Day 2
We timed our trip so that we could travel back to the village with the kids on their break, and get a better view of that slice of their life. The government desires and requires that they maintain a connection to their roots, so they spend each term break in their village with guardians and relatives.
Over the last couple of years, as we have been financially able, we have been supporting ministry to the other children in their village to try to lessen the gap between the helped and the helpless. We have assisted the village leadership who started an education project to meet unmet educational needs, and we have brought care packages, provided daily porridge, and de-worming medicine consistently since 2007. We fully expected to be met by the vacant eyes and hopeless stares that are so haunting each time we visit Myaliiro and drives us to action. This time, it was NOT TO BE! We were greeted by 188 children in school uniform who sang and danced for us with pride and joy. They were visibly healthier with evidence of a foothold of hope. We simply couldn’t believe it was the same Myaliiro that we had visited so many times. We were beaming with smiles right back at em’!  Throughout the day, it became so evident that our Director of Outreach, Tom, and Head Teacher Resty had the support, appreciation, participation and respect of the entire village. It was a glorious day!
We had a meeting with all of the available parents and guardians to gather any immunization information and to talk about the path forward as we partner in raising the children we all love. It was sweet fellowship. I’m thankful for Theresa Dixon, a nurse, and a new member of the HEED family who will help decipher the immunization needs and set up medical files for each child. Records are scant, and just trying to establish the correct year of birth for some of the kids proved to be a big challenge and provided some good laughs. For Jovia, we just had to settle for, “I know I’m 11 years old!â€
It was an amazing, encouraging day, and we made the long drive back to Kampala with joy in our hearts.
