Yesterday we went to a village called Kikondo and passed out over 300 pairs of shoes to children who didn't have them. For those of you who are newer readers we spent some time before we left for Uganda collecting shoes to bring for children in need. It was a great experience, but also very stressful! We had to take a boat across Lake Victoria to get to Kikondo and when we pulled up, children came running immediately yelling, "mzungu, mzungu!" Since they don't speak English we told them in Lugandan to come and sit on a patch of grass to wait while we organized all of the shoes we brought.
We lost control right away...the kids saw the shoes and went crazy! Tons more came running from all directions when they heard that white people were there with gifts. All of the adults came to watch too. Children and their mothers swarmed us and their hands shot toward us, all of them desperate for a pair of shoes. We were yelling and literally pushing people away, trying to convey to them that they needed to make a line. We knew this would be chaos, but it was beyond crazy!!! They wouldn't listen, so we started passing out shoes in the correct size the best that we could. After each child received shoes they got marked with permanent marker. This was to prevent kids from getting 2 pairs. In desparate situations people will do anything to get something... anything. Mothers were shoving their screaming children at our faces telling us their kids were sick and desparately needed shoes. Kids scrubbed their sharpie marks off their hands trying to pretend they hadn't gotten a pair yet. We were so lucky that we had our volunteer friends, Renee, Shana and Daniella with us, along with my parents. We needed everyone to help keep the people back and to watch for stealing.
Despite the chaos there were some great moments! The smiles that children got when they were handed a brand new pair of shoes were priceless. Kids were scared of us because we were white but they decided we were okay when they saw they got to keep their very own pair of shoes. Over 300 kids got new shoes thanks to all our donations from home. This was an incredible experience! Thank you so much to everyone who has helped us with this! We have hundreds more and are already planning to go to another poor village to give them out.
After passing out shoes we wanted to give each child some food. We oredered 200 chapati (flat bread) and "oranges" which were actually lemons. Kids here love chapati and when they saw what we were doing they went crazy again! They grabbed and ripped and pushed others down so they could get one. We couldn't move in the mob they were forming around each of us. When a child would recieve their chapati he would have to crunch down into a ball, keeing the chapati close to his chest so that others wouldn't rip it from his hands! It was crazy, and sad. These people are so desparate for anything...even a small piece of bread. We left feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. But this was a great experience and one that we will truly never forget.
1 comments:
Hi girls!
I stumbled onto your blog a few weeks ago, and I've just fallen in love with the two of you!! My family and I are in the process of adopting from Uganda, and just knowing that there are people like you out there caring for and loving on all of these precious children is so comforting. I am truly inspired by the way you are living out your lives and being obedient to God. I have posted a link to your page on my blog so that more of the world can be exposed to your mission and your example.
On another note.... the director of our adoption agency told us about the quintuplets born in Jinga, and I saw that you were able to visit them. They have been on my heart so much lately. Do you happen to have any updates on how they are doing? Thank you so much! And thank you for being the hands and feet...and heart!
~Jen
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