Pictures Say More Than Words :-)

Me with some girls in their pillowcase dresses !!! 

Children pumping water at the well 

Me pumping water 

Harmen killed the snake that we found in the well !!!

Handing out glow sticks to the kids in the village

Me holding Edrine ! 

Bogare !!! 

Bogare helping Hilary catch the baby goats :-)

Children's program !

Me holding Naum (Sandra)

Jovia & Naum

Ritah & Baby Grace

Children Dancing to "Making Melodies"

Face Painting!!!  I'm pretty sure that the kids in the village have never had their faces painted :-)

LOVE HIM <3

We visted this family. This woman has 10 children and the twins in her hands are the youngest (7 months). We were able to bless them in some food, soap, a gardening hoe, and toys :-)

Girls in their pillowcase dresses :-)

cute Ugandan baby

Ugandan woman :-) ... ( photo by Hilary ) 

Uncle Israel preaching at the crusade. Many villagers came to know Christ :-)

Dora and her new dress and new baby doll :-) 

Me and Jaja Sabina :-)

To the desperate eyes and reaching hands

To the suffering and the lean

To the ones the world has cast aside

Where you want me I will be

Wankulukuku

Take a second and think of a class room. Think of the classroom that you went to first grade in. Was it clean, colorful, happy? Did it have the alphabet hanging somewhere in the room? Did it have have posters on the walls to help you learn ?


Now think of a classroom in America today. It has computers. It has smart boards. It is disinfected probably everyday. There is one teacher in each room. And every child has a book bag, pencils, and paper. 


If i were to ask you to picture what a school in Uganda looked like I bet it would be hard for you to imagine just how bad they are. When you think of an elementary school back home there are certain standards that each school has to meet - that is not the case here in Uganda. At New Styles Primary School in Wankulukuku the building is just one small building smaller than my kitchen and living-room back home in the states. There are about 50-100 kids who attend the school and they are all in that small school. On the walls there are posters that are meant for the children to learn. At home teachers buy these types of posters , but here in Uganda the teachers have to make them themselves. At New Styles Primary School, the posters were falling off the walls, dirty, fading, and the heart breaking part was that most of them were incorrect or spelled wrong. 

Posters

Chalk Board

Posters

Numbers Written On The Wall Of The School

When we noticed this, we took time and made new posters for the children to learn from!  We made them colorful and correct ! They are not as amazing as some American teachers can buy and hang in their classroom..... but at least they are spelled correct ! We made about 50 new posters to hand in each classroom. We also spent the day cleaning the school. We made the chalk boards more black by rubbing charcoal on them, we swept and moped the floors, and we tried our best to just simply made the school look great and friendly for this kids. 

New Posters ! 

Ivan and Francis working hard at mopping the floors

Look how black that new black board is ! 

New Posters ! 

Ivan and Francis mashing up the charcoal to rub on the chalk boards

"Spread the love of God through your life but only use words when necessary.

-Mother Teresa 

When doing this project, we did not tell the children why we were cleaning their school and giving them new posters......but I'm sure that they saw the love of God through our actions. It was through our actions alone that we received thank yous and smiles from the children. 

Lola

Since I have been here in Uganda I have had the blessing of interacting with a beautiful Ugandan child named Scolastica. Last summer, my friend Melissa fell in love with this child. Melissa is a speical education teach back in America. She was here in Uganda last year serving with Empower A Child and ever since then, she has been helping in the well being of this child named Scolastica.

Scolastica has Ceribral Paslsy. She is an orphan at one of the babies home that we go to as a ministry on a weekly basis. The babies home that she is living at is called Nysambia. When Melissa first met Scolastica, she was not getting the special attention that she knew was needed for the child. She was sitting on a mat, in the cornner or the room helpless. Melissa's heart went out to her instantly. 

When Melissa returned home to Chicago, she began feeling as though she needed to do more for this child. First Melissa notified someone who was able to start to get the child the attention that she needed and deserved. Melissa then began to financially support her physical therapy. And then.... Melissa  decided that she needed to pursue adoption of the child. 

Melissa is a 29 year old single woman. She is a teacher, and obviously not someone who you would assume to adopt a child. But God has put this on her heart like a tun of bricks. She knows that she is being called to adopt Scolastica and bring her home to America to give her the life she needs and deserves. 

Melissa was blessed with the opportunity to come back here to Uganda last month for 4 weeks. She spent most of her time with Scolastica as well as some time with Empower A Child. After her time here she was 100% sure that she wanted to adopt this beautiful Ugandan child to give her a better life. While she was here, Melissa saw just how much adopting this child will help the well being of the child. While Scolastica is at the babies home, she is in a room labeled "intensive care unit". She has one caretaker who is assigned to her, but to be honest...... Scolastica is left alone most of the time just sitting staring at the wall or laying down staring at the wall. She has been fed boiling hot porridge that mostly just falls down the front of her because of her swallowing problem. She also is not getting the daily therapy that her poor little muscles so desperately need. Fortunately while Melissa was here she was able to show them some things that will help with her swallowing and muscle movement. 

While she was here, she also met with a lawyer who was able to tell her that her adoption process would be fairly easy and that that lawyer would personally help her with her court date. She could have her child with her in America by December at the earliest ! 

Since Melissa has gone back home to America, Hilary and I have been taking up her role as momma. Whenever Hilary and I have spare time, we have been visiting Scolastica to show her love and remind her that her momma back in America loves her. Hilary and I have both love the time we get to spend with this beautiful child.

Now you may be wondering why this post is titled Lola but I am talking about a child named Scolastica. Melissa, being her future mother has decieded to name her Lola. Scolastica is currently named after the saint who is sometimes known for the saint of children with non-working limbs. For short the orphanage has been calling her Scola, which sounds way to close to Scoliosis ( espeically for a child who has Scoliosis). So Melissa has made the wonderful desicion to name her Lola since it is still very close to her name already. 

So .... now it is time for YOU to meet Lola ! 

Melissa and Lola

Me holding Lola . Look at that SMILE !

Hilary and Lola