love does not divide, it only expands

This past weekend God rescued two boys off the streets and let us take them in to be part of our family. Their names are Isaac and Isma and they are two of the sweetest boys that you would ever meet. Isaac and Isma were friends on the streets and when we got them, they looked like streets kids- dirty, torn clothes, no shoes, black eyes, cuts on their bodies, but smiles that lit up the room. Isma and Isaac met on the streets and were in the same gang. Isma collected scrap metal and Isaac collected plastic bottles. They both had run to the streets because of horrible family situations. When we met them, they both said that they wanted to get off the streets. The streets are dangerous for them. They are little, which means that they are the ones beaten up. I (Jenny) asked them why they wanted to get off the streets. They told me that it was scary. They said, “You have to hide from the police because they see you as a nuisance and you have to hide from the older boys so that you don’t get beaten up or your clothes don’t get cut off of you with a razor blade while you sleep.” They were afraid of the streets but had no other option or place to go because their “home” was not much better. When we asked Isaac and Isma if they wanted to join us, they said yes. When we asked them if they had any questions, the first question that they asked was, “Are there older boys at your house that will beat us up?” It was the first thought in their mind- a fear of people that had become such a common concern. The streets had taught them to survive but not to thrive. As we left the streets to go to our house, all of their friends came running up to the Boda Boda to wave goodbye. I couldn’t bare the thought of what was going to happen to each of those other boys that saw us drive away with their friends but I knew that God had placed these two particular boys in our family for a reason and that He had directed us to take them specifically. So we took Isaac and Isma home. Later on, I found out that they had walked by our house many times and stared through the gate but never thought of talking to us or coming in because it looked like a house and not a project. They had dreamed and prayed for a family and Jesus gave them just that.

This weekend, Isaac and Isma have done very well settling in with the rest of the family, playing football, reading, eating, laughing, and also taking a bath every 5 minutes . They love baths and they love sleeping. They have never had a pillow, sheets, or even a bed. They sleep well and they tell me they love it here because they no longer have to be scared. It is hard to imagine these two bright, beautiful boys living on the streets. Most people in Uganda treat them as pests, and beat them at any chance they can get. I love these children and I want each one of them off the streets. Today in church we sang a song saying that God knows our name, He sees our tears, and He hears every prayer. God certainly answered Isaac and Isma’s prayer this weekend but He also answered mine. I was also praying for two new boys to join the family, ones that God wanted and would be perfect for our family. I could have not asked for more joyful boys to fill this house. They have allowed my love to expand much more than I thought I ever could. As I tell the other boys now, love does not divide, it only expands. And that is why we will continue to get more children to join our family- because Jesus is the source of love and He lives inside of me.

the harvest is plenty…but so are the workers!!

Hello all!

Kate here.  There is so much to update on, I barely know where to begin. Music camp has been going so well! The boys have been loving our nightly music sessions using the glockenspiels (which for those of you who may not know are similar to xylophones) guitar, and a very handy music chart with foam music note cut-outs. After teaching the boys their first song (Twinkle, Twinkle) on the glockenspiels, we came back the next day to find that they had almost perfected the song to performance quality! Andrew told us that each night after we leave the center, they pull the glockenspiels back out to practice. Another exciting thing is that we found out that the boys aren’t aware that we are planning on leaving the set of glockenspiels with them when we leave for home. It will be a fun secret to reveal at the end of our time here. On Wednesday, we had the boys make up their own melodys in pairs and then take turns performing them in front of the rest of the group while their partners used their hands to show the direction of the pitch. As a side note, I’ve also been showing some of the boys some guitar chords because they are so interested in learning how to play and sing. One of the boys–Robert–has learned in just a couple hours what I learned in a couple weeks!

During the hours when we are not doing the music camp, we have opportunites to partake in a variety of cultural experiences. For example, yesterday we woke up very early and drove to Kampala to a piece of farmland at Evelyn’s house which has been donated to the center. The maize was ready for harvesting so the team plus Andrew, plus Hibra  went out into the crops for a couple hours and harvested the corn, throwing them into piles all over the field. Then we had to bring the wheelbarrow outside and push the piles from the field up to the house. We shucked all the corn cobs and then peeled the kernels off the cobs into a giant basket. Andrew told us the kernels are then ground into a powder to become corn flour. With the flour they make pocho, a local food, and store it for the boys’ center. We learned that from what we harvested yesterday, the boys can eat for three months which made the sweating in the heat soooo worth it.

