Kokombo, The Farm, and Bulubandi…

Kokombo, The Farm, and Bulubandi…

The morning started early… breakfast at 7:30; although I was so tired I never heard the wakeup call and made it there closer to 8:00. No worries though, since I’m not a breakfast eater anyway! So just like that we were off! We started our day at Kokombo, a public school that Tree of Life sponsors the affiliated church and med clinic for. As we pulled into the school we were greeted by rows and rows of children all eagerly awaiting our arrival. The difference between this group and the group that I’ve come with through our church is that they have Ugandans on the ground that run the programs year round. They have pastors, nurses, social workers, etc. that do the day-to-day operation and they come in to support. The relationship between the two groups is one of respect, friendship and cooperation, with the goal being the same for both parties.

We left Kokombo, after meeting lots of new smiling faces, a lot of handholding and even some dancing to go to a farm area they have acquired to build a kids house, school, clinic and church on. The land is absolutely beautiful. We toured the boundaries, starting out with the nine and us, and within minutes our group grew to about thirty. Little children seemed to crawl out the woodwork, and before long each one of us was holding the hand of a child. I was at the rear of the pack, and it was an awesome sight to behold.  These children were much poorer than the school children we had just left behind. They were in tattered clothing, and because funds would not permit it, they were not being educated. One little girl (I’m guessing under 7) carried her infant brother the entire time on her back.  The brush was deep and the stickers were mean, and yet not one of them had shoes on, and not one of them complained. My feet are so tender; I always wonder how they manage!

We left the farm and went back to Kokombo for lunch, which was specially prepared for us. I think I ‘ve mentioned this in prior blogs, but Uganda has the sweetest tasting pineapple in the whole world. Lunch was a variety of items (rice, beans, noodles, vegetables) and when it was over we were all pleasantly stuffed. Thankfully there was no meat!

After lunch we went to Bulubandi, which is a school Tree of Life sponsors.  They are starting an Ambassador program where children are being interviewed in hopes of  getting them sponsored upon our return. These kids range in age from Pre-K though our equivalent to high school. As part of this process I had the pleasure of taking their pictures. A job I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed! I haven’t yet had time to get to know any of the kids, though I must admit, a few have already touched my heart.

Tomorrow we will go back there to begin doing a medical clinic and I will continue taking pictures of all the kids who are currently sponsored. That should keep me out of trouble – at least for the day!

Sitting at dinner tonight we went around the room and shared what our most amazing moments of the day were. Many of you won’t know who these people are but I am the communicator for our team and thus want to make sure that everyone (not only those of you I know) are kept up to speed. It’s hard to share these thoughts with people who have never been here. Under you get the red dirt under your nails you really have no idea of what this country is all about. And once you do get the feel of the dirt, you can never leave it behind. It becomes a part of who you are. I didn’t know any of these people when I started this plan to come back to Uganda this year. But already I feel like I’ve known them a lifetime. We have become a team and our goal is to better the lives of the children we encounter. So here are the thoughts that came out tonight:

Sylvia: Yesterday we were supposed to get to Kokombo to visit but because of time constraints we didn’t make it. Though we communicated this to the people involved, it was brought up several times today how much they wished we had been able to come; how much they had been waiting for us to arrive. She also spent some time today interviewing, as part of the Ambassador program, a young man named Fred. Both his parents are dead and he has no family. He boards at the school and his prayer is that he will become sponsored so he can continue his education and become a doctor.

Stacia:  Remember the 7 year old I talked about that carried her infant brother at the farm. Well, Stacia had the chance to take the baby from the child to relieve her burden and carry the sleeping baby back to the beginning. It was a very sweet moment. She also commented on the difference between the clothing worn by the children at the school and the children at the farm. It was very apparent the farm children had very little.

Adam: He noticed how tough the kids are – especially when compared to the kids in the United States. These kids have no parents, care for children, and yet, they still smile!

Vicki:  In Bulubandi one of the children asked her if “Justin” was here. At first she had no idea who he was talking about but soon figured out that Justin was his sponsor. She then had the opportunity to sit with him and tell him about Justin and answer his questions about the United States. She also had what she described as a “Ringworm” party. She started by applying ringworm to one child, and pretty soon kids were bringing other kids to be treated. She ended up laughing and medicating!

Lynda:  She commented that kids are just kids. In spite of the circumstances they live in they just want to have fun!

Vicki H: She loved the greeting we got at Kokombo. The kids greeted us with smiles, and warm hugs. She also was greatly touched by meeting their sponsored child, Grace, for the first time.

Les: There is a man here who Les has seen on every trip named Joseph. Recently Joseph’s house collapsed on him and his two children. His children were not hurt, but he broke his clavicle in the accident.. The team had already decided last night we were going to try to fix the house and Les had a chance to talk with him and let him know.

Russell:  He had the opportunity to talk with a little boy through the Ambassador program who did not need a translator. As a result the conversation was more personal than it might otherwise have been. He also loves the interaction between the various pastors and the other Ugandans working with the children. He noticed that about every third word brings a smile.

Sue:  My favorite moment of the day was watching the trail of Mzungu’s (white people) all holding hands with a small child while walking the land at the farm. This to me is what Uganda and this trip is all about!

I love you all and thank you all again for supporting me on this trip. Tomorrow is scheduled to be another busy day. Breakfast at 7:15…