What a day! Heavily packed with joy and tears.
It began this morning as Hannah and I were picked up by World Vision and set out to meet our sponsored child Zakalyia. Our driver had to make a stop and pick up his tire that he replaced while on his way to pick us up. We headed out to Bundibugyo which is on the way to Rwebasango. The road drops about 5000 feet into the low lands. It’s hotter and dryer. It’s also very close to the boarder of Congo.
It is a busy road. Barely enough room for one car, let alone, buses, taxis, cattle trucks and us… World Vision Land Rover. It was on our way down that we saw a soldier who crossed his arms. I heard our WV staff member say, “Is the road closed?” My stomach sank. How could this be? We’ve driven all this way. We can walk… that was my thought. But, as we drove, we didn’t see any road block… Until, we rounded a curve and were met with many vehicles. There were lots of people and many were gathering around a large semi that failed to make a turn and now the backside was hanging off a cliff. If that wasn’t bad enough, a smaller vehicle tried to get around and ended up getting stuck too.
Our WV staff person called the office and they sent a car from the other side to pick us up. We walked down and around the incident a ways and found a nice shade spot and parked ourselves and waited for our 2nd driver. He rolled up in a 4 door sedan. We placed our packs in the trunk and off we went.
He was taking us to the WV offices in charge of our Area Development Program (ADP). I was amazed that our driver was able to drive the road to the offices. I thought for sure we are getting stuck but that was not the case. On arriving we were given a small tour of the WV offices in charge of 3 ADP’s. We met the staff in charge of sponsorship program and were asked to sit and wait while they thought of a way to get us to our child since our vehicle was not stuck behind a lot of other folks. We were then informed that the car wouldn’t be able to make it to where our sponsor child is… They said, “The only way we can get you there is by motor bike.” Well, if that’s what we have to do. So Hannah and I jumped on the back of some boda bodas and headed into the mountain region to make our visit.
It was a fun ride… for Hannah. All I could think of was, “Her mother is going to kill me.” We went up hill and down hill, up, up hill and down. It was a bit longer than I expected. We arrived at the pathway to Zak’s home and started our climb. Through the coca trees we found homes and then we found little Zaks home. I saw him immediately. He looked just like his picture. I shook his hand and he invited Hannah and I into his home.
We were welcomed by his Father, Kiiza, Mohammad Katsirombi. We sat at a table prepared for us with little stools to sit on. Everything was covered in a nice table cloth with red roses embroidered in it. We were gathered, along with many neighbors, with Zak’s family. It was a special day. His BIRTHDAY! Yes, today is Zak’s 8th birthday. However, Ugandans don’t celebrate birthdays, so when we put up the banner that said, “Happy Birthday” I’m not sure he understood what we were trying to say.
We opened up his backpack and started handing out gifts. It was a blast. I mean, how exciting to meet your sponsored child? After handing out the gifts, we played soccer for a bit, blew bubbles (not sure they got the idea of that one as well as we hoped) and laughed.
We told them we pray for them every night and the father told us that he to prays for us. We said our goodbyes and loaded up on the bikes and headed back. On our return, the car that had dropped us off before was gone, so we had to ride the bikes again to the wreck and cross over to our transportation on the other side. It was a long ride back. I have many thoughts, none that I will share for now. This is the short version.
We made it back to Fort Portal in time to meet up with the other team who had been visiting in a near by village. They were attacked by a cobra that was in a tree. Well, not attacked but it did “jump” according to them, from one tree to another. They tried to find it and kill it but had not luck. Upon meeting Jeff took us to by cookies so we could visit the children’s clinic in town to pray and give cookies.
I must say the clinic/hospital for kids is amazingly remodeled. I could hardly believe it when I stepped in. It looks great. However, it is still sub par for the care that is needed there. Many children simply have Malaria and need treatment. Some have TB, others have broken a limb and some burned.
This is where my heart breaks. After a wonderful day with such a healthy boy, I met two kids, Joseph and Juliet in the burn unit. I must say, I wept tonight for them. Juliet shook with pain as her mother showed us the burns that resulted in spilling a large pot of soup into her lap. Her lower stomach, private area and upper leg were seriously burned. We gave her cookies and she clutched them to her chest and stared at the ceiling. Joseph was rough housing with his siblings and ran into the boiling pot set on the fire. He flip into it head first and the pot turned over onto him.
While I was standing there, his mother uncovered him from dirty sheets and lifted him out of bed so he could pee into a plastic basin. I can’t even type this without tears. This poor child, who most likely will die to infection, just wanted to play with his siblings and now he can barley stand to go to the bathroom which is no bathroom at all. I suppose it’s so difficult because all I can see is my little boy. No mother or father or child should ever have to endure this suffering. Jesus remove this suffering in a way that only YOU can.
All we had to offer was prayer and cookie packs, which this child couldn’t even eat due to his burned face and mouth. I HATE this suffering. My heart is broke.
“Help me God to have a heart that is broken by the things that break Your heart..”
If you find yourself reading this blog, do me a favor and hug your children. I miss mine so much. I feel so helpless.
“I’ve commanded you to be strong and brave. Don’t ever be afraid or discouraged! I am the LORD your God, and I will be there to help you wherever you go.”
--Joshua 1:9 CEV
Please help me Lord.
Johno~
