Skip to main content

Babysitters Club 

 
 
 
Here begins our updates from our August 2012 trip. We have 20 aussies here, as well 
as 6 Americans who have joined our group. We are here to live as Ugandans, to learn and to soak it all up!
 
Caitlin: 
Today we had our first session of our specially developed program for our sponsor kids.
Our kids here in Uganda are better off than millions of kids here in the North. 
They live in a beautiful home with their brothers and sisters, their school fees are 
paid, they have adequate medical care and they are given lots to eat. We are grateful 
to our sponsors for helping us to provide these material needs, however during this 
trip we wanted to address the emotional and spiritual needs of these kids.
 
In the middle of 2011, we watched a video that featured the story of a Ugandan sponsor 
child, who grew up to become a politician in her area. Coincidentally, she looked 
exactly like one of our very own sponsor kids, Monica, and we thought "well if she
 can do it, so can Monica!" We started brainstorming and planning and came up with 
a two day program to teach out kids that they are precious, they are valuable, and 
they can grow up to be whatever they want to be.
 
Today we started by making fools of ourselves... Sitting in the big garden in Lira,
 under the grass hut, we asked the kids how much one chicken costs. 
"It depends on the size!" screamed one. "about 25,000 Ugandan shillings." (approx. $10aud)
 
 
We then had a race to see who could catch the most chickens in the yard. The kids, who 
range in age from 8-16 pounced on their chickens in no time flat, where as us muzungu's
 (slang for "white prrson) were all hopeless having never touched a chicken in our lives.
 
Once the ice was broken, we started discussion. We asked what was valuable to each of the 
children. Answers started coming from the boys, "food!" "friends!" and then one girl at
 the front said "education." all of us leaders smiled- bingo! Other answers that broke 
hearts were "God" and "peace."
 
We asked  "if that chicken is worth 25000 shillings, how much are you worth?" the 
kids were quiet.  We explained to them that they are worth far more than all the chickens 
in the world, than all the cattle, than all the gold and silver you could carry.
They are precious and unique, and valuable to us and to each other.
 
We then spent a beautiful afternoon painting, chatting, and sewing all together. Some young mums joined
our group, and we were able to act as babysitters and take their kids from them to enable them to sew.
It was so rewarding to see the joy on their faces as they did something for themselves. It was rewarding for us
to give them a much needed break from motherhood.
 
Tomorrow we will talk about choices- that we all have decisions in this life and some 
will lead to good things whilst others may not. Hopefully it goes just as well as today!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I am Strong

Tug of war with the boys  We began our second session - this time talking about "strength" in the harsh heat of the afternoon on Friday. We started with a brilliant demonstration of strength. We bought 3 yards of rope and  set up a tug-of-war. We started with two strong boys against each other, and then added  more and more people but only on one side. The game made everyone laugh and led to lots  of different teams: kids vs adults, girls vs boys etc. Andy began the session by stating "on our own we may not be strong, but together as a  team, we can be strong." this was a clear way to communicate a strong message of the  importance of unity. Then we explained that being strong is not only about having big muscles. Strength can  be on the inside as well as on the outside, and being strong means making good decisions. Andy used the example of two coke bottles. He took one and shook it very hard, then put another unshaken bottle next to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Update from our Sister organisation: Achon Uganda Children's Fund

Progress on the Kristina Clinic  Achon Uganda Children's Fund Board Member- Jim Fee with the Community Board members for the Kristina Clinic  An update from Jim: Julius and I returned home on Sept. 21 st from an eventful and successful trip to Uganda. We departed on September 10 th and spent 10 days in Northern Uganda. I am writing to provide you trip highlights. From Sept. 14 th through the 19 th we alternated days in Lira and Julius’ village Awake which is 42 miles NNE. Recent heavy rains prior to and while we were in Northern Uganda made the road from Lira to the village very difficult to navigate so the normal 1½ hour trip became a 2+ hour journey each way.  The road to Awake   Kristina Clinic construction in Awake village is progressing very well since our May clinic visit. Under the leadership of construction manager Patrick Ebyau and Julius’ brother Jimmy Okullo the living quarters are virtually complete save windows, doors, paint...
Post a Comment
Read more

Training Program - Week 3

Week 3 Cronulla Mums and Bubs - Photo by Bird and Bee Studio Hopefully by now you are starting to see an increase in fitness by following this Sutherland to Surf training plan. Beginner: Walk 1 minute followed by a 4 minute jog. Repeat x 4. Do this work out 3 times per week Intermediate: Interval session: 7x3 minutes hard pace with 90 seconds rest Tempo run: 20 minutes at tempo pace Long run: 65 mins at easy pace Tip: If you find it hard to run for 4 minutes straight without stopping, just go for as long as you can and make that your benchmark for each rep. Are you a new mum too? Ask your mothers group to join you and walk together for a purpose! www.lovemercyfoundation.org
Post a Comment
Read more