Spring of Hope

Last week Melanie, Sandra (another volunteer at Amani), and I had the opportunity to work along side an organization called Spring of Hope Uganda. The day started out pretty rough. Sandra and I have been sick with a bad cold for the past week or so, which is called the “flu” here. When we woke up that morning it was pouring rain, so we called and asked if it was still okay that we came along to help even though we were sick and we wanted to make sure that we were still going because of the rain. Here in Uganda, everything stops when it rains. It’s like people are allergic to the rain, so we knew finding a boda to take us to where we needed to go was going to be difficult. But, her answer was yes. We were still going rain or shine and it didn’t matter if we had a cold. So, we waterproofed everything. Mel and Sandra got their rain coats on, however, I only had a poncho to wear, so I slipped it on and over the backpack I was wearing. You can only imagine how ridiculous I looked! So, we were like great it is going to be a long walk to the taxi park if we can’t find a boda driver to take us there. Luckily, Joseph, our groundskeeper, pulled up on a boda, so we asked his driver if we could have a ride. Thankfully, he said yes! So, Sandra, Mel and I all piled on one boda. Keeping in mind that I have a poncho on, so going fast on a boda my poncho was flying in the wind like a cape. Needless to say we were all soaking wet when we got to the place we were supposed to meet. We got there and called the lady who was supposed to be meeting us there to let her know that we had made it there. When we arrived we were supposed to meet her there and then take a taxi to the final destination.  There ended up being a miscommunication between us and the lady we were going with. They weren’t planning leaving until the rain had stopped. So, when I called to see where she was I was told to find shelter and wait for her because they weren’t going to be leaving until it stopped raining. After an hour and a half went by we decided to call again, and say “Sorry, we’re going back”. Because with two of us already being sick we thought it wasn’t the best idea to be standing out in the rain. But, she was just around the corner with a private car instead of a busy taxi. So, we decided to go still. We got in the car and drove for a while to her office. We then got out of our private car and got into a private taxi, which was very nice because a taxi here is a 15 passenger van, but they cram as many people as possible into one. They will even pile live chickens in the taxi as well. We arrived at the clinic late because of the rain delays. We would normally arrive around 9 or 10AM, but we didn’t arrive until almost 12:30PM. We pulled up and hundreds of patients were waiting to be seen by the doctor and receive the medications they needed. So, we got started right away. We spent the next 5 hours counting multiples of 33 pills of various different medications into separate baggies for the patients. After seeing the doctor, the patients would, one by one, pick up the proper medications that they needed. We handed out medications to about 150 people that day. Most of the medications we were handing out were for patients with Epilepsy. It was a very humbling experience to be able to hand a child medications that would potentially save their life and prevent deadly seizures. At the end of the day we were so happy that we did not back out at the last minute because despite the rough start to our day we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity of working with SOH and with the amount of people that came to the clinic, they really needed our help. SOH is such a wonderful ministry and we can’t wait to work with them again!

Above is a picture of the clinic.

Above is a picture of us getting to be pharmacists for a day!

Please, pray a blessing on this ministry. It has blessed us and blessed so many others and saved so many lives! Also, please, pray that God will bring a car to SOH. They are in desperate need of a car to better meet the needs of their ministry.

A little background info on S.O.H:

Spring of Hope is a community-based rehabilitation non- profit organization for children with disabilities in local communities of Uganda. We currently work with 500 children and their families in the areas of education, physiotherapy, medical, sensitization and income generating projects. Our aim is to see that these children are able to reach their true potential. Before the work of Spring of Hope began disabled children were being abused, locked away and tied up due to the stigma of having a child who is disabled.

Blessings,

Megan & Melanie

Unconditional Love

The one thing that seems to be sticking out to me since I have been here is the kind of love that is unlike any love you have ever seen or felt before. Unconditional love. That’s the kind of love that God has for me and you. Before I came here two years ago, I had no idea what unconditional love really meant, but God was able to teach me. Now, making this trip for the second time, I noticed that when people heard that I was coming here to work with these kids, many people would ask “ Well, what about the kids who have AIDS or HIV? Do you still hug and kiss them like you do the other kids, who are completely healthy?” Hearing this question made me angry, I thought to myself, ‘Why would you even ask that question, that’s terrible! Of course I would love on them just the same as any other child who is completely healthy’, because God has shown me what unconditional love is and has taught me to love as He loves me and you. It saddens me to think that people don’t know or understand what unconditional love is because that means you have no idea how much God truly loves and adores you. As I work with these adorable African children of God everyday, I see the kids who have no family and are waiting to be adopted, but are HIV positive and the years keep going by and they’re still not adopted because no one is willing to give that child a “forever family” because of the risks and responsibility that comes with caring for a child with HIV. It breaks my heart knowing that this child I love dearly, who is beautiful and perfect will, perhaps, never be adopted because they’re HIV positive.

Since I have been here, I have been reading the book called Extraordinary by John Bevere and I have been doing a bible study that coincides with the book. It’s been a fantastic read and spiritually challenging for me. In the book, John devotes a whole chapter to making sure you understand how much you are loved by God. In the book he gives this passage of scripture to study, “(God’s) love bears under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (God’s) love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]…” 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 AMP. I think God’s love for us is pretty well explained there. Then, John goes on to say that “we can’t do one thing to make God love us any more than He already does, and conversely, we can’t do anything to make Him love us any less.” Think about that for a minute. Do you understand how much He really loves you? His love for you is unconditional and unchanging. John also explains that “God’s love for us is so all-encompassing that we simply cannot comprehend its scope.” God is truly amazing and He adores you.

So, with that, I pray that we would learn to love as Christ first loved us and I pray that the children who are HIV positive, with no family, will be adopted by a loving family someday soon.

