December with the guys

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

It was lots of fun having six of the Sudanese young men spend Christmas with us in Kampala!!! Since bringing them to Kenya in 2006, we have never spent a Christmas together, so it was really special.

Here they are on Christmas morning (from left to right) Lino, Angelo, Mubarak, Saudi, Al Jehli and Abdul.

They are all in their 20s now (except for Lino and Angelo) and are on their way to finishing High School finally!! It has been a LONG, hard journey, but they will make it!!

Barakat and Abraham went home to Sudan for the Christmas holidays and will return when school opens in a few weeks.

It was so fun to all be together!!!

They played a lot of football (soccer), volleyball and basketball

...and ate a LOT of food!!!

We were very pleased to see Abdul (on the right) again after several months of spending time in Sudan.
Abdul left home as a young boy in 1996 to fight with the SPLA (South Sudan rebel army) and this was his first time back home in 13 years. During this trip back home, he discovered his siblings were living in a very difficult situation so he wasn't sure if he should stay there or return to finish school. After a lot of struggle, he managed to help them out and then got a job to pay for his own way to travel back.
He has returned ready to finish High School and is much more focused.
One thing he found out while home was his real age!! He is 21 years old, which means he was 13 when we first met him in Sudan at the demobilized child soldier transit camp! He will be 22 in just a few days in January!
It has been great because one of our good friends here in Kampala is the owner and chef of a Japanese restaurant and has been training Abdul and letting him work there for the past few weeks.
Abdul at work with chef John One thing we have been focusing on is helping the guys become more computer literate.
We set up the office during the holidays as a computer room so the guys could learn how to type and how to use the internet. Here they are having a typing competition. They really improved a lot just in a few weeks.

Keep your hands on the home keys!!!! :)

Christmas was a very special day!
Thank you to the wonderful people who donated some great gifts for the guys!

Here are the guys opening up their Christmas presents on Christmas morning.
It was a joy to watch and experience.

Opening gifts and reading letters from church members who gave.

Calculators!!!

A MUCH needed item for the guys for school.

Thank you to Martin and Anita M. for these!!!!

Al Jehli with his gift!

A BIG thank you to McLean Baptist Church in Virginia for the awesome sports shoes!!!

Mubarak holding up his new shoes!

Mubarak is the oldest of the guys and probably has had the most intense combat experience. He has been wounded more than once and still has hearing problems from a landmine explosion.

He will FINISH school this next year (2010)!!! Yea Mubarak!!!

Saudi holding up his new shoes

Saudi will likely attend University in the next one or two years either in Sudan or in Uganda.

He wants to be a leader and help bring unity and peace to Sudan.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and given to Refuge and Hope this year!

Your gifts have made a difference in the lives of many people!

Please consider how you can give this next year to help bring HOPE to the lives of those affected by war and conflict in Uganda and beyond!

Happy New Year and God Bless You!!!