Make a Dream a Reality!!

Awaka

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that Uganda has made a big impact on my life. Not just by giving me my children. But by making me fall in love with the country and its people. I have been working with 3 other wonderful ladies that I met while in Uganda, they feel the same way as I do and they are adoptive moms too. We decided to start Awaka Children's Foundation. We have travelled a winding road, trying to find what it is specifically that God wants us to do for Uganda. We have helped some people already, but we are beginning to focus in on a couple of projects that are near and dear to our hearts. We have also picked up a partner along the way. Lara Gordon a wonderfully organized Brit, has already started her non profit, Craft Aid UK. Lara was a volunteer at the orphanage that we all adopted from and has a heart for Uganda as we do. She is already helping an organization, Peace for Children Africa. They work with 'street' children. Children that have no home to go to, no one to look after them. Children as young as 4. We want to help too.
Our dear friend Godfrey, who is our eyes, arms and legs in Uganda has also found a project for us. It is the village of Kamengo Ffunvu. Godfrey has spent a lot of time there and has sent us a report of his findings.

Kamengo Ffunvu Village Report

Kamengo is located in the south of Uganda, 45 Kilometers from Kampala. Depending on traffic it takes 1 ½ hours to drive, ther road is 70% tarmac and 30% terrible(dirt) as you turn off the main Masaka Road. Kamengo is a big county having over 80 villages, these villages are headed by village local council chairmen, who head a committee of 8 people, women being part of the committee. I basically did not move and check out the 80 villages, I did concentrate on one call Ffunvu village. I met the local leaders on my several visits and these are my findings.
The population of Kamengo-Ffunvu village is about 1000 people, children below the age of 7 years taking the greatest percentage, followed by women and men last. Kamengo has a good number of elderly, poverty stricken people with special needs. I was delighted to meet kids with special needs. I met a couple of deaf children who were deaf since they were born, they have never attended school, because they count of Kamengo has no schools for deaf. I believe there are more deaf people in the other villages that make up Kamengo.
I also met kids with eye problems, when I asked, people told me its because of bugs, dirty water that is a major cause. Parents neglect taking their kids to hospitals because they have no money and believe the local herbs will heal their children.
I also saw people who were crippled with no wheel chairs, children with big heads full of water that need attention.

Education
Ffunvu village has only two primary schools and one secondary school where all children between age of 4 years and 16 years go for school. One of the schools is called Andelo Primary Infant School and they chare 35,000shs-40,000shs as school fees from primary 1 to primary 7. The other primary school is called Kamengo Grammar School. This is a little further from Ffunvu village. It means kids walk long distances to the school, but is has good teachers and better buildings. As regards to secondary school, I went and viited St. Mark Secondary School. They cahre 80,000shs for school fees, but and additional 50,000 as registration fees for candidate clases like s.4 and s.6. Most children don’t have school uniforms, those who have one have torn shirts and shorts. Untiformsa for primary kids costs 10,000shs for girls and 9,000shs for boys, but parents cannot afford, no school fees. Books are very hard to get, especially children in candidate classes, need lots of books and parents cannot afford. Kids walk long distance and this affects the kindergarten kids especially who spend lots of time on the way and some times they never make it to school. 90 percent of children did not have shoes on their feet, no pencils, no toys to play with like balls, ropes for girls. Teachers are demotivated.

Health
Kamengo Ffunvu village has got a inadequate health clinic run by and old lady call SSebuyingo Florence. She’s a qualified mid-wife and she has helped lots of pregnant ladies. 90% of ladies have given birth from this house clinic. She charges a small amount of 10,000shs from every woman that comes to give birth. She has 2 extra rooms behind that house where she admits sick people, especially those ladies that come to give birth and need medical attention afterwards. She really needs help as regards to birthing kits. These village ladies come with nothing and she told me that one challenge she has is that sometimes she fails to protect new borns from getting HIV from their sick mothers.
HIV is quite high in Ffunvu village, many men and women are drunkards, besides they cannot afford buying condoms as at times they fail to get money for food, so they don’t have any for condoms. The lady told me she needs help as in mattresses, sheets, gloves, basins, soap, and besides the inadequate facility needs to be buil well with at least ten beds. She actually asked for any volunteers. As I was talking to her bugs did bite me till today my skin is itchy. She needs to fumigate her clinic. She always pays a boda boda guy to take people with complicated cases. She receives a little fund from the county council at the end of the month to carry out that good work.
Ffunvu village has a lot of Malaria cases, many die fo malaria, ania, ring worms, syphilis, skin problems due to bad dirty bedding, jiggers as a result of walking bear footed. I saw maggots in one of the mattresses which come as a result of too much urine in the bedding. Children have dental problems, like decays.

