Being Honest

I had an incredibly interesting conversation with someone recently.
And it got me thinking.

It started all because they asked me the question - what is the biggest challenge you face living here Uganda - on a personal level?

I didn't have to think too long cause the answer for me was a simple one - one I thought a friend would actually know.... I said, " its the same as my greatest challenge in Australia, my heath. It just is extra challenging here because of our lifestyle I think".

Now this person that has known me for some time responded with, "your health"?
What about your health?

I actually thought they were joking..... and I said, " you know just the daily challenges my condition brings. "
Again they gave me a bit of a blank stare.

And then they said, " actually no I don't really know, cause you don't talk about it. I was vaguely aware that you have challenges with your health, but you've never told me about it, you never talk about it..... so how could I know? "

I proceeded to explain why I don't talk about my health challenges that much.
Explaining that after a lifetime of talking about it, it gets tiring, and honestly most of my friends would hate it if i did actually talk about how much pain I'm in etc all the time.
Because what can they say in response.
And for me, if i talk about it all the time it feels like I'm dwelling on it.

And then if I'm honest, there is the voice of a long ago friend who actually said to me, ( while I was in plaster and on crutches after another major surgery) .... that they thought I didn't really have any "condition"...... when I said, "well how do I get the doctors to operate and remove growths from my body?" ...... Her response..... "well maybe you don't make it up, but I think you exaggerate it.... because I don't understand it."

I remember at the time being hurt, just so hurt, by a friend who I thought the sun shone out of, and even then, I very rarely talked or complained about my health struggles, but with her I'd felt I could be honest..... and now her reaction broke my heart.....

Because she didn't understand it..... I must be exaggerating it?? I could not fathom that statement.... since I didn't understand it.... my doctors don't understand it?
My condition was a random mutation of cells in the womb...... it can affect people in totally different ways.... some have big challenges... some have it and never have any problems.... it only occurs in around 5 million births...
Just because you don't understand something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
I'm sure that person didn't mean for their words to sink so deep within my heart that I would still hear them today.....
That even today I struggle to tell my darling husband the truth of how much pain I'm in, or how my body is really feeling, for fear that he will think I'm using it as an excuse or exaggerating it... ( which I know is ridiculous)

Words have power - don't they....

But this very wise friend then reminded me, that its ok to show our weaknesses sometimes.... and she also reminded me , that by still allowing those words spoken so long ago to affect me today, is allowing that person's negativity to continue to affect me.
And its "stolen from you the ability to be able to be REAL with those closest to you"

Those words hit me deep, stolen from me the ability to be REAL with those closest to me. . . I had never thought that by keeping my health challenges always to myself, I was actually not living my truth, and not being an honest friend.

Not that I need to go and share it with every person, but God tells us that we are to share and bear each others burdens.... I know I get frustrated when my friends don't share their struggles.... because I WANT TO BE THERE for them.... I had never put that in reverse though.

I had never thought that when I am real with my friends or those closest to me.... I give them permission to be real with me.

My friend then asked me to share all about my health with her, which I proceeded to do, when done she said, " thats an incredible testimony of trusting in God, and the joy of the Lord being your strength, but you know I would never have known what an incredible journey you have been on and your reliance and trust on God, if you hadn't shared with me your journey".

What a challenge.... if we don't share with others our burdens and challenges, how then can they fully understand how God gets us through......

So I am determined to be more real, so that others can feel they can be real with me.... Realizing that when we are real, or when people are real with us, we are better able to pray for people.
And to be reminded that words have power.... think before we speak....
And no longer will I allow those words spoken, to stop me from being honest with those I love.


P.S I'm sure some people will read this and wonder what my personal health challenges are, or how they affect my day to day life... especially here.... so if you don't know but would like to, especially so you know how to pray for us then email me and I'll share with you.

The Mbuyu Foundation READ FOR LIFE program

So we have an exciting new program kicking off in a few weeks.

It is called READ FOR LIFE.

It is a library program.

Majority of children here will never go to a library, or own their own books.

The children in the slums especially struggle with reading, as education is very poor, and the concept of being read to by an adult just doesn't happen.

Research shows clearly that the younger children are exposed to books and a love of reading the better they will do in every area of schooling.

For these children to have any hope of getting out of poverty they need to do well in their education.

Our program aims to introduce children to a love of reading and books through a library and reading program.

The program will be held at The Salvation Army's Home of Joy - which is the home of disabled children.

The children from the home will come to the program, along with the children in Katanga slums.

The Salvation Army children's home is in perfect location - right alongside this large slum in the heart of kampala.

