132 Pictures; More Than A Thousand Words

I apologize for not posting a blog sooner. I have started a summer class that covers about three weeks of material in one week. Bambe. (Sorry in Lugandan)
 
Last night I had over 130 pictures printed for my scrapbook. From the first day of child care to the Women's Conference to the day at the resort where the interns were caught in a hail storm, the pictures tell the story of my summer in Uganda.

Storm in Paradise

They say a picture is worth a thousand words but sometimes a thousand is not enough to describe the story a picture can tell. One picture could have a novel of words but it's only limited to one thousand. This picture is of Julius, Vivian, Winnie and Joyce. Winnie was able to join the Girl Scout troop at her school and this picture was taken at her first event as a Girl Scout.
 

 
The three girls are half-sisters and Julius is their cousin. They live with their grandmother near Bugigali Falls. Their house is about the size of the master bathroom in my house. There is also Marvin and Joseph; a baby brother and cousin. The first week the girls were always at The James Place helping in child care, keeping Haley and I entertained and being mischievous kids. Haley and I got a taste of disciplining, especially when Joyce would get into trouble.
 

The girls making bags out of sugar bags and yarn

 

And though we would get so frustrated at them and they would drive us crazy, Winnie, Joyce and Vivian always put a smile on our faces. Some days Haley would be the bad cop and I would be the good cop, other days it would switch.

 
I never realized how much in one week the girls had impacted my life until they went to school the next week. The James Place was quiet without them running around causing mischief. We only saw the girls on Saturdays and Sundays after they started back at school. Saturdays at Kids Club and Sundays at church when we went to Worship Harvest.

One day during the week, Tina, Haley and I went to the girls' school. Haley and I had been missing the girls and Tina had to take care of some business with the head teacher. While we were waiting for the girls to come to the office, I was so excited to see them I could barely sit still in the chair. Joyce came in first and gave us both a huge hug followed by Winnie and Vivian who both gave us huge hugs as well. Being the "angles" they are, the girls convinced Tina to buy them school sweaters. Ugandans are very cold natured so while we would be comfortable in 85 degree weather, they're freezing. I think going to visit them at school changed "the girls and Julius" to "our kids."

New School Sweaters!

Late one night we received a visit from Winnie. She informed us their grandmother had gone to Sudan to find their mother and their aunt was left in charge. The aunt had gone to town but did not tell the girls. We gave her food and supplies to make dinner and a few meals until Tina or Ms. Carolyn was able to go check on them. This was a bit of culture shock because if this happened in the States it would be easy to just gather the kids and bunk them down at The James Place for the night. But since Tina does not have the birth rights it could be considered kidnapping. Because of this, it was  hard seeing Winnie leave with her bags of food and supplies and wishing there was just "something else" that could make things better.

Julius, Winnie, Gloria, Joyce, Joseph and Vivian

After Kids Club one Saturday, H.E.A.L. Ministries treated The James Place staff and Kids Club teachers to dinner at Surjio's. The walk to the pizzeria was a huge God Moment for me. The sun was shining, it wasn't too hot nor too cold and there was a slight breeze drifting through the palm trees.Everybody was laughing and joking and the kids were having fun as well. After we ate our fill of pizza, the kids found the swing near the main building. When the girls started swinging and singing at the top of their lungs it was such an overwhelming joy, especially when other guests at the restaurant came over and were applauding their singing.

The last Sunday I was in Uganda we had a girls day. Tina, Haley, Claire, Winnie, Joyce Vivian and I all went to Worship Harvest for church. This was the last time I saw the girls except for the pictures on Facebook. (H.E.A.L. Ministries' Facebook Page)

I don't know what it's like to have children. I have a dog, who thinks she's human, but it's not the same as having a real human child. But if I could take a guess, the love I have for those girls and Julius would be very close to the love of a mother for a child.

In my journal I wrote at the end of one entry "I don't know how I'm going to leave them."