Elderly
Like I said Ffunvu village has a good number of old. Many don’t have good shelter. Most of their children are married to drunkards and many run to the city for greener pasture and never return home to help the elderly. Many need wheel chairs, need eye glasses as they have poor sight. Many don’t have mattresses. Many go to bed at 6pm as they don’t have kerosene lights to keep them going in the night. Many have back problems and need ointments.

Girls
Many girls are in their teenage age, and they have a problem of monthly menstruations. They don’t have sanitary towels, they use dirty clothes and end up with infections. They lack knickers, bras, clothes and many smell bad. They need deodorants.

Religion
Many are Catholics and Protestants, but by my survey, they are willing to give up anything for Jesus Christ if we do something. We need to evangelize and let them know Jesus cares.

Activities
Many rear an animal at least at home. Mainly pigs, goats and cows. Many depend on agriculture for sustainability. They gorw mainly cassava, maize, matooke. They love growing corn for sale and ginger. If at all possible we need to help them with seeds.


Ffunvu village have many single orphans, a few cases of double orphans, many youth have HIV and any help as regards to ARVs is welcome. We need also to come up with a feeding program for kids, as Katie Davis does it. Many women also do craft for survival though they lack market for their products. They manily do baskets and mats.

Many homes in Kamengo do not have toilets. I saw people using the bushes.
The water source is a problem. Like the picture I sent before, they share wter source with animals. I still have itchy skin from that water. Many cannot afford things like soap, sugar mattresses, mosquito nets. Awaka needs to com in and help as in sponsoring kids to school, helping the medical clinic, school uniforms, books, shoes, eyeglasses for elderly, wheel chairs, immunizations, and ARVs. I thank you.


I hope this report moved you as it moved us. We are trying to get money together for a well for the village and to help with some of the medical issues quickly. We would then like to start a feeding program and school sponsorships for the children. This is a chance for those with an abundance to give to those in need.

Would you be Jesus for someone today? someone a world away? someone you will never meet here on this earth, but maybe, just maybe in heaven one day?

Since we are just beginning Awaka, we do not have our non-profit status with the IRS yet. If you would like to make a donation anyway, it would be most appreciated. Please leave me a comment. We will have an Awaka website soon, with an easier way to donate and craft items you can buy. I just felt the need in Kamnego Ffunvu was great enough to start asking for help immediately.
Thank you for your help.

Another Year Ago Today

A year ago today, we left Uganda. At the time I was so ready to get my children, my aunt and my self home. I am still holding a grudge against the Belgium airport and Newark airport. They didn't make it easy, but we made it home finally.
It has been quite a year. We hit the ground running, as I went back to work 2 days after we got home. The kids have grown and changed and so have I. They have both grown over 6 inches taller. Andrew has put on 14 pounds and Willa Rae has put on 8. They learned to walk 2 weeks after we got home on the same day!!!! and haven't slowed down yet. They are talking, singing, laughing, giggling, drumming, and playing tornadoes. I can't think of what my life would be without them. It makes me cry to think of their birth mothers that no longer have them.
I am looking forward to what the next year will bring. More growth and changes for us all. And as much as I was ready to leave Uganda, I want to return just as bad!!!!! I hope that will happen in the next year also.

Warrior Girls Unite!!!!

The following was taken from Brandi's blog. She is a friend that I met through a Yahoo group. She led me to the Penners, who led me to Uganda and my children and my passion. The only way I can think to repay her is to join her group, a group of women who are answering the call of Jesus to be warriors and change the world. Join us too.



Ok, the WarriorGirl thing is taking it to a new level. We have a new YahooGroup. Feel free to join. Just go to yahoogroups.com and search "IamaWarriorGirl" and join! Here's more info about the concept if you've missed me talking about it here.

WarriorGirl is a silly name of a blog I wrote last year when I was studying Beth Moore. You see, like many of you, I had struggled for years over the kind of woman I was. I'm not mild and meek. I'm not a soccer mom who spends most of her days baking cookies for her kid's class (not that these are bad things!) but I'm the kind of soccer mom who hangs at the park with other moms and brings up sex-trafficking! I have a big personality and a loud mouth. I felt for a long time like I wasn't the proper Christian woman/wife/mom. Then, one night Beth Moore is teaching on Esther and she begins talking about how Esther is a warrior. In fact, she then takes us to Proverbs 31 and says that the same word used for the Proverbs 31 woman is also used for Gideon - the great warrior. That night, I felt like I understood for the first time - I am a WarriorGirl. I'm still a girl who loves her toenails painted and a great romantic comedy, but I've got some fight in me :-)

This silly blog post of mine took on a life of its own as other girls read it and responded. It turned into a phrase we use quite commonly and everywhere I go, I meet women who would characterize themselves as WarriorGirls.

