Saturday and Sunday

Last night we were unable to connect to the wireless network in the hotel, thus the delayed posting. Sorry about that!

Yesterday (Saturday) we attended a meeting with leaders from two different NGO's. "NGO" stands for a Non-Government Organization. The first that spoke to us is called Daughters of Charity and they explained their mission to us for working with orphans. The second, which we heard most about is called UWESO: Ugandan Women's Effort to Save Orphans. This was started by the First Lady in the 80's as a response to children orphaned by the war. It soon shifted its focus as the HIV/AIDS crises created more orphans, and it now ministers to orphans of all kinds.

We heard about the purpose/vision/mission of the organization, what they do, why it matters, and how they need help. Much of what we heard about is the program they have to send orphaned children to school. 4 students from a secondary school attended the meeting and shared a little bit with us. One girl recited a poem about HIV/AIDS and another boy shared his story of loosing his father a few years ago, and therefore the ability to afford school. This organization has provided an education for him, and practical skills to ensure he has a future.

We were given handouts and information from these organizations and our "scribe" took wonderful notes of what we learned during that meeting. It was wonderful to see more of what the country is doing for its people and to hear what more can be done.

The rest of yesterday was spent shopping for souveneirs. As girls, we of course loved it. It was neat too because the places we went to do our shopping were places that will benefit different ministries that we've seen or heard about. Many of the products we bought were made by women in villages nearby and the money will go toward helping them in various ways. It was fun to buy things for family and friends, knowing that it would be also helping some of these ministries. Our bus driver Sam was very patient with us as we shopped...and shopped....and shopped. :)

Today (Sunday) has been a restful day. We went to church in the morning and have spent the rest of the afternoon packing, resting, and just having fun together as a team. We have a meeting tonight to discuss everything we've learned and how we are going to apply it when we bring it back home with us. Tomorrow will consist of visiting a few more places, seeing the last few things, and catching our flight tomorrow night.

I doubt we'll be able to update tomorrow as we'll go right from our days activities to the airport, and from there it's 25 hours of travel, putting us back at O'Hare around 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon. Please pray for energy as we finish out the trip. We want to take in as much as we can until the last moment possible. And then please pray for us as we travel, for safety and the energy to make it through. 25 hours is a long time. We are all looking forward to seeing our friends and family when we return, showing you our pictures, and sharing our stories. It will be hard to leave this beautiful country though. We will all be leaving with changed hearts and a deeper love for the people here in Uganda. Thank you once again for your care, your support, and your encouragement. I'll post again sometime later this week about the rest of our time and our travels home. If we end up compiling our photos online somewhere I'll be sure to post how you can access them. God bless you all these next few days!

With love,
The Uganda Team