Oh dear, and I thought that I was slacking before…I just missed a WHOLE week. I decided I better try to catch up now, before I give up and never get back into it. Its a lot easier to do one day at a time then a week!! BUT, let me see what I can do.
I woke up Monday morning (630am to be exact) to a text from Steven…saying “mum, did you forget that yesterday was my birthday?” OH NO!!! Yes, I did manage to miss Steven’s birthday! Ok, well…to be fair he had one birthday written down in his file, and another written in a newer document that we had composed since I arrived in Jinja. Regardless, I text him back saying 
that I was so sorry, and would it be ok if we celebrated it today instead. He responded quite enthusiastically with a YES PLEASE! I soon made my way to the boys, and we discussed our plans. Now, usually we have cake for birthdays, but out of a slight possibility that I might be so lucky that he would choose icecream, I put that option out there, and he said YES! Phew… atleast I didn’t have to figure out when to make a cake! We went to the supermarket and he picked out Strawberry Icecream, along with Strawberry cookies.
The rest of the day we spend doing schooling with Robert and David, and then Steven teaching me more Lugandan. I can officially count to 30, I know how greet people, ask their name and their age. I also can say the alphabet! I know..impressive eh? Haha… Don’t be too impressed. Their alphabet is said “Aah, Bah, Shah, Dah, Eh, Fah, Jah, Hah, E, Jah, Kah, Lah, Mah…etc
That night we celebrated Stevens birthday, and again everyone went around to say what they liked/appreciated about him, and then we all had icecream. So far these are some of my favourite moments. For Steven, most of the boys appreciated him helping them with their school work. He is definitely the “house genius” and whenever the boys can’t figure out a question, regardless of what subject, they go to Steven. (Hence why he is the one teaching me J)
Anyways, that was Monday, Tuesday morning I met Henry at Indulge to talk about some Sanctuary stuff. I again received a phone call from Steven asking when we were coming to the house. I told him that we were going to be at Indulge so he came with Robert to meet us there. Shortly afterwards Henry left to go with Glen (the GIVE volunteer from BC), and I stayed at Indulge for awhile with the boys. I received a phone call then from a Ugandan that worked at an orphanage saying that there were 4 streets kids at their gate, and he was wondering if they could meet Henry and I. I told them a place and a time and quickly called Henry to see if he could come with me to meet these boys.
The plan was to meet them at a local football field close to the boys house, so Henry, Glen, Steven, Robert and I all headed off to meet these for boys. (By the way…I had a conversation with this man, and so did Henry, and by the end of both conversations we were unsure as to whether we were meeting 4 or 8 boys, and what age they were…the whole thing was a bit vague.) Anyways, as we entered the field we could easily pick out the boys that we were to meet. Their clothes were torn and covered with brown, they had no shoes, and their faces dirty…my heart broke for them. We proceeded to meet them, (their names were Ali, Allan, Amason (sp?) and one I can’t remember). Henry asked them many questions, trying to figure out where they were from, whether or not they had any family, how long had they been on the streets? Had they recently been with any projects, etc. After talking to each of them, we decided that because at this point of time we don’t have any room in our house, we would take them to ASCO (another project that helps with Street Kids). I stayed back with Steven and David, while Henry went with the four boys, Glen, Jacob and Robert. From what I was told, they were again asked many questions, but much of their stories didn’t match up, and they had a hard time getting the truth from them. ASCO too did not have the funds to take them in at this point of time, so Henry decided to go with them to CRO. Now, I am still in the process of figuring out what exactly CRO is/does…but it stands for Child Rehabilitation Organization (I think, I’m going to have to double check with Henry). Anyways, these are the people you go to when you have found a new child, and you want to find out their background information. They also take children in during the day, provide them with lunch, as well as school fees for those whose parents cannot afford to send them to school. (More to come on this later because I went there today) The most I know about it though, it that many of the boys I know don’t like CRO, so I am still trying to find out why. Regardless, Henry decided to take the boys there to see if he could get more information on them, on the way there 3 of the boys ran, but one of them stayed, and as far as we know, he was taken in and they took him back to his family. So one down, 3 that still need our prayers.
That night I went to a 10 year old girls birthday party! It was the daughter of a friend of the lady I am staying with, and I have gotten to know them over the last month. We had Mexican food, Coke Floats and homemade doughnuts! Now, while I did have fun with a bunch of fun 10 year old girls and the females in their lives, the whole time I was wishing that I could be a the boys house, eating supper with them, and helping them with their homework.
Ok…Wednesday…I don’t have any memories that are standing out…same with Thursday, so on to Friday! (I can hear your sigh of relief). On Friday morning Henry was going with our contractor so that he could work on a quote for how much it is going to cost to get plumbing, flooring, ceiling, etc. This left me to go to the dentist with Johnson! (He had to get some screws put in alittle over a month ago, and it was now time to get them out). Going to the dentist in Uganda is an experience! You start by walking into the office (no appointments are made), and then you take a seat. Eventually someone comes up and asks you why you are there, and then they tell you to wait. Sometime after that you are called into the office and the dentist begins. Now, I have never watched dental work being done before…so I am sure that the amount of blood that I saw was ‘normal’…but OH MY GOODNESS!!! It was almost as bad as watching Michelle get her stiches, just with WAY more blood. Anyways, it only took about 7 minutes, and 5000 shillings later ($2.50) we were on our way….seriously! That’s ALL it cost!!
I don’t often get a chance to spend much time with Johnson (he is more quiet, and has a harder time with English), so it was nice to get the chance to spend the morning with him, despite him having to get dental work done. We also went to the market to get small fish, and then I treated him to some fruit juice (which was supposed to be a special treat for him…but he wanted to share it with his friends at home, so he took it with him!).
The rest of the day was again spent at the house. Steven left to go visit some people in Kampala (it was fun to watch him get ready to go, he was SO excited). Lol. Oh, I remembered something I forgot… I took Steven out for dinner on Monday night and it was great! I had my laptop with me, so I showed him how he could look up information about his favourite football team (arsonault), as well as a school that he is looking at attending for Secondary School. He ordered a fish burger which came with fries and salad (which he loved…) as well as a Mango Smoothie. He told me more about his family, and where he came from, and what his home life had been like. I then got to show him some pictures of my dad and brothers and even some camping pictures. He also LOVED watching Michelle’s snake video! Lol.
Anyways, that pretty much gets you up to speed about my week.
Praise:
- David and Robert are still at the house, and continue to take steps forward
- One boy from the street was able to go back to his family
- Glen is here to help out with our renovations
Prayer:
- Our contractor gives us a fair price
- All of the boys get along/co operate
- Henry and I continue to have open communication about how Sanctuary should run
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