What is a WarriorGirl - WarriorGirls are godly women who have a burning desire in them to fight against injustice. We aren't going to sit by while children die and suffer in abject poverty or oppression. We are standing up as moms, wives, sisters, women to make a difference in our world. This will look different for each one of us - the issues may be different - the areas of passion - and the ways we fight against injustice. All that matters is that we are passionately pursuing the God of justice and seeing His kingdom come in this world. We aren't apologizing anymore. Yep, we are girls - but we are also warriors :-)

That brings us to today - we wanted to start to form a place for community. Many WarriorGirls feel out of place in this world. As we fight injustice we can find that many people find us uncomfortable. This leaves many warriorgirls either abdicating the swords to be more palatable to the people around them or feeling extremely lonely. We wanted to form this group as a place we can encourage and challenge each other. Tell us about your passions, your causes....let's brainstorm together, let's support one another, let's cheer each other on and most of all - let's hit our knees together.

Most of us are involved in what we call iFast58, fasting and praying each Wednesday for the world's poor, hungry and oppressed as well as those that serve them. (email me privately for more info!) We also frequently set up prayer conference calls just for the warriorgirls to lift one another before the throne.

Thanks for joining us. Thanks for your passion for the poor. Thanks for not giving up your sword even though it may make you feel crazy at times :-) You are world changers and I'm thrilled and honored to be your friend and fellow WarriorGirl.

Now, go join the group and introduce yourself!!! Oh yeah, and feel free to spread the word to other warriorgirls out there. You can use any of this post you want in a blog or FB or write your own thoughts about being a WarriorGirl!

Radical

RADICAL from David Platt on Vimeo.

A Year Ago Today. . .

A year ago today, my Aunt and I left for Uganda. I left on the physical part of a journey that had already begun emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I would not have changed a minute of it. Not the roller coaster of emotions, hours stuck in Kampala traffic, or cold showers.
I have finally managed to get our adoption story finished. It's long. I hope you enjoy it. To those of you who shared part of the journey, THANK YOU!!! My children and I are better people for knowing you. You are now family for life. If there is anyone out there who is considering adopting, Pray!! I hope this story helps your decision.

