Archive for the ‘Uganda’ Category

My muzungu | photo of the week

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

While staying at Noah’s Ark Children’s Home in Uganda, we had the opportunity to go out in to the village to meet a few families that have been impacted by the primary school. While driving up the dirt path to one of the homes we were quite the sight, leading a parade of children that caught a glimpse of two white people in the car.

Upon arriving at the home, we were now surrounded by close to two dozen children. After learning why we were there, this little girl ran out and started telling all her neighbours that we were her muzungus (white people). It was quite the humbling experience to be greeted with the traditional Ugandan greeting, shaking our hands while they kneel in front of us.

They had so much joy and pride just from our visit. We were fortunate enough to be able to bless them with a small care package. But we received so much more from them, just getting to meet them and seeing how God is working in their lives and knowing we will always be this little girl’s mzungus.

110 and counting

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

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Annabel

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Out the 110 children at Noah’s Ark, there was one little girl that really captured our hearts. Her name was Annabel, and she had Justin and me wrapped around her little finger by the time we left. If she wanted me to get the moon for her, I probably would have tried jumping just to reach it.

Aside from general pictures of kids at Noah’s Ark, we had a few specific children we wanted captured as their stories really stood out to me. Annabel was one of those kids. So, like all the other children Justin had to track down and shoot, we asked an auntie which one was Annabel while playing in the yard. Once pointed out, Justin started following her as she played on the swings and in the grass.

There was just something about this sweet little child that grabbed at our hearts. For me, I think it was her initial story that got my attention. She was born in October, 2006. In July of 2008, she was found abandoned in a garbage container. This beautiful child had been thrown out with the trash. A woman found her and told police she would take care of the child. Just three months later, she too decided she didn’t want Annabel anymore and left her with the police.

It was hard to imagine this child would be abandoned by not one but two different families. Noah’s Ark staff knew it would take time for her to trust again given her obvious fear of abandonment.

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From nobody to somebody

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

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.

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