Child of Hope

Today was the most heart wrenching day so far. 

I thought the city was poor...oh nooo, I obviously hadn't been to the slums. The city seems rich compared to what I saw today. On our way, we stopped in an area where all these precious children wanted us to take pictures of them. I took close ups of their face and showed them and they thought it was hilarious. I also let them where my glasses and they got a kick out of that too.

 This little boy was so cute. They were all adorable actually.

We met with this school, Child of Hope who provides education to children in the a slum (the poorest part of Mbale or Africa in general) called Namatala. The children who attend the school are either orphans or they choose one child from each family who is living in the most poor conditions. The school was so cute. There were drawing and words just painted on the walls and the desks were so small.

 One of the teachers walked us through the slum where the children live and the conditions were horrid. There are about 10 people who live in one hut. They live on 1,000 shillings a day (that's less than 50 cents per person) It was incredible to see how happy the children seemed to be even though they are living in this kind of environment. Although, the children appear happy, you can see the need in their eyes and their appearence. Most don't have shoes and their clothes are torn and covered in dirt. 

The huts they live in...

It was hard to be out there the whole day then come home to a house with a cooked meal ready for us. There is just so much need in this slum of 20,000 people that it's hard to evaluate what is the highest priority that needs to be done. Last year they provided about 20 sanitation systems so they had clean water and they also worked in the school. This year, we are thinking of providing more sanitation systems and teaching the women how to make beaded jewelry so they can sell it therefore make more money for their family. There is so much that needs to be done ahhhh it's overwhelming.

All of the children would just come and grab you and touch your skin. This little boy held my hand almost the whole time. He was so precious. 

 When we were walking back, this heard of cows was coming straight toward us, NBD

(Just thought I'd end on a lighter note)