Eventually we pray that the program will operate out of the slums itself one day when a facility becomes available.

The program runs every saturday during school term from 2 - 5pm.

In the school holidays it runs three times a week - mon, wed and friday.

 The children come along and will get fed a banana and some milk ( eventually when funding and space allows we hope to serve a full meal)

Then they split in to two age group 5 - 9 and 9 and above - eventually when we have enough helpers we will move to 3 groups.
At the moment Moses the social worker at the Salvos will be running the older group and helping to head it up when we aren't around and I will be taking the younger group along with another friend who is a social worker.

The children will be in their groups where they will learn letters, read stories, and do activties all to encourage, learning, language and a love for reading.
We will also use this time to tackle various issues, health, hygiene, friendships, abuse etc.

After the individual group time is finished the children will all meet back together for free time to sit and look at books and have the opportunity to borrow a book for a week - an AMAZING thing especially for the children from the slums.

The program is being made possible through donations of books from lions, The salvation army and individuals.
We are in need of more books so we pray more are donated or funds are donated for the purchase of books.
At the beginning everyone involved in the program is a volunteer but one day we hope to be able to pay those people who are giving of their time.

The children have already been coming along to look at books and borrow them but the new program will start on the 13th of August.

We will be sure to take some photos for you of the gorgeous kids from the slums and the home as they discover and learn about books.

Its a great chance for us to also speak encouragement and life into these kids, many who come from the poorest of the poor homes and are often left alone while parents go to find food or anyway of making some sort of income.

We are SO excited about this program - for me ( leah) especially, I LOVE to read.... and seeing the childrens eyes light up and knowing just how life changing learning to read can be for these kids is so exciting!

If you'd like to donate a book or books please let us know - books can either be bought here or send ( although postage is EXTREMELY expensive and long!)

LET THE LEARNING BEGIN :)

GUESS WHAT!.....

WE ARE REGISTERED!!! 

AS OF THE 1ST JULY WE ARE NOW A RECOGNISED and APPROVED NGO!!

Or Non Government Organisation for those wondering

We are extremely excited and grateful to God for speeding up the process!

We are grateful just to even have the approval given and to hear the government board of NGO's thinks what we want to do are wonderful.

We were told most likely it wouldn't be ready till August, but Rob and I had a feeling it may come through in July - and it did the 1st!

Which also happens to be my precious nana ( who just passed away) birthday.
She was always supporting my dream, from the very young 12 year old girl talking about moving and working in Africa one day - she always supported and encouraged it.

I love now that our organisations birthday will be on her birthday!

Our lawyer once again said to us he cannot believe how smooth the whole process has been - no bribes were asked for or anything like that ( which is common to speed up processes) .....
God has been in the whole process.

We will receive our certificate in the next week or so and then we can move around to the police and the child protection officers to get our license - this is a very quick process, just a matter of showing your certificate as an NGO and being handed back a license.

We have exciting days ahead now - 

• This month we will be involved in starting a literacy and library for children in one of Uganda's largest slums - I will share more about this after this weekend. 

• We are now aiming to start our babies home in the next 3 months - we are currently researching the possibility of renting somewhere for this to happen, while we continue to look for land. 

Obviously once we purchase our land for the MBUYU VILLAGE.... building etc will have to be undertaken, so at least renting somewhere for now would mean we can start caring for abandoned and orphaned babies. 

And more exciting news - 

• Last week Rob got to meet with the leading Fistula specialist in Uganda and share with him our dream for our surgical camps for women suffering from complications after pregnancy and childbirth. He is very keen to be involved as a surgeon and gave us some great ideas and tips on how to help the most vulnerable and ensure as many women as possible are helped! 

So with that we have begun the process of getting organised for our first surgical camp. 

Our aim is to run the outreach clinics starting next month where women will be screened etc and information will go around the villages regarding the surgical camp. 

Then at the end of August, or beginning of September the first surgical camp will take place. 

We still do not have the funding for this but God has challenged us both about how big our faith is..... and to step out in faith and prepare the way..... so that's what we are doing. 

STAY TUNED FOR MORE EXCITING NEWS IN THE COMING WEEKS!! 

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR PRAYER AND SUPPORT DURING THIS PROCESS!

ROBS BIRTHDAY

Rob's birthday was in May but I just realised I had all these great photos and never shared them - Ziah had been really sick and was improving - then a few days after this he went downhill again so it all went to the back of my mind. 

I surprised rob with a trip to the Botanical gardens at Entebbe - about 2 hrs from where we lived which is right on Lake Victoria. 

