Update: Team Visit to Kaberamaido

In the last post we talked about our recent trip to Kapchorwa with the U.S. team from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.  Taking up from where we left off, we finished off our time in Kapchorwa with a hike around beautiful Sipi Falls, and then we headed out to Kaberamaido district for the next week.  Our time there was very full!  We spent each afternoon that week with 150 wonderful children at the orphanage - doing Bible story skits, playing and doing sports camp, and giving them enough mosquito nets so that each child can now sleep under a net.  Our time at the orphanage was a highlight for me personally, because the kids there are just lovely and received us each day with such joy and enthusiasm.  We were also happy to be able to leave some sports equipment and other things we used for VBS activities with the orphanage for them to continue using in the future.

A young girl coloring a picture at the orphanage in Kaberamaido

Each morning of the week was spent moving around and doing different things.  One day we went to Keller Port, a poor fishing village on Lake Kyoga, to do a net distribution.  We provided the community with 200 treated bed nets, and that distribution was probably the best and most organized one that we did.  Then another morning we had a meeting with the Arrow Boys group we're working with to pray for them and hear more about their stories.  We also met with the widows group we're working with in Otuboi to pray with them and distribute 2,000 notebooks and 500 pens for their children and orphans they care for to use in school.  We were able to bring greetings from children in the U.S. who gave their VBS offerings to this project, and the women were so excited to hear about these children and immensely grateful for the book and pens for their children.  They told us that they struggle to come up with the 6,000 Ugandan shillings (about $3 USD) that it costs for the pack of a dozen books that we gave each child, and that the books and pens would really help facilitate their children's education.  

Students carrying their school supplies home

We finished off the team's time in Kaberamaido with a weekend youth conference that we organized for 100 secondary school students.  Our friend Alfred, who is actually from Kaberamaido, led the conference on issues of character, leadership and developing a vision for their life, and it went really well!  It was a great way to end our time in Kaberamaido.  The team helped lead small groups to discuss what Alfred taught during the group sessions, and we also facilitated other games during the two-day conference.  The students were so glad to have us there, and it was exciting to hear their plans and dreams and to talk through issues with them.  

At the end of this year we are planning to return and spend a day in each of the five schools that participated in the conference to follow up with the students.  We also hope to hold another conference in early 2010, and if you would like to contribute to the next conference please email jade@refugeandhope.org and let us know!

Students from the youth conference posing with Carson