One of our projects here in Kampala is quickly coming to a close as hopefully by Christmas all our children’s homes will have been assessed fixed and furnished with life’s most basic needs. Plans have been put in motion to expand the school to accommodate a new baby class that will be registering in January for the next school year. So what’s next?

 

Karen and I are not educators but after working in Uganda for the past 13 months we have come to appreciate the enormous value that a school can provide in a child’s life. For some children, the breakfast provided and hearty lunch may be the only food they receive that day. Seeing children every day allows us to track their physical condition and help medically when the need arises relieving a lot of the pressure from caregivers and widows. A school is also a great place to teach honesty and kindness and love for one another something I believe is being missed here. A school also provides a safe place for children to play and of course to learn. I put that one in because my mom and mom-in-law are both retired teachers and if I didn’t add how important learning was, I would be afraid Santa wouldn’t be so kind to me this year! Come to think of it I think school is the most awesome thing ever. I believe that keeping kids off the streets in a place like this and giving them a firm foundation to start their life is paramount. So why am I ranting about schools? Besides trying to get amazing Christmas presents from the old folks (oops I may have just blown it) the time has come for Hippo to seriously consider its future.

 

There are so many other little projects barely surviving around here, that are equally dedicated to helping the orphans and needy in Uganda. They are severely under funded and have little hope of continuing unless some assistance is rendered. Karen and I both feel that our school children here are so fortunate to have you guys caring for them and we ask ourselves all the time, “Is this good enough? Do we just support these few we’ve met and do it really well? Does Jesus have bigger things in store for us? Or is Jesus just watching us cheering us on, seeing how we respond to His teachings? These have become a daily wrestle with us and weigh heavy in our thoughts. Since we haven’t seen any burning bushes giving us step by step advice our compassion for these beautiful children forces us to move forward.

 

The villages that surround Kampala seem to be some of the neediest areas we’ve encountered here. There are so many orphans and neglected children it is tough to know where to begin. Through friends, I have met a young pastor named Charles and he took me to his little school of orphans and needy children about ½ hour from Kampala. It’s actually a very interesting story, because he reminds me of Pastor Hummer who we first met last October. He currently has land to use which was loaned to him by a local witch doctor (I told you it was interesting).  The shelter they were using fell over and now the children and their 2 teachers meet under a tree. I know this sounds glamorous to all the kids back home who are reading this. A school collapsing and having classes outside with monkeys under a huge tree… wow. But when it rains school is cancelled (again my ears are filled with the faint echo of thousands of Canadian students cheering) or they are forced to move a fair distance to the church to find shelter. We are discussing with Charles whether to build a small school beside the church or maybe the kids can have their classes in the church. We have already decided to provide the food for their school lunches and to bring Nurse Esther there to give each of the kids a check-up and provide any necessary treatment. We will also make sure the kids have clothes and shoes and there is definitely a bunch of very run-down shacks to fix up there and a few 2 story outhouses that need to be re-engineered.

 

Helping is not easy. It seems helping is 10 percent compassion, 70 percent obedience, 40 percent damage control and 10 percent math.  

 

Click on the video to see Charles and the kids at his school and please see the Help the Kids page on the website if you are interested in helping with this new project.