My adoption story began over 3 years ago. I felt God calling me to adopt. Not just to adopt, but to adopt from Africa. I met with my pastor and asked him 'How do you know the difference between God calling you to do something and loosing your mind?' His answer was to pray and to move forward, if doors opened it was Gods will and not mine and to continue to pray. That was the best advice I could have gotten.
I started doing research and praying and was led to the country of Liberia. I found an agency that I wanted to work with and contacted them. They were doing a lot of humanitarian work that I thought was great. I made preliminary plans to help them with donations for the area school. There was also a chat group of people that had or were adopting through the agency that I joined. It was through this group that I later learned that the agency had some questionable practices and were being investigated. It became clear to me that this was not the agency or the country for me. It was through one of the women in the group however, that I was introduced to Jena and Keith Penner.
When I contacted Jena, she told me about their experience. She also said they were going to do more work on the process. In the meantime I started raising money and praying, praying mostly.
In February 2009 Keith returned to Uganda to do more work with orphanages and attorneys to see who would be willing to work with people on guardianships. When he came back with good news about Sanyu Babies Home, I kicked things into high gear.
I started my home study in February and was told it would take 3 months. That did not fit in to my summer traveling time line. God stepped in and my home study was completed by the end of March. My I-600a approval also moved along quickly. I actually got my letter of approval on my birthday, May 12.
During this time I was emailing Peter Nyombi and Barbara at Sanyu to make sure I had all of my documents and that traveling in May was a good idea. They both gave me the green light, so I started looking at flights. I was planning on leaving the first week in June after school was out. For some reason the price of airfare jumped about $500 from the end of May to the beginning of June. I prayed again and God told me to leave earlier. ( I know this airfare stuff doesn't seem important, but it is all about God's timing).
My aunt Martha and I left Birmingham on a sunny Alabama morning and by lunch time we were in Houston(yes I know Houston was in the wrong direction, but it was the best flight we could get). We spent the evening flying to Amsterdam and arrived there in the early morning. We arrived in Entebbe late at night. I think we must have been the last ones off the plane, through the health check and visa lines. Thankfully our luggage all made it and best of all Godfrey was waiting on us. We finally got to the guest house at midnight.
I took the coldest shower in my life and was so very grateful to have it. (First lesson of the guest house, you have to turn on the water heater.) We crashed into our beds and awoke a couple of hours later, we even beat the mosque singer up. We were greeted outside by some of the older kids in the orphanage and then I met with Barbara, the administrator of the orphanage, before we went to meet Peter. She told me there were only 3 girls in the age range I was hoping to adopt. She also said they had only been there a short time, I didn't know what that meant, but she said to let Peter know. We then went to meet Peter.
The meeting with Peter went so quickly. I had been told that things would go so slowly in Africa. I gave him my paper work and he told me to go back to the orphanage and pick a child that day. WHAT!?!?!? Today?!?!? He explained, that because the girls had not been at the orphanage long, there was extra work that would take extra time, so we had to get started quickly. I had to get back to his office with all of the information on the child that afternoon. I think my mouth must have been hanging open at this point. So back to the orphanage we went.
I met with Barbara again and explained that Peter wanted me to pick a child today. She had us taken to the classroom where I was shown the children that were available. I prayed that God would show me the child that was to be mine. I had been praying this for the last 4 months and now the time was here. Only two of the girls were in the room to begin with and I spent some time in prayer with both of them. Then they brought in Irene. She was so adorable. She ad on a rubbled dress with the lace trim coming off in places over sweat pants and nappy. She was completely bald and had the chubbiest cheeks you have ever seen. She had NO expression on her face at all. I continued to pray and god said "She is your daughter."
So it was back to Barbara's office to tell her my decision. She then sent for Irene to be dressed. Off we went with Godfrey, and a social worker from the orphanage. The whole time we were out Irene's expression never changed. It was during this time we discovered that Irene had only arrived at the orphanage on Sunday. Here is where God's timing comes into play. Before I left the US there had been information going around that there were NO GIRLS AVAILABLE at Sanyu. Some people had suggested I wait and go later, but God's timing was perfect!!!
After that whirlwind of activity it was a waiting game. We waited for all of the documents we needed and we waited for a court date. While we waited we worked at the orphanage. We helped in class and at meal times. Martha even helped organize the clothes closet at Sanyu. Everyday I grew closer to Irene. She was coming out of her shell more and more.
We were in class one day when the brought in the saddest looking little boy. He was so weak all he could do was sit in the same spot while all of the other kids played around him. His name was Andrew. He had just gotten back from the hospital. Everyone said he had Sickle Cell Anemia. We began praying for his healing and for a family to come to take him to the US, where he could get the medical care he needed. No one came and we grew closer every day.
About a year before I left, God had told me I would adopt 2 children, a girl and a boy. Because I didn't have the money and because it was against the law in Uganda I didn't think this would be possible. We continued to pray for a family for Andrew and God told me I was supposed to be his mother. I went and talked to Peter to see if he thought it was possible to get guardianship of Andrew because of his medical condition and he said he thought we had a case. I then asked Barbara's permission to seek guardianship for Andrew also. She said yes!!! so now to come up with the money. I can never thank my parents or friends enough for raising the money for Andrew's case. Peter filed the paper work and told us to get started on his blood tests. We went to the clinic for the tests and waited for the results. A few days later the results were in. Andrew was NOT Sickle Cell Anemic, not even a carrier for the condition!!!!!! I have never been so happy and so scared at the same time. He was healthy, but would I still be able to proceed with his case? I met with Peter again and he said we would proceed.
In the mean time we went to court for Irene. We went into the judges chambers and sat while the lawyers and the judge did all of the talking. he told us to come back in a week for our ruling. A week later we returned. The judge granted me guardianship, but added that in the future, he wanted the children to have been in the orphanage for 6 months before they were adopted out. Once again it was the combination of joy and fear. Andrew had only been in the orphanage for 1 month. thankfully Peter said we would continue on with his case. So we prayed and worked and waited until Andrew's court date. This court appearance was a little more stressful, because the judge started saying he was going to deny the petition. Peter and he traded arguments, which included leaving Andrew in Uganda for 6 months(not a good plan from my point of view). At last the judge gave my aunt and I a opportunity to speak. We basically became the emotional wrecks we were and tearfully asked/begged for the honor to become Andrew's family. Thankfully the prayers and tears worked and he asked us to come back in 2 weeks for our ruling. Praise God, when we went back he granted me guardianship.
Adding Andrew's case and waiting for visas delayed our travel plans. After a couple of flight changes and more time in airports than I ever want to spend again, we came home on August 3.

I would not trade on minute of the time I spent in Uganda. It allowed me to bond with my children, learn more about their beautiful country and to see the great needs that exist there. The people I met have not just become friends, but I consider them family. I can never thank them enough for the support they gave us during our time there.

Words cannot express how faithful God has been through out this process!!!! Seek God, listen to God, follow God and the blessings are so much better than you could ever imagine. His ways are higher than our ways!

Happy Birthday Aunt Lara!!!!