I’m on the race! This is a general blog to catch you up; one detailing the emotional and spiritual journeys I’ve begun to take will be next. We traveled for about 27 hours from leaving the hotel in Atlanta to touching down in Entebbe, Uganda. The food is great and I haven’t gotten sick! (Keep the prayers coming!) It rains pretty often but only for a short amount of time. The word Mzungu is repeated hundreds of times daily; “Mzungu”= white people. You almost feel like celebrity status walking down the street as the children chant “Bye Mzungu! Bye Mzungu!”
The night that we landed in Uganda, we stayed in the Comfort Hotel. It was the closest thing to a hostel that I’ve stayed at thus far. The next morning we heard this crazy noise “AYAYAYAYAYAYYY!!” I asked, “What is that?” RaeLynn replied, “Our host!” What did we get ourselves into? That noise was our wonderful crazy host Patrick Ssenyonjo. This phenomenal man has invested every fiber of his being to God in bettering the lives of children in need. Formally the ministry our team Selah Vie is working with is Raising Up Hope Uganda or RUHU. We are working in Bulenga. Monday, Wednesday and Friday we teach from 9-10:30, snack, teach from 11-12, devotion is 12-1, lunch is 1-2, teach 2-4, go home. On Tuesday and Thursday we teach 9-10:30, snack, teach from 11-1, lunch 1-2, then we go to the slums until 5 or so. There we help to gather boys for a feeding program. Saturday is our adventure day. We toured around Kampala, had Indian food on my birthday and next weekend are going rafting on the Nile! Sunday we go to Patrick’s church. Uganda has been good. Our house that we are staying in is gorgeous! We have (sometimes) running water and a toilet! Below is a testimony of our host Patrick.
Patrick: With his permission, this is a summary of his testimony.
Patrick grew up in a Christian household with his father and sister Allen in the town of Zana, never knowing his mother. At the age of 15, Patrick’s father died of brain cancer, leaving Patrick and Allen orphaned. He described the transition of having parental guidance to living on the streets as a goat being tethered. When your parents are there, you have the string to hold you but when they are gone, you are detached, alone and nothing ties you to society. He and Allen went to live in the slums of Kampala city.
One year later, a woman from America was visiting Uganda. She was looking for destitute children to give clothing, shoes and toys. Her tour guides showed her poor towns but nothing close to the poverty of the slums. Eventually she wandered into outskirts of the city and met Patrick there. She let him use her hotel to bathe and she gave him clothes, shoes and toys. Patrick was thrilled and distributed these resources to the others living in the slums. She returned to America but gave him the resources to rent a house with a flush toilet and money to buy food, electricity, etc. Patrick is one of the most selfless people I have met. He took in 10 street kids to sleep in the house with Allen and himself. He thought she would be excited to see the outpouring of her donations. Unfortunately she couldn’t understand why Patrick abandoned the ideas of refrigerators to give the other kids food and clothing. She came back ready to adopt Patrick and Allen, passports prepared, enrolled in new schools, legalities taken care of. Through all of his trials, he constantly prayed to the Lord. He decided that it was better to serve the Lord and the kids here in Uganda than to lead a “good but miserable life”. He told me that we are called to serve the Lord and to do anything else isn’t worth it.
Although the woman went back to the states disappointed and childless, Patrick continued to email her. She didn’t respond but forwarded the emails to others. It came to a woman whose sister had recently passed; she was looking for a noble cause to give a donation in memory of her sister. She gave Patrick $20,000 USD. At this point he was not even 18 years old and had to have someone cosign a bank account to spend the money. She initially wanted him to keep renting the house but he made his first purchase of the boys home which now doubles as the school at which we teach. He built a wall and bunk beds for the boys while maintaining his trust in God. There is a huge mango tree on the property that will not be cut down; during that first year, the boys lived off of the mangos.
Patrick often went back to visit the slums. A girl from Ohio met Patrick while studying abroad. Long story short through that connection at the age of 18, Patrick was introduced to Caleb and Sonia. When they met, Patrick and the boys hadn’t eaten in 4 days. Caleb and Sonia appealed to friends, families and churches and had such an amazing financial turn out it named their ministry to support Patrick, Beautiful Response. Now the focus has turned to the Village of Hope, Patrick’s new vision.
Locations
The Boys’ Home: The original building Patrick bought that currently houses 20+ boys from the streets. All are Beautiful Response, and attend boarding or day schools.
The school: The school is run out of the community and is located in the Boys’ Home. Grades range from “Baby class” which is similar to our pre-school up to P5 similar to our 5th grade. Often age ranges are not accurate. Children from the community d0 not often have the chance to attend school and frequently are placed into a lower grade than their age would indicate. Jacki the headmaster and the other teachers are volunteers. There are now 140+ students in attendance free of charge.
Safe House: This is where the girls who have been rescued from the slums or streets reside. Life as a girl on the streets is disproportionately more difficult. Sexual abuse is far more common. Both girls currently residing at the safe house live there with their babies as a result of such.
Village of Hope: Patrick’s dream becoming a reality. This plot of land is where everything is eventually to be shifted. It is the safe house equivalent for boys. Future constructions include a clinic, 500+ person church, administrative building, volunteer quarters and multiple houses for the kids. Each home will house 10 kids. There is land for farming as well as an area for a chicken coup housing 2,000 chickens. The farming is a constructive outlet for the kids to take pride in their work and actions.
The slums: The slums are where those who have nowhere else to go end up. Patrick often returns there, as it is where he was partially raised. He tries to help those who wish to stop doing drugs and have a legitimate desire for schooling and a better life.
To find out more about donating to RUHU/sponsoring children visit beautifulresponse.org
Check out my teammates’ blogs to get more info!
If you made it all the way to the end, thank you so much for reading my first official race blog! I’m still about $5,000 away from being fully funded so please email me if you have any questions about donating!
Love,
Katie
