We arrived in Uganda on Wednesday, Oct. 7. Our friend Kimi who lives in Jinja picked us up from the airport and drove us to Noah’s Ark Children’s Home in Mukono, just a couple hours from the airport. We got a chance to catch up with her as we watched the beautiful Ugandan landscape pass by. It looked just as Africa should look from all the images I’ve seen over the years. Mud huts, lush grasses, palm trees and lots of people walking, riding bikes, and piling into taxi vans.
We spent five days and four nights at Noah’s Ark. And while we didn’t have much luck interviewing the kids, we did get a good understanding of how the orphanage runs and how the children are raised within its walls. The kids play lots, eat well, go to school, get in trouble, get hugged and get dirty just like any other kids.
If you were to watch most of these children running and playing and laughing and crying, you might suspect they are just like any other kids. In some ways they are. But we got a chance to read through each of their profiles, each child’s story written up with pictures of the child over the years. The stories spoke of devastating pasts, including abandonment, loss of both parents, cruel treatment, physical and mental abuse and even rape.
To see children who have gone through such trauma and at a glance for them to seem just like any other child is a testament to the love given in Noah’s Ark. Their motto is ‘From Nobody to Somebody’ and fits well when you hear the stories.
A tiny baby girl was born in December, 2005 and was literally thrown away. She was found by small children who took her to the police station. Noah’s Ark took in this unwanted child, who was so cold when she was found the thermometer did not even register a temperature. But now, she is a bubbling three-year old child full of life and happiness. She has a name – Noelle – a personality, and is turning into quite the little lady. She is now somebody, thanks to Noah’s Ark. She is such a joyful child, they have added to her name. The girl who was thrown away is now known as Noelle Joy, and is thriving in this environment of care and compassion.
Each of the 110 stories has similar details to Noelle Joy’s: unwanted by someone, taken in and cared for by Noah’s Ark, and each one is turning into a healthy, active child who is loved deeply by Noah’s Ark founders Piet and Pita and all the caretakers there.
It was an experience I think neither one of us will ever forget, to see so many children who would probably be dead were it not for the dedication of one Dutch couple answering God’s call on their lives.