On Wednesday before music camp we went to an orphanage for abandoned babies in Kampala. We got to play with the babies for a while and then we had to opportunity to help bathe the babies and change them into new clothes. This morning our team, including Esther and Eric, went to a school for disabled children. The principal gathered all the students (about 150) together in the courtyard and then asked us to do songs with them. We did a few movement activities with them and a couple students even performed/lead 2 songs for us which was great. We got a tour of the classroom and the principal asked us to write down the songs we did so the students could practice!

Apart from visiting various schools and orphanages and doing music camp, we have been having wonderful and enlightening conversations with the Ugandan staff and volunteers regarding culture and how to make this organization self-sustaining. We have learned so much and there is no place in the world I would rather be than right here with these people learning and bonding and sharing and growing together. The Ugandans have been overwhelmingly hospitable and generous with us and I can’t say enough about how welcome they have made us feel here. I’d say we are even family by now!

More to come later!

coming home to family

What a journey this trip has been so far…I so wish I had constant access to Internet to update you all on the many adventures we have had! Today is our fifth day in Uganda. The sun is beating down on the city, where Ugandans move about the crowded streets with an ease I know I will never have, and Rachel and I have sought refuge from the heat in an Internet cafe called Steers. Our plane touched down in Uganda’s main airport in Entebbe on Monday night. As soon as we fought our way through customs and baggage claim (praise God all our luggage arrived safely) we ran out of the airport and straight into the arms of our best friends here in Uganda–Andrew and Esther. (Andrew and I co-founded the NewstART Centre last January; Esther is our dear friend who has volunteered with us since we first began.) Within moments, we were all laughing and shouting and thanking God that we were all back together again. We crowded into the ole’ faithful white car (which naturally temporarily broke down in the parking lot) and drove from the bright airport lights into the black Ugandan night as though no time at all had passed since we were last together in July.

Last October, when Rachel and I found out we were coming to Uganda again, we schemed with Andrew to keep our return a secret from the kids in our program. Since the boys were asleep when we arrived on Monday night, we planned to surprise the boys on Tuesday morning. When Rachel and I finally reached the house, our hearts were pounding. Waiting outside the compound of the kid’s house, knowing our unsuspecting boys were just on the other side, was almost too much excitement for our hearts to hold. With a nod from Andrew, we finally strolled into the compound, butterflies bouncing off the walls of our stomach. The boys were waiting in the living room when we arrived, but they spotted us through the windows before our feet reached the steps of the house.

Our littlest, Kalisti, was the first to emerge. His tiny legs carried him faster than humanely possible right into the arms of Rachel. Behind him followed one, two, ten boys… running towards us, nearly knocking us to the ground like a mighty ocean wave. Kimbowa was one of last to come out, tears of happiness streaming down his face as he hugged us hello. Before we could catch our breathe, the boys dragged us into the house. Esther and Andrew, the masterminds of this plot, shocked us all with a double surprise. Inside were sodas and a cake to celebrate my 21st birthday. The boys sang and together we blew out my candles…it was such a special moment.

The boys are doing incredibly well, and spend their days singing, dancing and making music…

drawing and painting…

and mastering the art of being silly, which we HIGHLY approve of…

The kids are also gearing up for the 1 year anniversary of NewstART tomorrow evening so stay tuned!

changes come

Dearest friends,

My sincerest apologies for taking so many weeks to give a thorough account of my life in Uganda these days. There is now so much to account for I don’t know where to begin…

I wish I could write back from the beginning-starting with the art/sports camp led by the American volunteers, but for time’s sake I won’t go into as much detail as I would love to.  But one thing I do have to highlight is the graduation of our boys from camp.  We sang songs and danced for kids (which was quite amusing, actually) and gave each of them an award certificate for completing our summer camp.  They each held on to their certificates with such excitement–a sense of accomplishment beamed from their faces!  It was so sad to end camp that day and watch our volunteers and kids say goodbye, but it was so rewarding to have seen their relationships form and blossom over the past weeks.

