Love House

I’ve been much more intentional lately about hanging out at the kids’ houses and getting to know the house moms and the kids better. The first two houses are called Love and Hope, and they house 17 and 16 girls, respectively. The second two houses are called Grace and Mercy, and they each house 17 boys I believe. Last Saturday, I slept over at Love House. The girls were SO excited to have me there. I slept in a twin size bunk bed (top bunk of three!) with one of my very favorite girls here— Aweko Faida (pictured above).

When I was in Uganda in May-June 2009, I met Faida and connected with her, but she barely knew English and her eyes and face just seemed sad and burdened. This year when I saw her again, I knew right away that she had come so far since last year. Her eyes were bright and she smiled a lot. She’s not as skinny as last year; she looks healthy and nourished. When I went up to talk with her, I discovered that she now can speak a good amount of English, and now that I’ve been here for so long, I realize that she’s better at English than many of the kids who are older than her even! Faida is such a great testament of how effective Village of Hope is for the kids here.

Anyways… so I slept in Faida’s bed with her, and even though I didn’t get a great night of sleep (Faida is apparently a bed-hog and a blanket-hog, and half the night was spent with her leg sprawled over me!) I still loved it so much. Before we turned the light off, one of the girls in the room, Lillian, looked up at me and said, “Brynn… tell us a story… about education!” I laughed, and told them about how we have 12 grades, and then university. I told them that I am in university and explained that I am studying International Communications and that I hope to create peace across cultures. They loved it. Then I asked if any of them had stories about education, and Lillian and Faida both told stories about how their parents died because of the war, and they lived with only their older siblings (none of whom were older than 12 years) for a while. They had no clothes, no shoes, no food, and no money for school fees. Then, they said, Mama Rose signed them up with Village of Hope, and they got to go to school and they got clothes and food. They both ended by saying, “So I just thank God now, for Village of Hope and for Mama Rose and Mama Cindy so that I can go to school.” It was so great. Then we all fell asleep, and when we woke up in the morning, they begged me not to go.

Even though it was tiring, it was really great to just build relationships with all the girls that night. It felt so great to know that it made them feel so special that I had a sleepover with them. I’m so glad my time here in Uganda is only half over; it means I can only get to know these kids better! I am hoping to interview Faida for the documentary because she is such a story of hope. As I said before, hope is here. Change is happening... fast.

THANKS FOR READING! I may post another blog today with some pictures... I hope to, at least.

Brynn