Good Shepherd's Fold, Jinja, Uganda

It is Thursday morning here and I have less than a week left.  For me time has flown by, but I am sure for my brother at work, the time hasn’t gone fast enough.  But you must all know that I feel so blessed to be able to here again at the orphanage and spend time with the kids.

Yesterday Lecrecia (New Zealand), Susan (AIM missionary working in Kampala), and I all got together and tried to set up a plan to help the special needs kids here at the Primary school.  This area of course is not my cup of tea, but we got some things all worked out and the two ladies are going to do a seminar with the teachers today on how they can help those kids better.  We tried to identify the kids with severe physical needs and then the kids with learning needs.  So they are putting together a plan to implement some changes here at the school.  So hopefully that will help.  We all had a meeting with the headmaster yesterday morning and were filling him in on the plan, and he needed to be on board with everything, because he was going to have to be the one to be on the teachers about doing it right.  So hopefully things will work out.

After we got all done meeting with the headmaster, I went into Jinja with Carolyn to do some shopping for the orphanage.  We took one of the girls (Barbara) out of school to come with us for the afternoon.  Let me explain why Barbara needed to come.  Back in October I talked to Carolyn about Barbara and her brother and sister.  Barbara and I got pretty close the last time I was here, so she had a special place in my heart.  Well most of the kids here at the orphanage have some sort of family.  Maybe an aunt or and uncle, they have at least somebody.  So they have a place that they can go to for holidays.  Well Barbara has no family.  Her dad use to work at GSF.  She was really young and doesn’t remember him, but he died.  So she has no family.  She turns 18 this year and then she leaves the orphanage, but has no place to call home.  Anyway, so there are about six people who I have asked to help me buy her a piece of land and build her a small home.  The cost of this project is between 4 and 5 thousand dollars.  There is a plot of land for sale, but it is pretty far out.  So anyway, we can get it for a good price, but now Barbara has to make the decision if this is where she wants her home.  It is hard getting an answer out of her, but my word she is 17, this is a big decision to make.  Man I still don’t know for sure where I want to live and I have had a few more years to think about it.    So please be praying for Barbara and me as we have a big decision to make.

After we went and looked at the land, we went and visited the Gardners for an hour or so.  It was really great to see them.  They are the ones who really encouraged me to come to the orphanage in the first place.  And I thank them for that.  They seem to be doing great.  They only have another month, maybe two before they head back to the states.  So I am sure we will all see them soon.

Carolyn and I were going to go to one of the secondary schools today and go and visit some of the older kids that were here last year while I was here.  We had a few new items we were going to take for them.  But it has been raining since the middle of the night.  The roads here are horrible, so we would have a hard time being able to make it to the school.  So I guess we are going to stop by there on the day I leave.

I have still been having a few issues here with the computer, so I better get this sent.  Besides, mom I wanted you to have something to read before you went to bed.

Deb 

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The girls were helping me move the trunks

Hope, Jenny and Anna