A few days after that, I dropped the Charlotte team at the airport. Leaving Eva, Rachel and Laura was so difficult–they brought me so much joy and encouragement every day that I truly wanted to make them miss their flight and keep them in Uganda with me. (Rachel probably would have been okay with that!) I told them later it was like leaving a part of my heart behind when I left them at the airport! But more than that, the boys miss them terribly. Both the volunteers and the kids adopted each other into their families. Peter even cried today because he missed Laura so much…

After the Charlotte team left, Tatiana and I moved in with her host family from last summer-the Mutungi family. The family was so sweet to me and treated me just like one of their own kids. Both parents turned out to be great resources for me to talk to–the mom has worked with children’s orgs across Kampala and the dad, an art professor at Makerere, has led community art projects sponsored by the Ford Foundation, the United Nations and USAID.

After spending some time with their family and interviewing Professor Mutungi, Tati and I met with the director of a children’s village in Wakiso district. We spent Monday with him and visiting his children’s home and primary school. He’s been the best person, next to Victoria, so far that I’ve talked to about starting an organization. He listed every step for registering a children’s home/school and gave advice I haven’t heard anywhere else so far.

On Tuesday and Wednesday Tatiana and I did our best to turn the camp into a school. The boys were begging us for English and math lessons, so I took one subject (English) and Tati took the other. We were also able to use some country profiles that my dear friend Jenny Morgan made that allowed us to introduce geography: different continents and oceans, countries and capitals and how to read a map. We tried to organize the boys and cater to their different levels, and ended up teaching for non-stop during the days. Their desire for education is something I rarely see in students in the West–it was so refreshing. The experience really motivated me to start looking for schools in which to enroll them.

On Thursday Tracy and Pastor Phillip surprised all of us coming to the camp and bringing an American art teacher from Come Let’s Dance to do a painting project with the boys. They also brought a lot of children books for the boys to read, which was so helpful. As much as we loved doing English and math with the boys, it was good to have a program for the day instead of trying to come up with an endless supply of vocabulary words! Tracy spent the night on Thursday with them and then led a focus group with them on Friday morning that introduced them to the UN Convention for the Rights of a Child and some basic ideas of child empowerment.

I dropped Tatiana off at the airport early Friday morning. She had been such a help and encouragment to me, I was really sad to see her go as well! But as soon as I dropped her off, I jumped into work and spent the weekend with Andrew, first securing a new house for the boys to move into and then visiting various primary schools in the area (Kitala) for the boys to attend.

The house (above) is on the other side of Entebbe Road, but walking distance from Banana village. It’s very spacious with 4 bedrooms and well within out price range. If everything goes according to plan (which it rarely does) we hope to move into the new house next Monday. The only tricky matter at the moment is finding furniture for the house and moving it to the house this week.

I was back at the camp today with the boys, leading more English lessons, playing some ultimate Frisbee and recording for the documentary I hope someone will make for the website. When we arrived all the boys were painting outside, which was a wonderful sight to see. Kimbowa was doing two splatter paintings which he explained as representing his life on the street and then his life after coming to our project. In the first painting, he shared that the black and red represented the death and blood he witnessed on the streets, the green represented street children’s love for money and the little specks of yellow were for the love and his best friend, Kalisti, shared for one another. The painting is messy, dark and depressing.

The second painting is orderly, though created with the splattering of paint. It is three colors-white, which represents the love that came from the people he met at our project, orange, which represents his happiness, and teal, which represents the love of his freedom to practice his passions like art. It was so encouraging to see such a young boy passionate about art and able to share his testimony through his work. Then again, that’s what the Street Child Project is all about-seeing lives transformed and turning passions into professions.

Thanks so much for taking time to read this message-I know it’s long and I’ll try to limit the next ones! Hope all is well at home. Please continue to pray for our boys–that we will continue to see changes come and transform their lives and that each of their passions may be developed.

love,
Amanda

camp

Wow. There is so much to say and not nearly enough time to write a proper post. I will do my best to update you in the few minutes I have left. My volunteers-Tatiana, Tracy, Laura, Rachel and Eva-arrived last weekend. With only a day of R&R, we jumped into camp with the boys in our program on Monday morning. Each day we spend our time: teaching photography…

Robert learns photography

music…

Moses learns to play guitar

giving visual art lessons…

Eva helps Kimbowa with an art project

frisbee….

