We woke up in one of the most beautiful places I've ever stayed (sorry you weren't there, Jules) - Gately on the Nile in Jinja. I ordered breakfast for the whole team because by now I have learned that servers and cooks in Uganda aren't in a hurry - and if Americans are in a hurry, there needs to be a plan so everything lands in place.
We gathered and stood in the lawn on the banks of Lake Victoria and worshiped and prayed and read Scripture. We opened our eyes to the presence of God even in the midst of disease and poverty and war. We opened our eyes to God's gifts of hope, inheritance, and power for those in need. Jamin from Summit Church in Naples, FL had brought his guitar along and led us in a couple songs. From there, we went to the Source of the Nile. It was a beautiful place where an underwater spring at the north end of Lake Victoria begins the route of the longest-flowing river in the world full of history and sustenance for both ancient and contemporary civilizations.
We then joined Arthur and headed for Rafa Community. Arthur's late wife, Ruth Mirembe, first had the vision for Bethesda Ministries International years ago when she and Arthur began to foster children in their own home. It started in 1995 when Arthur and Ruth moved to Jinja and soon encountered two young girls who were seeking marriage. Actually, the parents of these children were seeking dowries and trying to offload the financial burden of raising children, so they were trying to marry off their 12 and 13 year-old daughters. Ruth stepped in and took the girls in and sent them to school. Soon after this, two more children came into Arthur and Ruth's home: a 1 year old who's father had abandoned the child and its epileptic mother who then died, and a 2 year old abandoned in one of the markets in Jinja. Now there are 200 children being fostered, fed, and educated through Bethesda. And just two months ago, Ruth died from cancer. Now Arthur, a school teacher himself, has stepped in to carry on his wife's vision, though there is limited and decreasing funding available for them to continue their work. At the end of our day together, he told me that as Bethesda continues, his wife is still living.
When we turned off the main road, I thought we would be getting close to Rafa Community. But it was still another 30 minutes on a jungle road. I'm talking about a road that you might go for a hike on or take ATVs on, not a road for a bus full of mizungus (white people). But we did it. Bakari, our driver, is an expert at handling an ATB (Pastor Jon's affectionate term for our All-Terrain Bus). We pulled into a clearing in the jungle near what seemed like the end of the road and just a few short kilometers from the banks of the Nile. Here, in the middle of nowhere, more than 250 children were getting a primary education. Bosco and Juliet, the head foster parents and teachers, greeted us. We took a tour of the grounds - a new well going in (I actually went down the well on a bucket attached to a rope - good times!), a piggery, a small farm, different foster homes and huts, and the school. Some of the children are going to school in a 'building' framed with rough lumber (aka, sticks) and a tin roof. No walls.
I was talking with Bosco near the end of the tour. He showed me their new boda boda (scooter/dirt bike). He said that he was thankful for the boda boda because now when the children fall sick with malaria in the night, he can take them to town to see a doctor. This struck me. It is layers below what I think would be a standard. First of all, can't we prevent malaria? Second of all, is a ride on a jungle road on the back of a motorbike really a good thing for a sick kid? It just seemed to me that the level of poverty was forcing Bosco and Juliet and the kids at Rafa Community to endure things that are unthinkable to us. Then I started asking questions - how many beds? how many kids? how many nets?
The team enjoyed some drumming and dancing (including some really amazing 'popping and locking' that is part of a traditional Ugandan dance - it seemed like the young women doing the dance were actually dislocating their hips from their legs and torsos. Amazing.) They also did a traditional dance about famine. The kids all got on their needs and swayed and rubbed their bellies in time. This image is burned in my brain. Arthur walked me further up the dirt road to a clearing that Rafa has acquired. Their plan is to build up to 10 foster homes there. Ruth and Arthur are heroes. They have always been forward-thinking and courageous in their efforts to shelter, feed, educate, and care for orphaned children. And on top of all this, Arthur never stopped smiling. His wide bright smile infected us with the deep love that he and his late-wife share for these children and for our God. It was a joy to be with him for two days in Jinja.
We loaded up the bus and went to town for lunch. While in town, my wheel's started to turn. One of our American team members, Christine, and I took Arthur and we got enough mosquito nets for the kids at Rafa Community. I couldn't help but make another impulse purchase as well - a couple good quality soccer balls. The boys there love 'football' but often play with bags of trash tied into balls. Again, Arthur couldn't stop smiling as we said goodbye and he headed back to Rafa with mosquito nets and soccer balls.
We hit the road and headed east to Bugiri. Bugiri is a region in Uganda that is 90% Muslim, compared to 12% nationwide. We found the Executive Hotel and began negotiating rooms and prices. Joseph Soroti ordered dinner for us and while we waited for it to be ready, we took a walk through town. Sarah Nakiyingi and Jes Carey, both connected to the Home of Champions we would be visiting the next day, joined us. We were quite a spectacle in town. It was not our intention, but we definitely stood out. We were welcomed by all the people in the market selling matoki and casava and rice and beans and pineapples and bananas. We were followed by a group of children chanting, 'mizungu, mizungu!' Dinner was delicious and several of us stayed up late talking - a common activity for this group.
What a great day! I agree, Ruth and Arthur are true heroes of the faith and especially of orphan care! I'm so looking forward to Jon uploading that video. . but not so much looking forward to seeing my own dancing!
I join you in praising God for the sweet sacrifice of our friend, Christine, and her gift to Rapha and the precious children. I pray that Boscoe will not have to ride that scary road in the middle of the night with a malaria ridden child again!
Brandi
Posted by: Brandi | October 23, 2008 at 06:59 PM