Goodbye at Compassion

The days at Compassion International has truely been among my favourite days. The kids are picked among the most needy in the society. Living in poverty and difficult circumstances they are given an opportunity to attend school, get healthcare and are thought about christianity. I was amazed to see how much this project means to the childen. Please, if you want to help, check out www.compassion.com

Here, the children dancing and singing. + Me saying goodbye to the wonderful kids.

Queen Elisabeth National Park

Easter party at Ruhandagazi

We were working at Ruhandagazi, a Pimary School for disabled once a week. As it was getting close to easter, we thought of repeating the success of a christmas party there, and asked if it would be children around.

"All the children that cannot afford to go home for easter will be here" was the reply. Ah, these we must make a party for, we thought.

On the day of the party, I double checked if there still was around 20-30 children as planned. Aroung mid-day I got a msg: "The longer you are delaying, the more children are coming". When we finally came, around 70 children were waiting for us, the news of a party had spread to friends and neighbours.

It was a great day with games, candy, food and some presents. These kids are so inspiring. They seems to really mean what they express, and when they show their appreciation, it touches the heart.

Fun at BMC-Hospital

The Tuesdays at BMC keeps getting better and better as the children gets more comfortable and feels more free with us.

The Tuesday before Easter weekend was a highlight. We were painting on easter eggs, drawing, playing cards, playing music and making waffels.

At times the children doesn't want to leave the hospital after their check-up is finished. So thats a good sign that they musb be enjoying. And when they are happy, so are we!

(Photos by Anne: The girl and I + the heart in our hands)

Gulu - a long way to get back after war

24th of March we joined a norwegian pastor to visit some projects that his church is sponsoring up north in Gulu.
One of the things that really got to me was a visit to a child daycare center. The children who come here, are affected in many ways after the war, run by LRA.

Some have lost their parents, others been kidnapped and trained to be soldiers by LRA, others have been among the thousands of children walking miles from their village to town every night in fear of the possible attacs in the villages at night time.

At the centre, the children were thought things other children automatically grow up with. They must be thought about their cultur, songs and dances. Much time are spent on teaching these kids what it is to just play! Sounds unimaginable for us in Norway.

The photos are from the daycare centre, and 2 photos are taken from a visit to the IDP (Internally Displaced People)-camp we visited.

A statistic say that there are about 476 000 people in Gulu. Of those 476 000, 70 000 are orphan children. Of the 70 000 orphans 90% has HIV/Aids!!! Chew on that number... Its a painful one.

Wedding at Lake View Hotel

On 17th of March Anne and I joined a friend to attend a wedding held at Lake View Hotel, Mbarara. Just had to share a glimps of this amazing cake. We were sitting through most of the ceremony wondering wether or not the cakes under the fruits were real.

Back to Kisumu

For the second time in my stay, I crossed the boarder and went to Kisumu, Kenya. I lived here for a few months 2 years back, working with street children.

It was great to be back. I first went to Interfelk, and spent the day with the new streetboys at the center. We had a good time with games like "stolleken", "potetløp" and "slå-på-ring"

Then I visited Jans Academy, where the streetboys are taken to boarding school after completing about a year in the rehabilitation centre at Interfelk. I was so proud to see the former streetboys I was with, now in their school uniforms and happy attending school.