This past weekend we had the privilege of traveling three hours north of Kampala to an area called Nakasongola, which is home to an orphanage called “New Beginnings.” Roger, an Irish man, is the brains, passion and inspiration behind the orphanage. He came to Uganda, saw a need and is meeting that need. The orphanage is small with only 24 children, but is growing all too quickly. New Beginnings is currently under construction building their third dormitory. The kids were beautiful! They have nothing and yet they are FULL of joy! They were so excited to have visitors. Six of us traveled out and we were the first “team” that has come to visit. They treated us like royalty. People have so little and yet are so giving – many lessons to be learnt there!
Our two days were jam-packed!!! We did a lot of playing☺. Matt played hours worth of soccer in the hot sun with the young men of New Beginnings. Another nurse and myself did full physical assessments on the kids, which was their first. Roger was VERY grateful. I had also brought up HIV testing kits…but was sold the incorrect strips☹. I specifically asked questions so that this would not happen, but in Uganda anyone can open a pharmacy regardless of training or education. So the HIV tests will have to be done on our next trip! Auntie Michelle (one of our other team members) brought supplies to do a craft with the kids, which they loved. We had the 24 kids from New Beginnings and then others seemed to appear out of nowhere to craft it up!
On Saturday night after supper we had a dance party with the kids. We danced for about an hour with them and they dance for over two!! Ugandans are born with the innate ability to dance! After the dancing, Roger set up a white sheet in a hut and we sang along to some karaoke – good times!
Sunday we went to church. Real African bush church. We didn’t understand most of what was said, but they did translate the message for us. Summary of the message…get your act together cause we are all dying. They get right to the point here☺. After lunch Roger and the kids took us on a walk around the surrounding area. Uganda really is a beautiful country! The air was fresh and the bush so green and lush compared to the red soil. As we walked many people came out to the bush to greet the six white strangers☺. We saw “real” Africa, mud huts and naked babies! After our walk we were off! It was sad to leave as the kids ran after the van. They each stole a piece of our heart!
It was so nice to get out of Kampala and to the country. The people were SO grateful and appreciative of us. It was a humbling experience. Hopefully we will be able to see the kids again. Hopefully we will be able to get the right HIV tests next time, test the kids and get them on medication if needed. If you think about it, pray for Roger and these 24 kids. God is doing great things – we were so blessed to be apart of it! Also… One of the girls from our “team” is creating sponsorship profiles for the kids (wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more).
After reading over this post I have realized that it covers all of the facts from the weekend, but not all of the different emotions that we felt. I guess some thing’s are for the here and now. I hope that someday you all will be able to experience little pieces of heaven like we experienced this past weekend!
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