-Melanie

Isn't it funny how selfish we can be?

Earlier this week we had the opportunity to go to a hospital and work with a ministry that gives a bag of food to mothers with small children who are in desperate need of food. As we handed out the bags of food to the mothers, we got to know some of them. One mother is 15 years old and her baby is just a week old. When she was asked what her baby's name was, she wouldn't tell us and she tried to tell us that the baby was not hers, that it was her sister's. We later learned that she was too embarrassed to admit it was her child, because she is only 15. We would try talking to her and she wouldn't respond or even look at us. It broke our hearts to see her like that. Can you imagine that? Her life as a teenager is over, she has to care for a newborn baby. She now has to take on the huge responsibility of keeping her baby boy healthy and, most importantly, safe at the age of 15. I can't even imagine that. Another mother had a baby with a slim chance at living a long life because she didn't have the resources to keep her baby healthy, so he became very sick, with many illnesses when he was born & he came very close to death. Thankfully, with lots of prayer and God's blessing on this ministry, the boy is a healthy one year old now because of proper nutrition. In America we rely on all the fancy machines to keep us alive if we become ill, but most places here, if you can find a doctor that has a little bit of schooling is a huge blessing. I find myself so often taking things in my life for granted. It saddens me to think of how much I complain about when I have so much. When kids all over the world would give up anything and everything to have a life the way I live. God has opened my eyes before to things like this, but it is so easy to push it all in the back of my mind. It is so hard to grasp the idea of people living in a tiny, one room hut, with dirt floors, and if they are lucky, a mat for everyone to sleep on. When I sleep in a big comfy bed all to myself, in my own room, in a secure home. So I just ignore it, how selfish of me. So, now I ask you, is there something going on in your life that God has been putting on your heart for some time now, but you just ignore it because that's the easy thing to do? I encourage you to pray that God will work with you to make it a priority in your life.

-Megan

With a quick stop in London we made it to Amani!

Well I am very happy to say that we made it to Amani with out any unexpected delays and all our luggage is with us, praise God! We arrived early in the morning and had about a four hour ride to the baby home because of traffic. With us both being dead tired it probably was very comical to watch as we were trying to stay awake but couldn't keep our eyes open, all mixed with crazy Ugandan driving. Mel and I arrived along with one other volunteer, who happened to be on the same flight. We were greeted by four other volunteers who have been here about a month. There are about 45 kids at the baby home right now, and there's word on the street three more might be coming! Yesterday and today have been pretty low key for us, so we could get on the right time zone. So tomorrow will be our first official full day as a volunteer! Pease be praying for safety and for the health of all of the children and staff!

Blessings,
Megan

Preparing for our return...

Well, it's been a crazy journey getting ready for our trip so far. As the days are winding down until we leave we're scrambling to get things together, seeing as we had only a month to raise support and plan a trip lasting for three months in a foreign country. Throughout this whole process we really had to learn what completely trusting God, with everything, means. We had all these doubts and worries about not raising enough support and I was very hesitant in taking a semester off of school to make this trip, but God made it very clear to me that He wants me in Uganda at Amani Baby Cottage this fall and that I need to learn how to fully trust Him. He has shown us great things when we place all our trust in Him, that He will provide for our every need, even when it seems impossible for things to work out, it is possible because NOTHING is impossible for God.

We are very anxious to leave, although it will be a bittersweet goodbye to our family and friends that we're leaving behind, but we know that our hearts will be at ease when we get there. We fly out on September 12th. Please, keep us in your prayers as we prepare for our departure. We thank you so much for your overwhelming support, we appreciate it more than you know!

Blessings,

Melanie

We rafted down the Nile River!

Well, we just got back from rafting down the Nile river and survived! :) It was so much fun! (says Megan) It was the scariest, most fun I have ever had but, never again. (says Melanie) Today was a very long day we left to go rafting at 9 this morning and got back around 6 this evening. We are very tired. We're sad that we had to spend our last full day here rafting and not with the kids but, we really would have regretted not going. Tomorrow we leave Amani around 4 in the afternoon so, we will have some time to play with the kids before we leave. Tomorrow will be a really hard day for us having to say goodbye to the kids and the mamas and wishing we could stay longer. Three weeks definitely wasn't long enough. But, now we know that for next summer instead of staying three weeks, we should stay for three months. Then we might feel like that was enough time well spent here. Who knows, but we both know we are coming back here. Oh and by the way... For those of you who have asked us and we weren't able to give you an answer or you have been wondering.... Amani means peace. Please keeps us in your prayers tomorrow as we begin our journey back home tomorrow. Again, we thank you for all your support! We are so incredibly blessed!

Can't wait to see you all and tell you our many stories!

Melanie & Megan

A Second-hand Update

(posted by Meg's dad)

We talked with Megan earlier today. Life in Uganda is going well, with only a few more days before they head back home. We got the sense that they are already feeling sad about the prospect of leaving the kids, as Amani has apparently made a significant impression on them.
Megan mentioned that they have a whitewater rafting trip planned for Friday. This may sound strange for their Africa adventure, but Jinja is known as a real adventure spot. It is the source of the White Nile, which has Class 3 and Class 4 rapids just below Jinja. Throw in bungee jumping and ATV riding, and a lot of tourists visit Jinja for an adrenalin rush. The girls are going with a group of 5-6 others associated with Amani (either volunteers or friends of volunteers). Meg said that Melanie is a little apprehensive about the experience, so please pray for their safety as they venture into the wild water in a couple of days.
We expect to hear more later about their experience with the babies, although they have shared that diaper changing in Uganda is a far "different" experience than in the U.S. Hopefully, they will elaborate on it.
They are set to travel back on Saturday evening (10:40 p.m. Uganda time), and arrive home around 10:30 p.m. Sunday evening.