Day 3- We're in Africa!!!

8/7/09

We arrived in Uganda yesterday and met Lori at the Red Chilli Inn, our home for the next few days.


Waking up this morning, as Melissa was brushing her teeth outside our room, she yelled "Sarah, there's a pig outside!" "You've got to come see this!" Hilarious start to our day...only in Africa.


Today was a big day. We headed out to Orphans Rescue Ministries (ORM) this morning. The traffic in Kampala is astounding. So many cars, taxis and people and so little traffic lights. It's been quite a test of patience these last few trips through town, getting used to the smog and the sights and the smells.

The day at ORM was so rewarding. We met some of the most amazing kids!


The kids were excited to see us, a little shy at first, but they warmed up quickly. Bishop Yusto encouraged us to speak to Rogers (13), Peter (15) and Collins (9) pictured above. These guys were so excited to see the pictures of our families, especially Bonnie's four sons. Rogers knew all about California and loved seeing Bonnie's pictures of the ocean. I spent time with Collins and Rogers listening to their stories. How they had become orphans, where they were living now and all about their families, schools and aspirations. Collins wants to be a preacher and he told me all about his favorite Bible stories, Jonah and the Big Fish and David and Goliath. I was dreading the difficult part of this conversation, jumping into why the kids were there, where their parents were and how their home life was. I, in my inadequacy, somehow tried to prepare myself for these conversations by trying to shut off my emotions. I didn't want to be the girl crying behind sunglasses when these kids were living this day in and day out. Of course, this technique lasted about .3 seconds until the moment I spoke to Rogers about the death of his parents. His actual words to me were, "from that day I didn't love myself anymore." How real is that? There was no hiding the emotions from that moment on. Reality rushed over me like ocean waves and I quickly had to come to the realization that these children had lost their parents. They felt abandoned, scared, lonely, and I was asking them to conjure up one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives. Suddenly the weight of this assignment seemed to increase by a million pounds. All the effort of trying to guard my heart from feeling this pain left and I helplessly responded with a hug and jumbled words of love and comfort. A futile attempt to impart a semblence of comfort, but the most rational response in the first place.