St Paul and Rose Orphanage

I just think it is cool that we are so close to Kenya :)

This is the garbage pile in our village.
There are always children picking
through it.

Last weekend we went to the Uganda vs.
Kenya soccer match at Mandela stadium. It was
pretty cool.

DISCLAIMER: So I know my grammar and spelling on most of my posts is really poor. I should take the time to go over them and edit them but that would simply just take too much time.

Last Thursday I had the coolest experience I have had thus far in Uganda. I didn't have a whole lot planned for the day so our country director convinced me to go with her and some of the other volunteers to an orphanage in some random village. I felt kind of bad since it wasn't my area of expertise but like I said, I didn't have a whole lot going on so I figured what the heck.

We almost ended up not going because when we got to the taxi park we found out it would take 90,000 shillings (about $45) and 2 hrs to get out there. When we called Paul (the person who runs the orphanage) though to tell him we wouldn't be able to make it he just sounded heart broken. We quickly changed our minds and told him we would be there as soon as we could.

Three hours later we finally arrived in the village where the orphanage was located. Another mile hike down a desolate dirt road and we were there. Rose (the wife of paul) ran ahead to let the children know we were there. It caught all of us off guard because she started screaming like a banchee to get the children attention. All of a sudden out of nowhere 30 children came running at us from behind the house yelling and cheering. We were overwhelmed as they nearly knocked us to the ground with one huge group hug.


The village where the orphanage is Located.


Wearing the bead necklaces that the orphans
make to sell.

The children eating dinner. All they had was
matoke :( (mushed flavorless bananas)

Us eating dinner. It was our first time actually
eating with our hands. We got G-nut sauce with
our matoke.


Once things had finally settled down a little bit all the children started singing and dancing as the y welcomed us to their humble home. Tears almost started streaming down my face as I saw these children who barely had clothes on their backs and only a few pairs of shoes amongst the whole group and yet they were so excited and grateful we were there. It was especially touching as they sang about Jesus and how they always knew they could count on him to protect them.

Once the singing and dancing was over a few of the children gave presentations that they had prepared on topics such as AIDS and the effect is has on Ugandan children and what it was like for them being street children before they came to the orphanage. They also showed us how they farm their own crops and take care of their animals. I was very impressed with how disciplined they were.

We spent the rest of the day just hanging out with the orphans and assesing what we could do to help them. We are really working to find some income generating project for them so that they can better take care of the orphans they have and maybe even take in a few more. They have about 10 acres of land that is owned free and clear by Paul and Mary but since they live out in the middle of nowhere there really isn't a market for the produce they grow. Lucky they are able to feed the kids but they still need money for school fees and clothes. Lauren and I are racking are brains for some sort of sustainable project that we can implement.

I just cannot express to you how much I was impressed with the children there. They all just seemed so happy and grateful for all the many blessings they have. When we asked them what they like to do for fun they said they love to fetch water and farm the land. I thought how different that was from any sort of answer you would get from a kid in the states.

We didn't realize when we went out there that since we were in the middle of nowhere there would be no way to catch a taxi back. We were supposed to be home for curfew at 7 (when it get's dark here) but it wasn't until 6 that we even realized we had no way to get home. The kids begged us to spend the night with them even offering us their beds. We seriously considered it but we had all long since run out of water and they didn't have any purified drinking water to offer.

You shoudl have seen their faces when we told them we wouldn't be able to stay. It was heart wrenching. So after some Matoke (mashed up flavorless bannanas that are eaten at every meal) and g-nut sauce (the equivalent of runny salty peanut butter) we were on our way. Paul was able to round up a couple of boda bodas (motorcycle taxis that are kinda scary) for us to ride the hour back to the nearest town. It was dark by the time we left which kind of made us all nervous but it was sooo worth it.

This article doesn't even begin to describe the amazingness that was the day but hopefully I will be able to post some pictures later that will give you a glimpse!!

The children showing us their garden. It was
my first time actually seeing how pineapples grow.

The kids thought it was hilarious when
we gave them piggy back rides and raced.
Those are the jugs the children used to fill
with water. They walked back carrying them
on their heads. We of course were useless.