Gulu...I do believe God is bigger than anything and will overcome!

(Very limited time in Internet Cafe...so no spell check or grammar...haha...)

First let me start with that yesterday here in Uganda was a National Day of Prayer. The President gathered with all of the judges to pray for this country on live television. He was quoted as saying "That we have taken our country into our own hands and ruined it". He is a very powerful man who believes in coming together to fix this nation...how awesome is that?

Secondly, today was our full day in Gulu. We went this morning to ARC . We met with them because they partner with Sweet Sleep. They explained to us about Gulu and the camps. IDP camps are where displaced children first started after all of the warfare during the time of the Lord's Resistance Army. To help stabilize and move the children back towards their homes, they have now Transitional Camps. This is where we were going. They explained many times there were children caring for children here or elderly caring for children (so many of the adults were killed during the warfare. Since the children have to take care of the elderly, many times they do not have the opportunity to have an education at all.

After this information, we then all jumped in the caravan to head out in the bush of Africa...yes..if you can imagine any movie you've seen about traveling through the bush of Africa...that is what I did today. It took about two hours to get to the first Transitional Settlement known as Amiro. As we got out of the car and began snapping a few photos of the area, we were called over to a tree. A woman was sitting on the ground with a child in her arm, his name is Ivan and her's is Florence. We learned that the child was 6 years old and had epilepsy. He was not being watched when he had a seizure and had fallen into boiling water the day before. Over half of his body was covered in 2nd and 3rd degree burns...the mother was sitting there fanning the many many flies off his body. My eyes begin to water as I think about it now...they had no way of getting any care for him and if the child did not receive fluids and surgery soon, he would die. Gary and Jen quickly said they would cover all transportation and medical costs and we sent the child and his mother to the nearest hospital...6 or so hours later he is just now in surgery. When I say hospital, I hesitate to even call it that, but if you will please pray for this poor sweet child...he will need all of your prayers. This morning as we traveled along the bumpy roads in the truly beautiful country side...I had prayed that God would not make me numb to these wonderful people. Although you see the poverty they are in, they have such joy that sometimes it numbs my senses. Seeing that child today made me realize how great we have it and never realize, healthcare is immediately available to us...food...electricity...clean running water...a flushing toilet...no bugs in our beds...or even a bed...I just hope that I continue to realize that even when I travel home.



One of the elderly woman's homes we had to help drive her and her 3 orphans that she cared for. She lived in a simple mud hut. The ARC had given her a "resettlement packet" which contains a mud hut, a latrine (bathroom aka hole in the ground with a stall), nonfood items (soap, pot/pans), and their choice of one animal, seeds, or an item they would like to sell. This particular woman choose seeds. She cooked some for her family and then planted some...today when we were giving her orphan children mats she informed us she was able to grow and sell some of the seeds and buy two new shirts for her three children to wear...she was so proud of herself and so were we. (she is at least in her 70s....) One of the neighbor girls was helping put the mattresses in the huts when Jen overheard her say "I do not know if I will ever have a mattress, let me hold it so I know what it feels like." My heart was just broken tonight...I wish we could do more.

After the beginning of our time there in Amiro, we met and began passing out the mats, mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, and Bibles. We were giving out 57 in this subcounty. The women that care for these children are in their 70s and 80s..I kid you not...and some have walked over 15 kilometers to be there waiting to get these children's mattresses. We arrived at 1:00 and these women and children had been there since 7 am. It shows how important these children are to them. We passed out everything and then packed up to head to the next subcounty called Koch Goma.

In Koch Goma, it was the same scene. Many, many older women and children waiting patiently since early morning hours and now it was 4 pm. When was the last time we waited so patiently for something? They were so excited to see us there. Most of these people in the placement camps are known as EVI (extremely vulnerable person). They have dealt with warfare, gender related violence, HIV, malaria, hunger and much more. They are tremendously strong and fighting to get their lives back on a daily basis.

Today was both overwhelming and eye opening. So many of the people in the camps are sick or injured and there is not medical help. They try their best to raise all the food they need and provide for their children or the orphans they have now adopted. I am in awe and amazement at what they do. I have to ask for prayers for them...for their country...for their health especially and for their spirit. I ask for prayers for Sweet Sleep and the ARC...that people will continue to realize what others go through and want to donate to the cause. It is truly great work that Jen Gash and all the many others do to provide hope to these children. They are Uganda's future.

On a sad note...my camera broke today...I have two more weeks and no camera. :( When I get back to Kampala, I am going to try to get it fixed or possibly buy a new one...hopefully not too expensive. I do have my iPhone so I will have some pics to post once I get back to my laptop...but they aren't quite the same as my real camera...for those of you who know me well...this totally bums me out!! So pray that something gets fixed or I fall into some camera money :) haha

To end on a happy note...going to try a David Letterman Top Ten thing....
Top Ten Things So Far in Africa... (or 11...or 12...)
1. Rafting the Nile River...I mean really? How awesome...I didn't fall out once...
2. Hearing the children call us "Mzungu" which means white person...haha
3. Seeing monkeys on the side of the road to Gulu...like 15 of them...we fed them corn...that we had bought on the side of a road at a village...
4. The amazing fruit we have here....that is NOT peanut butter....so help me when I return to America I will never eat peanut butter again (today I had two packages of peanut crackers and a granola bar from 7 am to 7:45 pm) ugh
5. I have only had 2 diet cokes since I left....a MIRACLE!
6.Seeing the kids run after the bus the very first day at the orphanage...mistaking their little voices as musica and quickly realizing they were yelling because we brought them hope...
 7. Watching Mike and Tyler eat the purple spotted yam that was served to us..not going to share what Mike compared it to eating...
8. Showering in Gulu...my bathroom consists of a showerhead in the ceiling with a bucket underneath...I killed two bugs the first time I opened the door...no more really needed to describe...I'll let your imagination take care of the reast...
9. Having children write me letter after letter at the orphanage telling me they would be praying for me and they love me and I would be in their hearts forever...
10. Having "mama" at the orphanage tell us that they went to wake thechildren after the first day of the beds and that many of the children were already awake and praising/praying/worshipping...WOW!
11. Showing Josephine(amazing Ugandan Sweet Sleep worker) my iPhone and showing her how to listen to the music I have downloaded...she was amazed and said "you must be very proud of this" Never have I thought of it that way before...way to humble me :)
12. Watching the children raise their right hands to pray over the sweet sleep team...even the youngest ones...eyes closed...arms outstretched...whispering their own prayers over us...
13. Discovering I now know how to NOT use the restroom for 12 hours at a time...after visiting a true African latrine in 90 degree weather...I rethought that plan...
14. Discovering that Ugandans have trouble with American words with "l" and use and "r" usually...hence my sweet sweet Andrew telling me one day he aspired to be a "pirate"...to which I said like "arghhh?" and he stared at me...only then did I realize he mean "Pilot" ooooooooh...what a laugh

Thank you to everyone who is reading and praying...you don't have any idea what the encouragement means. i'd be lying if I said I didnt miss home and the comforts...but God is teaching me things I would have never learned at home. I hope I get the opportunity to do this again and again. Prayers mean everything to me and they make the homesickness go away. I love everybody! (Any chance you can mail diet pepsi here? haha) Minutes are up at the internet cafe so goodnight for now! Traveling back to Kampala tomorrow!