We Welcome You to Uganda

We have heard “We welcome you to Uganda” or “You are very welcome here” countless times in the last 24 hours. The hospitality of the Ugandan people should be commended and is nothing short of inspirational -in a life changing way. Although we traveled for more than 24 hours, we can somehow feel “at home” with our brothers and sisters here in Uganda. With a few short introductions and reconnections with old friends, I was quickly reminded why I feel homesick for this place at times.

In our first 24 hours, we found a wonderful hotel called Banana Village where we stayed in bandas for our first night. In the morning we stopped to visit our favorite carving place on our way to one of the WATOTO villages. (For those of you who are not familiar with WATOTO, I would encourage you to read about them on their website: www.watoto.com)  They have changed the paradigm most have for the word orphanage. To help raise funds to cover the costs, children visit the United States in small groups for 6 months at a time.)

A year and half ago, Nick and I were blessed to host a young man and two boys from WATOTO. We were grateful for the opportunity to cook for them, do their laundry, give them a bed to sleep in, and a place to call home for three days.  We also traveled to many of their concerts to show our support of them. This morning, Yasin welcomed us into his home in Subi Village. The moment I saw him from afar tears quickly came to my eyes and then faster a smile to my face. He has grown and still looks so happy! He showed us the room he shares with 3 of his “brothers”, the table he shares with his house mother and 7 “brothers” and the village he calls home. I couldn’t thank his host mother enough for dedicating her life to raising the motherless and fatherless as if they were her own. Uganda is a country full of wonderful people and I am so glad that these children have not be adopted outside of the country, but can remain and be taken care of by such wonderful people. It made me more excited to get to Masindi and see the children we will love on for the next three weeks.

 We arrived in Masindi for a late lunch around 4pm. After lunch, I tried to learn a few of the games the primary 1 and primary 2 children were playing. Then I taught them how to sing “Ring Around the Rosy” and we sang it over and over, faster and faster, until it was time to visit the rest of the primary students in their classrooms. They welcomed us by grade and sang a few songs for us. We told them how excited we are to spend the next three weeks with them and then wished them a good night of rest as they headed home- almost 12 hours after they had arrived for school.

For supper I had a huge serving of joy in the form of rice and beans. If you do not know how fond I am of rice and beans, it shouldn’t take the next three weeks for you to figure it out. The after dinner conversation with the director of the school was better than any dessert someone could serve. Her heart for children and education is one I will continue to aspire for and I hope for many more opportunities to hear her heart and work beside her these three weeks.  

Now, at 11:30pm (4:30pm for those of you in OH) a little over 24 hours from when we landed, I need to thank you for your prayers, ask that you continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, and thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy this journey with us, as you too are very welcome in Uganda!