Tracy plays frisbee with Kalisti

and loving on the boys as much as we can.

Tatiana and Mark talk about his art project

It is so good to see them well fed, well rested and happy. They are opening up to us more every day and I can see how much our program is benefitting them. What a blessing it is to see them grow. More than that, it is a privilege to watch the ways in which the American volunteers love on the kids with hugs, tender words and prayers of blessing. The biggest argument between the volunteers so far has been: how can we best demonstrate our love to the boys.   I wish I had time for more but will try to write a longer post next week!

with love, Amanda

radical love

My goal in writing this blog was to look for true, selfless, Christ-inspired love while in Uganda. Here’s a pretty powerful love story for you:

Today I was able to go to the FOCUS: Uganda headquarters with the Nortons again for some additional meetings regarding The Street Child Project. At 8am every morning, the FOCUS staff begins their work with a communal Bible study. The new American intern from Wheaton College led the devotion and chose the topic of how suffering is related to the Christian life. He began our conversation with the following question:

Is suffering a necessary part of the Christian faith, why or why not?

I kept quiet while I listened to the group discuss why they believe suffering is integral to the Christian faith and the danger of living a sheltered, safe, privileged life. It was incredible to hear the leaders of FOCUS discussing the topic, admitting their struggles and spouting Bible verses from what felt like nearly every book of the New Testament from memory. I was continuously flipping the pages of my Bible trying to keep up. Their combined passion, energy and intellect was so refreshing to witness.

Sam, the current General Secretary of FOCUS:Uganda, a wise man and a dear friend, mentioned that he believed enduring suffering was a component of the Christian faith, primarily because God calls us to act selflessly, surrender everything and love radically. He continued with a story to illustrate.

A few nights ago Sam was in his house working on the computer when he heard a child crying somewhere outside. The crying continued and finally progressed to screaming, at which point Sam went to look outside his window. There he saw his neighbor, a grown man, pushing a small child up against the fence with all his might. Sam, unsure of what to do, sat back down at his desk and tried to reason through the situation. Confronting the man could endanger Sam’s own life or the life of his wife and young son. Before long he heard the neighbor shout to the boy to get a rope. Confused, Sam got up and looked out the window again. The man had stripped the boy naked, tied his hands and feet, pushed him to the ground and was beating him with a cable. Though Sam did not have the physical strength to go and force the man to leave the boy alone, he walked out of his house and confronted the man.

Sam mentioned to as that as he approached the man, he was entirely unsure of himself–what to do or what to say. From his actions, I believe he would say that the only thing of which he was sure was that there was evil in front of him that desperately needed to be thwarted with the kind of selfless love that flows only from God. He approached the man.

“Good day sir,” Sam said.

“Good day,” the neighbor replied.

Sam looked at the boy, and again at the man. “Sir, are you willing to kill your own child?”

The neighbor attempted to protest. “This is my son,” the man replied, implying Sam had no business in the matter.

Sam remained silent and stared at the man. He didn’t use any physical force. He didn’t even raise his voice. The man put down his whip. Finally, his wife came outside and the horrific scene between the father and son ended.

The interaction reminds me so much of the account in the book of John chapter 8, where a group of Jewish leaders drag a woman guilty of adultery in front of Jesus to be stoned for her crime. The Pharisees are happy to put Jesus in such a dilemma, as they are convinced that either they will force Jesus to allow the killing of the woman or they will witness him disregarding the established law of Moses. Both of these, killing the woman and disregarding the law, would could have ended Jesus’ life immediately–either his crowds would have been displeased with him or he would have been accused of heresy. However Jesus is devoted to both the law and to justice and so surprises all of the men by saying:

Let he who is sinless, cast the first stone.

Jesus doesn’t disregard the law, for he permits the stones to be thrown, however he redefines the standard for throwing the stones in such a way that no one can kill the woman. Her life is spared and the love of Christ demonstrated to her.

He doesn’t yell at the Jewish leaders. He doesn’t attack them violently. Instead, he looks them in the eye with love and honesty, regardless of whether or not their actions called for such humanity.

