Saturday 14 July 2012
Our day of departure for Jinja, and everyone was eager to get back to relative civilization - with electricity, flushing toilets and hot showers being high on the agenda! Living without these things has really helped us to appreciate what we have. The people living in this region do not have the option of leaving this way of life behind as we are. So much of their time is spent collecting water, washing and cooking, not to mention scraping a living. But this is the only life they know. I wonder how much they really understand of their relative poverty compared to the better-off Ugandans, let alone us westerners. Fred says it is a change of mindset and attitude that is needed more than anything else - and that the church can lead the way in this.
Our last visit in Mayuge us to an orphanage at Magoola Church of Calvary, led by Pastor Waisa Emmanuel. The kids here are brilliant - we had barely got out of the vehicles before they began singing and dancing for us their songs of welcome and praise to God. They set out a lovely area for us under the shade of tarpaulins stretched between trees, and with lacey doilies on each of our chairs - we took our seats, once again clearly guests of honour. At least another seven songs followed with amazing drumming from an excited girl with an infectious smile. The girls, when they are excited or happy give out a fast, high-pitched "oo-loo-loo-loo-loo" sound at the top of their voices - especially as the music and dancing grows wild. The joy of these poor orphaned kids is astounding - and can surely only be attributed to the fact they they are
loved - by God, and by Pastor and his helpers.
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| More songs of welcome! |
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| The lovely area prepared for us by the people of Magoola Church of Calvary |
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| This drummer girl was fabulous! |
They have a school here too - staffed by teachers who, we learn, work without salary. This is yet another inspiring community where the grace and provision of God, along with the support of TAIP, is literally all they have. The kids performed another play for us - again addressing HIV/AIDS and its impact on the community. It is amazing to see these kids use creative means such as music and drama to both learn about and communicate the key issues that they are facing as the grow up in their culture. This kind of education and self-expression is all part of the preventative work which the church is doing to try and ensure that there is not another generation of orphans created by the spread of this terrible disease.
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A sweet and tender greeting from one of the school teachers
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| Rachel with a girl called Catherine, who is wearing a TAIP tshirt |
Fun games with the children and an incredible Ugandan lunch in their special visitors' mud hut completed our visit here. The inside of the hut is covered in posters and flip chart paper which detail the journey this church has come on since TAIP began workin with them back in 2003. They are still desperately poor, and the children's sleeping arrangements terribly crowded, but they are filled with hope in God as they have seen him answer their prayers over the years. Pastor Waisa says that even if we did not know it, when we have been praying for Uganda, we have been praying for them, and God has been listening and acting. This is wonderful to hear. I can also really see how the money we give to Tearfund benefits the local communities here - by financially supporting local organisations such as TAIP, Tearfund ensures that the local church is to enabled to effect the change they need, rather than a foreign model or agenda being imported unhelpfully and wastefully. This way, we are supporting Ugandans to support other Ugandans - which seems as it should be.
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| Thanks to God - now orphans can dance for joy |
As we left for the long drive back to Jinja, I was again struck by the extreme poverty of the countless kids we saw along the road - some malnourished, some carrying heavy jerry cans back from the wells and bore-holes, some in rags, some completely naked, some with beaming smiles, some with only a look of bewilderment. When I see this poverty I still feel helpless, but I cannot feel hopeless. I have hope because of the vitality of these people, and because of the transforming love of God. When these two meet, anything is possible.
Back at the Victoria Panorama, Daniel greets us like long-lost relatives! Later I teach him the 'C' chord and promise to leave him some chord diagrams so he can practice. Last day tomorrow :-(
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