A year ago…

At this time last year we were in Uganda! This trip was the most amazing experience of my life, and I’ll never be the same because of it!

 

(Photo by: Hayley)

 

 

“We learned that orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they’re not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes…” – David Platt, “Radical”

The fact that 8 of these babies are no longer orphans totally amazes me! A year ago we were loving on them in Uganda, now they know the love of a family!

“A Father to the fatherless… God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home.” Psalms 68:5-6

7 months ago…

…I was heading back home from Uganda.  It’s hard to believe it’s been so long!

I must say there hasn’t been a day that Uganda and it’s people have not been in my thoughts. Once you go to a place like that you can’t ever forget it!

After watching this video it only caused me to become more and more “homesick” for Uganda:

(Video by: Hayley Catt)

All I want to do is go back! And hopefully someday soon I will no longer have to just imagine being there again, but I will actually be in the land I have grown to love once again!!

We Suffer from Depraved Indifference…

…But there is a solution to our disease. It’s Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ will change a man into a man that feels what Jesus Christ is feeling. Do we care at the level God cares? I’m willing God, burden me!

In Case You Didn’t Know…

‎::32 million people live in Uganda.::

::50% of the population is under 15. That means 16 million are under 15. WOW. 16 MILLION!?::

::Only 30% of the children attend school::

::1/3 people don’t have access to clean water::

::8 doctors for every 100,000 people. 100,000 people?!::

::in 2006, at least 36% of Ugandans were living on less than a $1 a day::

::Uganda is roughly the same size as Oregon::

::There are at least 2.5 MILLION orphans::

So why Uganda???

WHY NOT?!!!

Bringing Life to Uganda’s People

First watch this video:

Then check out this website to see how you can help bring clean water to the people of Uganda! This will save lives!

Uganda Team Member’s Photo Gallery

If you would like to see more photos of our time in Uganda, go here. You will find pictures from several different team members, and check back every once in a while to see new uploads. And you can also download any pictures that you want onto your computer, and they will be in good quality.

SafeWorld Nexus Video

(SafeWater Nexus is now SafeWorld Nexus!)

Please watch this video to see what you can do to help these incredible people. This video means a lot to me, because I walked these same paths, I went to this same waterhole, I held the little boy with the bloated stomach and the contagious smile, and I got to meet some of these people face to face! I saw their pain and I witnessed their needs. They need our help!

The boy carrying the water (Photo by: Rosie)

Marvin and his continuous smile (Photo by: Kayley)

I’ve also witnessed what it’s like for these people to have safe drinking water. It means so much to them, in fact it means LIFE!

Uganda Video

Here is a video I put together with some of the clips I captured while in London and Uganda.

Day 16 (London then Atlanta)

June 10, 2010

We landed in London early this morning. After we got through customs we got on the London Expressway to get to the city. We went window shopping and got to look around at different parts of the city. It was raining and pretty cold, which was quite a change. We went out to lunch at “The Dinner”, and ordered some great American food. Then we walked around in the city a little more. Then, we went back on the underground to the airport. We made it back a little early so we got to walk around the airport and look in some of the shops. We then boarded the flight at about 3 in the afternoon (London time). We are now in the air on our way back to the States and I am trying to stay awake, so I can get used to the time change.

___________________Later___________________________

We just landed in Birmingham, Alabama. This was not on our schedule, but they said there was storms in Atlanta, so we had to come here to refuel. We won’t be in Atlanta for a few hours, it sounds like. We followed the sun all the way across the ocean, so that was pretty crazy. I am glad I can go to sleep when I get home, though. It is crazy to know that we are in America again! All we can do is look out our window right now, so it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I know I will miss Uganda so much, I already do! I am going to try to get a nap when we are in the air again, then after the Atlanta airport, I have 3 hours until I am home.

__________________Later  _________________

We are finally in Atlanta! It has been a really, really long day!!! It was really hard saying goodbye to all our team members. After we went through customs we all said goodbye to each other.  We will keep in touch, but it will be hard not to see them anymore. We have some amazing memories together and I hope we never forget our trip to Uganda! And hopefully we can all return one day!!

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Day 15 (Last day in Uganda)

June 9th, 2010

Today started out with our last shower and breakfast at the guesthouse. Then, a couple of us went to the baby home for one last hour with the babies. It was hard to say goodbye again, but great to see them all and get to spend a little more time with them. I really hope I can go back to Loving Hearts someday, it is an amazing place. When we got back we all got our suitcases together then loaded the bus. We said goodbye to our cooks. We were very sad to leave our guesthouse and all our new friends. We then went to the zoo in Entebbe in hopes of seeing some African animals before we left. When we were pulling into the zoo started to notice swarms of bugs. As we drove further in it looked like we were in a blizzard of bugs. They were everywhere. It must have been some kind of plague. We realized they were coming out of Lake Victoria in what looked like clouds of smoke. It was unlike anything we had ever seen, and even the locals had never see it. We decided to brave the bugs anyway and go through the zoo. We did get to see a lot of animals, but they weren’t very active. It was the middle of the day, so I guess they tired and hot. The chimps, however, were very fun to watch. They were by far the best part. Most of us just wanted to get it over with, since we were surrounded by bugs pretty much the whole time. We decided it was time to leave when the wind blew in a big cloud of bugs our way. We all ran out and got into our bus. A very exciting last day in Uganda, that’s for sure! We went out for lunch before we headed to the airport. It was bitter sweet to arrive at the airport, because we knew we were leaving this amazing country and all our friends. It seemed like a very long time ago that we were at this airport, but it was only 12 days ago. We said goodbye to our driver and a few of our translators that were with us for the day. They were very sad to see us go and they wished they could come with us. But, hopefully we will see them again. Now we are sitting in the airport waiting for our flight to Kenya.

_______________Later_________________________

When we got to our gate we looked out and saw an amazing sunset over the lake. Sadly, it was the last African sunset of our trip, but it was a great ending to an amazing time in Uganda.We had a good flight to Nairobi, Kenya. It was pretty short and non-eventful. The Nairobi airport was more exciting at night, for some reason. We explored it a little more then last time and found out it was much bigger than we thought. We even found showers and a coffee shop! After waiting at the gate for a while we boarded the 777 and took off for London. We ate dinner at about 1 am and then watched a few movies and tried to get some sleep. I was sleeping for a little while, I think. But now I can’t. I am enjoying my window seat again. I can see the stars when I look out. Flying still amazes me! We will be in London in a few hours, and I am excited to get to see more sights there. It’s not very often that I’m in London!

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