He seems to ask them, do you really want to kill this woman?

Sam strives to model Christ, but as he mentioned this morning during our discussion on suffering, following Christ is a daily struggle. It takes immense courage at times and massive faith in God. It does not come naturally. We are inclined to act in our own interests, but following Christ takes us out of ourselves and calls us to the only thing that will ever save the world: radical love.

love in small places

Today I was finally able to spend some precious time with the boys at the camp–my first real opportunity to work with them without distractions. The drive from my homestay to the camp was over an hour, but I was there early in the morning and so excited to see them. It was wonderful to see them and shower them with love and attention. As soon as I arrived, the boys set up a chair on one side of the hut and put on an entire presentation for me as a welcome. It was so clear that they had put serious work into their performances and their efforts clearly paid off. I had no idea our group had so many talented dancers! More than that, though, they absolutely beamed when they performed. To have someone interested in what they were doing and to see someone who was genuinely proud of them made a visible difference in the way they danced. It was beautiful.

After the dance I was able to bring out some of the alphabet teaching books I brought from the States. Andrew works with the boys with their English every now and again and my homestay family has been tutoring our oldest boy weekly, but this was really a chance for me to evaluate their progress. The boys English has improved some, but their written skills are still far behind other school children their age. We worked on letters, simple words and sketching corresponding pictures before breaking for lunch.

Unfortunately we never made it past the letter C because one of our boys fell ill in the afternoon. Earlier, when the boys danced, Brian Kimbowa walked in and sat down beside me. I had learned that he fell on glass Thursday evening at the camp, so I decided to take a look at his face to see what damage had been done. His face was deeply cut, both on his right side and under his chin, though a doctor form a local clinic had already bandaged some of the wounds. I was really taken aback by his cuts, but just remained calm and asked him how he was doing. He was visibly still in pain, so after we fed him breakfast Andrew took him back to the doctor for another visit.

Though I’m still unclear of what happened at the doctor and what kind of injection he received, Brian returned to us in a much worse state than he left–weak and vomiting with a high fever and chills. We immediately took him to Andrew’s room and the two of us sat with him for the remainder of the afternoon, taking care of him best we could without proper doctors, medecines and resources to assist us.

It’s always difficult to manage the American-Ugandan differences, especially when it comes to the health of the kids. Even though I felt we needed a second opinion, Andrew was confident that the doctor Brian saw was capable and sound. In fact, the doctor wants to see Brian every day for the next three days, which gave me some peace of mind that she is truly interested in following his case. Since Andrew is always with the boys and handles their sicknesses constantly, I didn’t protest. We’re wondering if the fall could be connected to his sickness, and are wondering about a possible infection from the cuts. I felt it was a good idea to put in a call to some contacts at home for a consult.

For now we are waiting and praying and I just hope I will be able to make it back to the camp tomorrow afternoon to evaluate his progress. He is our sweet boy and the thought of him in pain absolutely breaks my heart. As I sat on his bed and rubbed his back I prayed again and again for the healing power of Jesus to sweet in like the wind and carry his illness away, drowning it in the lake. If you will, please join us in prayer that he will be healed miraculously and fully.

Since I’m on the lookout for ‘kwagala stories’ or ‘love stories’ this summer, I have to share this. When Brian came back to the camp, Andrew and I took him to lie down. One of the other, older boys, Medi, immediately brought a chair and sat it beside the bed. It was clear that even though he didn’t know how to help, he wanted to be by his friend for comfort, for support and for love. The other boys came in and out to check on Brian, but Medi never once left his side. I was so humbled when, after Brian vomited in a basin beside the bed, Medi jumped up to sit beside him even closer while he threw up. When Brian collapsed back on the bed, Medi immediately took the basin outside, washed it, and brought it back clean. I nearly cried from the servant heart that Medi demonstrated–his selfless love for his friend was unmistakenly reflection of Jesus.

As I prayed silently for Jesus to be present with Brian in his sickness and to heal him, I felt Him say–I am already here, just look for me. Look for me in the acts of lovingkindness from one friend to another. I looked and I saw the face of Jesus today, in a young boy growing into a young man and caring for his friend. Love never looked so beautiful.

with love,
Amanda