Love+faith=differentworlds: October 2016

I had the best privilege the other day ( along with Ziah and Rob) to visit some of the homes and families of some of the children we are working with from the slums.

Our Read for Life Program has around 80 children now registered. Approximately 50 of them come from the slums with the remainder from the home for children's with disabilities where we are currently holding the program which sits just on the edge of Katanga slums.
We are growing quickly - and will seriously need to find a bigger place before too long.

The most amazing thing happened recently.
I was sitting looking at photos from my very first trip to Uganda 8 years ago.
Long before Rob and I got together.

When I came the first time I spent the majority of my time at Home of Joy ( the home for children with disabilities - where we now hold read for life) and also a very large part of my time in Katanga slums .... having no idea then though that 8 years later we'd be running a ministry for these people.
Even though I knew Africa would be my home one day.

Well as I was flipping through photos of the first trip..... an amazing thing happened... as I was looking at photos of children and babies I cuddled in Katanga 8 years ago.... I started to see faces I knew now... children who are now in our READ FOR LIFE program!
I hadn't realised because they were babies or toddlers or under 7ish... but straight away as I looked at the photos I could see kids I was now teaching...
Tracy who is now a teenager... and her baby sister who is now 6 and in my class... multiple other babies who have very distinct faces who I could see are some of the kids I am working with now.

This blew me away - what a circle!
Obviously the children didn't remember although one said she remembered a white girl coming and playing with them and being with them but she hadn't connected i was the same person.

As I walked around the slums only the other day - I was so blessed to meet again many of their mothers - and many of them remembered me and were so amazed and even more humbled that the mzungu who was teaching their children - was the one who had said she'd come back.... and that I actually did!
One mother said to me.... " you came back, you said you would.... but most never do".
Brings me to tears even now as I write this.

It broke my heart that nothing has changed for these families, their circumstances are still the same... just more children and more mouths for the mothers to feed.
We have to change this place!

Katanga slums is in the heart of the city - it is situated in the valley between the countries largest government hospital and the largest university in Uganda.
It was a place Robert often would walk when he walked between his university and to do his rounds at the hospital - also not knowing one day we would be ministering there.

Katanga is home to more than 20,000 people! In make shift homes and shacks.
The majority of the people come from the villages up country - looking for work or a better future, but with so few jobs and no money they make shift homes in the slums.
Katanga is a breeding ground for human trafficking, street children, HIV and prostitution is one of the most common forms of employment. Many of the families who beg on the street who we want to help came from Katanga or similar slums.

There are only 5 public toilet blocks in the whole place for over 20,000 people! And you have to PAY for these toilets.... so you can imagine that open sewage runs in many places throughout the slums.
The smell is something you need to experience.

There are children everywhere and you can imagine the dangers facing children in a place like this.