A Roller Coaster of Emotions

"HOW CAN WE HELP?" So much need is before us each day we leave Suubi house. So much hunger, so much poverty and story after story of women fleeing their villages because they are being violently abused.

This morning we made our way out to Masese slum area.  We went with Ivan HB Village manager and Salima our HB social worker and Jacqui the village HB nurse to greet a government official who had identified five women who were most vulnerable at this moment.  We took with us rice, posha, soap, sugar and oil to give them. We listened to their stories and asked if we could pray for them.  Lucy and Helen were two of the ladies and their stories were devastating and hard to take in. Lucy had 6 children but one recently died from an accident and Helen had 4 children. They had both run away from other villages to fless violent abuse on a daily basis from their husbands, they had come to Masese slum to get away but still find themselves vulnerable, alone and afraid. They go through the garbage to find scraps to sell and food to give to feed there children. Some days they do not eat but go hungry as they could not find enough scraps.

We walk past a couple of ladies who are producing alcohol from millet to earn money to stay alive even though this is fueling ongoing dysfunction throughout the community but this helps them stay alive.

The kids at the slum run up to us calling out "muzungu, muzungu" (which means white person) just wanting us to hold their hands and love on them.  It truly was heartbreaking to see so much need and not be able to do much about it but knowing that we are all commanded to feed the hungry and care for the orphans and the widows. We continue to pray and ask God "show us who we need to be a blessing to today?"  We take in the words on the wall at Suubi House that say:

NO ONE CAN DO EVERYTHING BUT EVERYONE CAN DO SOMETHING

In the afternoon we visited Jinga Christian school were all the primary kids from HB village attend. It was great to see the development of the school and the ongoing plans for future growth.