For a small entrance fee ( like $1 ) you can explore the huge botanical gardens by food or by car and enjoy the beautiful trees and water and all the monkeys. 

There is a not a lot of places here to go for picnics surprisingly but we do love picnics - so this was the best thing I could find without it costing too much. 

I saved up some money in the weeks leading up to it and went and bought some special treats for Rob that he likes. 

We enjoyed driving around ( at the time in rob's uncles old car ..... which decided not to start for us when we tried to leave!! ;) 

And then we enjoyed sitting alongside the lake and having our picnic.... and for the most part we were alone.... and had privacy.... something that doesn't happen much here when we are out..... 

That was until a busload of women from a church turned up and a picnic! :) 

Ziah was a hit of course..... while we tried to bang and poke the engine to start the car to leave! 

We enjoyed putting our fit in the water and pretending we were sitting by the beach back at home in Newcastle. 

It was a great family day - and was exactly what we needed at the time ! 

We sat for ages watching mummy monkeys and their babies playing.... 

There's a REALLY tiny baby monkey on the mums back - I'd say it had not long been born... was so cute

Found a piece of home - gum tree 

ZIah's first time seeing a monkey 

Special lunch - apricot yogurt ( a real treat) ..... some chips ( kind of like pringles ;) and grape juice since I couldn't get grapes... we enjoyed this along with avocados and tomatoes and bread. 

I realise how dangerous this is now - using my hand as a plate while rob cuts one handed :) 

HELLO WORLD - 

Touching lake victoria 

Our new place & update

Well this month has been so much better already than last month - God has been so good to us and we now have a new little place to rent for next few months... or however long we decide. 

We are now living in a place called seeta.... on a good day like before 6 am ( or say the middle of the night when there's zero traffic) its about 20 minutes from Kampala....

On a normal day outside of peak hours its about 50 minutes.... during peak time... its around 1 1/2 - 3 hours in a car/ taxi! 

So its usually an hour most of the time.... we do our best not to travel at peak time. 

We are renting a little two bedroom semi detached unit in a very secure compound at the end of a dirt track. 

We are surrounded by lots of other families in other compounds. 

At the moment we are the only tenants in the compounds as they are brand new but our landlady and her family live on site too. 

And she is an amazing landlady!! 

Making up for the hard experiences we have had the last few months... she's even paying for a night security guard for the compound so that's amazing. 

The other incredible thing about our landlady is she is a policewoman.... and guess what her role is.... she is in charge of child welfare... in particular street children!!! 

She was very excited and keen to help us connect with the right people in relation to working with police to help the children on the street.... this is an answer to prayer!! 

Our place is BY FAR the nicest place we've ever lived in here and has an inside kitchen... and it isn't just a sink... it even has a kitchen bench and wait for it.... KITCHEN CUPBOARDS! 

We also have TWO bathrooms!!! With two flushing toilets..... we went from a squat toilet last month to having two new bathrooms!! 

We have a wonderful shower.... but still no hot water But that's ok.... I'm actually getting use to the cold showers...and enjoying them.. after 3 years living here its about time! 

Once a week or so i boil water to wash my hair... its amazing how good hot water in a jug can feel and how you can pretend its a hot shower :) 

The other amazing thing about our new place is ... it has mirrors in the bathroom and hooks!! 

And we even have a wardrobe here! 

All these little things make for an amazing place. 

We also have a back door with little area ziah can play while i'm in kitchen or he can play in the compound safely and all the workers who are still here working on the landlords house think he is pretty wonderful ... and they have all been so good to us. 

The landlords sister lives with them and she is deaf but her and I are learning how to communicate and the electricians are deaf too... makes me so happy to see people employing them here!! Huge thing! 

This place is certainly healing my hurt from the way we were treated last month and from the money we had stolen.... 

Another amazing thing is that we live in walking distance to the fresh food market and to a grocery store.. that has AMAZING BREAD!!! 

Not cardboard like at all!!! 

This is amazing! 

We are still settling in and making ourselves at home but we feel very blessed to have found this place and it is new, safe and secure and within the price we wanted to pay!! 

Rob is currently working on building some furniture for our place and we will probably buy a lounge and a fridge this time.... 

We have decided even if we are only here a few months we are going to unpack and make it home .... too hard living out of a suitcase with a baby in the mix :) 

Rob is still waiting for a job... so please be at prayer about that. 

He has had a lot of interest from private hospitals, but Rob really wants to work in the public sector as this is where the greatest need it.

 So we continue to apply for jobs and pray one opens near to home, in the right area. 

