Heartbreak and Hope

[Photo: our "Rhino Room" and Chels and I enjoying some "emergency chocolate" from Kelly!]

So much happens here in just a few days!

Monday was our first day out in the slums. Jess, our fearless leader sent us to meet Collins, since she had to check on one of the other team members who was sick. Collins has grown up in Kampala and knows it inside and out. First he took us to Kisenyi (Chisenyi?). One minute we were downtown in the market and then we took 2 turns and were in an alley way, the younger boys swarmed us and Uncle Collins and so I didn't notice right away that we were surrounded by "homes". It was so hard to learn names because everyone was talking at once: "how are you?!" "what are you called?" "Mzungu, do you love Jesus?" They were hugging us and shaking hands. One young man was showing me his marijuana leaves and a 3 year old boy wanted to shake my left hand (I was very grateful when I found out his right hand was covered in poop- sorry if that's too much information!) With most of these boys, old and young alike, I saw their left fist cupped, as I'm getting more and more accustomed to seeing. They hold cloth dipped in petroleum or adhesive, and huff it throughout the day to stay high. It was so heart breaking. They boys took us to where the alley narrowed to show us their homes. By now we are walking through garbage and who-knows-what. There are small metal structures- like narrow storage sheds spread all over the dump. The boys have 2 they can lock themselves in at night to be safe. 5 could easily fit in one, but I think Collins said it was more like 15 in each. The farther in we walked, the harder it was to process. You can know in your head people live in dumps, and even see pictures of it, but it was so different for me to see the faces of these Real Life Human Beings doing life in garbage: cooking, raising their kids, visiting with neighbors, everyday life. It was sad to see Prossy, the little girl we met over the weekend (she never wants to leave Jess) standing in the middle of all this in her school uniform. This is what she comes home to.

So many special kids we met that day. Hasan, I call him Mr. 100, since he kept asking for 100 shillings, hung onto me most the afternoon. One boy, who calls himself the Chairman, was our tourguide through Kisenyi and back out again, he took us to the Gulu wall, where they do the feeding program/medical treatments. One little boy told Chelsea about 30 times "I'm going with you!" One little boy saw I had gotten my feet all filthy and kept trying to clean them off. So sweet. He even tried to share his shillings with me and when I said "no I don't need it" he said thanks you! and shoved it back into his pocket. It was a lot of hard things to see but I enjoyed the opportunities to just visit as I passed out food.

That night it was good to play with the babies back at Sanyu and help put them to bed, safe and sound. I love this little one, Oscar, he's 2 and deaf but has an amazing memory. Needs lots of love!
[Photos: playtime @ Sanyu, Andrew and Solomon at dinnertime]



Wednesday I ventured out on my own since Chelsea was not feeling well (don't worry mom, I don't actually mean I was alone, I was just Chelsea-less). Met up with a group of African Hearts volunteers and we went to a field where the kids meet up to play Football. It was fun when we drove up some of them recognized me from the slums on Monday and were running up to my taxi window hanging onto my arm. We painted faces and visited with the kids, and the brave payed football (I was not one of them). The heat was so intense and there were no trees, but the kids were happy. :)

After lunch we headed to the slums (the Gulu wall I mentioned before) to talk with the boys and do a feeding program, where the Gulu boys, from N. Uganda, sleep (usually under banana trees). I watched Jess do "medical"- disinfect wounds, bandage cuts, and specify to Collins, another team member, which kids needed to go to the clinic. This may be something Chels and I will be doing in the coming weeks (just basic first aid).

It's easy to feel overwhelmed in these areas, like how can we possibly do anything, and the African Hearts team had told us we needed to see the full spectrum, but I didn't really understand that until we left the slum and went to Miracle Center. This is the other home, like Ssenge, only right in the middle of the city (Kampala) where the boys live that they rescue. These boys were all older and they did a concert for us with their brass band! It was so so excellent! I wish I'd had my camera! They all marched out in uniform and by song 3 everyone was dancing and having the greatest time. These young men were so respectful, and kind, and handsome, and confident. There wasn't that fear and pain we saw so much of on Monday. It was really beautiful.

Lutaaya, founder of AfriHCO, explained the vision for the Miracle Center, and for the band. It was so good to hear the heart of this humble man. He knows the severity of the things these youths face, and the corruption of this city, but that is so overshadowed by his bright hope and his belief in his boys; he sees a brighter Uganda in them. One of the biggest things has just been getting the boys to believe in themselves, and believe that they can have a different life then slums and drugs and fear. I haven't witnessed so much the process but I see the fruit in all the boys I met that night. They are gems!

I walked home filthy and exhausted but I am so full of hope. Now I see a clearer picture of what I can hope for all the lost boys.

Thanks for all your prayers and love!
Happy Birthday Aunt Netta, Mallory, Thalia!
Check out Chelsea's blog too! chelsealyndilbeck.blogspot.com