “Mpaula mpaula
Sebo, ntya!”
Thank you once again for everything. Much love xxx