In the meantime we continue to look for land for babies/children's home, educate ourselves on the way government and legalities work here in relation to children,  spend time at the various children's homes and ministries we've been involved in over the years, work on our farming and business adventures ( just beginning in the hopes of helping us to support the ministry) .... and enjoy watching hezekiah get better and grow while we wait for the registration to be approved. 

We have been told its at the final stages.... so that's exciting! 

I've also started writing a book.... we will see... people have been hounding ( and yes its literally been hounding me for the past year or so to write one.... ) so we will see how that goes ! 

I've attached a few photos of our house .... not unpacked or anything like that yet but you'll get the idea... once we make it more of a home we will be sure to upload some photos.... 

And for those wondering.... 

WE have only lost power a few times since being here..... and only for a few hours at a time!! 

So having a fridge should be ok :) .... and our landlady has put in a rainwater tank ( hallelujah) so we should always have water available !! 

IN ALL SERIOUSNESS WE FEEL VERY BLESSED TO HAVE FOUND THIS PLACE AND OUR LANDLORD.... We do not forget for a second why God has us here in Uganda, or how challenging life is for many people here. 

Although there are challenges for us, and money is always very tight and I miss home, and we have obstacles... they are nothing compared to the majority of the population who live on less than $2 a day..... 

I pray we never take what we have for granted.... and I pray you don't either! 

The compound - the far end if you look over the low fence to the left thats the landlords area and if you go up to the right at the end takes you outside our huge gate.

Our place - we are at the end of two others and at end of compound.. they will pave the verandah in time 

Main bedroom ( with ziah having a sleep on our bed - second bedroom is bit smaller than this 

Wardrobes and leading in to the bathroom

KITCHEN BENCH AND CUPBOARDS!!

I told you we had mirror and hooks! and shelf!

Behind the units - our area runs to just before the next built in area - we will put a little fence across so ziah can play safely in this area and not have to worry about cars out in the other section. 

We even have a little store outside ( most families would store big bags of food, ( beans, posho, rice etc) bananas and charcoal... we are using ours mostly for Rob's wood and tools

Our little man....

Here is a few videos and photos of our little character from the last month... I really hope the videos work... we may have a future preacher on our hands like his grandparents :) 

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Hezekiah LOVES mechanical items and tools and cars.... he stood watching rob use his drill for ages.. literally with his mouth hanging open :) 

Ice cream fun for the kids at Home of Joy

Well just because we are in the process of starting our own NGO and eventual children's home, does not mean our hearts or connection to The Salvation Army children's home's will change. 

After all - they have been Rob's home's since little and I have seen many of these kids growing up since my first visit there almost 8 years ago! 

Thanks to a special friend in Australia who sent some money for some treats for the kids, we went to have Sunday afternoon visiting and catching up with the kids at Home of Joy, ( the home for children with disabilities) 

It was so awesome to visit with the kids, hear how they've been doing since we've seen them last and for them to play with Hezekiah. Was great spending some time with them before they go back for another school term. We told the kids we would have a movie and games night during next holidays if they all work hard at school - this bought excitement as they remember the last movie night we had - was great fun!

But today they were excited about the ice-cream and banana's they all got to enjoy. 

These kids all have physical or mental limitations ( some have limbs missing or deformities) 

 but their joy for life radiates and they have the BEST personalities and laughs.... and are always so grateful! 

Enjoy these precious photos of the kids at home of joy and THANK YOU to that special guy who donated some treats for these special kids. 

SMILES ALL AROUND

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I've had the blessing of knowing the kids in this photo since my first trip to Uganda 7 and half years ago... they have all grown so much ...... but still just as cheeky :) 

John is pictured here wearing the outfit we gave them for christmas not last year but the year before... He takes good care of it he said.... I'll never forget that day where they all got a brand new outfit 

This is Rob's youngest brother Isaac with Hezekiah. During the school holidays Isaac stays at home of joy.... the salvos really have taken great care of Rob and his brothers 

This right here melted my heart.... Fiona has a severe mental disability, and here she is being fed so sweetly by another young boy at the home. 

Multiple tubs of icecream was enjoyed :) 

This is JAJA ( grandmother in Luganda ) ( she is the housemum for the girls ) in the pink head scarf
and Lois ( holding ziah)  lives at home of joy and works as the cook. 

Its a shame this photo is so blury - ziah was dancing with the kids and holding everyone's attention :) 

Typical me.... talking... 

Me and Vanis - my mum and dad's sponsor daughter for the last 12 years - she grew up at home of joy - she is now at boarding school but stays there during holidays - was great catching up with her before she headed back to school for new term.