So, as you can see, we made it (in the rain) to the Uganda Wildlife Center, more commonly known as the Entebbe Zoo. We had a group of 99 of us including every child from Hope Children’s Home, our teachers and a few others make this journey on three large buses. What a great time! The children began singing from the moment we left the children’s home. I am not quite sure if they stopped for more than a few moments the entire trip. I think some will tell you that the bus rides were more exciting than the zoo! It is wonderful to see so many lives filled with joy that were once filled with heartache and sadness.

As we drove away, we began with…."Do you want to know me?…(Oh yeah!)…My name is Alpha….(Oh yeah!)….I live in Gganda…(Oh yeah!)…oh yes I do do do…Do you want to know me……" and so on until everyone in the van had a chance to introduce themselves in the song.

Most of the kids have only been out of the village one other time when we took them to DiDi’s World, a local amusement park, early this year. They had a blast on this trip. We all had a blast on this trip watching the kids as they saw these animals for the first time. The one thing that kind of surprised me is that the only Giraffes we saw were in the photo above. Also, there were no elephants??? In an African zoo? I guess their lack of funds prevents them from providing the proper habitat for some animals so we were glad to see the ones that were there.

Before leaving the zoo, we paid for each child to experience a donkey ride. They ALL jumped on those donkeys like they had done it all of their lives, two at a time on two donkeys going round and round in the enclosure. Smiles were in abundance during this entire trip. To top the trip off, as we arrived back to our buses, there were many monkeys running all over the place eating out of our hands. They were wild monkeys, but obviously they have been fed before! They climbed all over our buses and even jumped into the window of one of them in the parking lot. I began to laugh hard at the thought of one of those monkeys jumping into Steve Bittner’s lap as he sat by the window. It actually almost happened until I walked by, unknowingly scaring the monkey who was on the roof about to make his move! Bummer. Oh well, another great day in Africa expressing the love of Jesus to the orphans in such a practical way, spending time with them and showing them that we care.

Mike

It is 2:40AM in Uganda. I was sleeping so well until I was awakened first by the sound and the sensation of multiple mosquitoes having a middle of the night feast on my body. After spending some time itching and covering up so that every part of my skin was protected, I went back to sleep. Just then, my phone rang….I answered the phone worried about what important call that I was receiving this late at night.

Hello? "Hello Mr. Salley, did you say you wanted a 7 seater vehicle for next Sunday or a van?" Uhhhh yeah, a 7 seater would be great Alosyious. "Ok, Mr. Salley, I will see you on Sunday." I am glad that my Ugandan friend wanted to make sure that he reserved the correct vehicle, but to call at this time of night?  Hmm, well, since I am up anyway, I decided to go ahead and attempt this blogging thing. What is a blog anyway?  Well, here it goes…

Sometimes while I am hanging out, worrying about the "important" things in my life like we all do, the thought briefly crosses my mind "Why even bother?" Why do I spend my time telling people about Show Mercy and our work in Uganda?  Why should I be concerned about having to raise money every month to provide food for what is now 188 kids every day, when I have so many things to do in America? Why worry about paying for doctor bills for those same children when they are sick with malaria or dysentery or in bed with high fevers and headaches?  Why am I even concerned about the future education of children that I only see a couple of times a year?  I guess I only think like that when I am tired or feeling overwhelmed, but today while at Hope Children’s home, I met a new girl named Grace.  When I saw her, I was moved with a heart of compassion and then…I realized, this is why we do what we do!

I had heard about this girl named Grace. At first she was just another girl who needed us to try and find her a sponsor.  You see, the kids here in Uganda are desperate to go to school and they know that their future could potentially be at a dead end if they do not receive an education. She needed school fees in order to continue her education. Just another girl who has experienced more heart ache in her short 16 year life than most of us will experience in a life time, but there she was standing before me. Grace is what they would call "cripple" or "lame" in Uganda. They are mostly rejected, taunted, teased and considered a lower class person in the Ugandan culture. I mean, she walks with a very obvious limp, probably due to the fact that the "bottom" of her left foot is in the position where the top of most of our feet are. She walks on the top of her foot. Of course special shoes to fit feet like that are very expensive in Uganda, so she just wears normal flip flops that are torn and worn. She speaks very good English. Education is very important to her. You see, she has been trying to attend a local school, but the walk is "very tiresome on her legs" as she tells me with a smile on her face.

She is always smiling, greeting, hugging and speaking to me, even with what is obviously some form of mental challenges. She is such a sweet girl. But you see, the problem is, Grace is just another Ugandan kid who needs help. Who really wants to hear about another poor African child? We have our own lives and problems to worry about, right? Why even bother?

We took about 150 kids on a long walk through the village to go play in a soccer field yesterday. On the way, Grace was holding my hand and trying to keep up with the rest of the kids and the team of 24 from the USA as they moved quickly to go play soccer and net ball. Keeping up wasn’t really an option as the kids in front of us began to fade into the distance. She didn’t really complain, just smiled at me and told me that she would need to slow down because her legs were hurting. I then offered to get her a boda boda ride(motorcycle taxi) to the park so that she could actually make it to hang out with the rest of the kids without hurting her legs and arriving a half hour later than the rest of them. She smiled and told me thank you and rode off to the field. 

We arrived at the park and Grace stood next to me and began to tell me her story about school. She asked me if it would be possible for me to help her in any way to get her school fees paid. You see, they had told her to leave school because she was out of money. The local church had taken an offering for her but it was only enough for the registration fees, not the tuition. Today was her last day of school.

I get asked for these fees all of the time and as I usually do, I tell them to pray and we will see what we can do about getting a sponsor. I mean, you can’t help everyone right?   I told her the same and she smiled and thanked me for even considering it. Then tears began to fill my eyes as they are right now as I write this. How could I say no? How could an organization named  "Show Mercy" tell a kid like this no? That is why we were created right?  To reach out to people just like this.  I stopped and looked at her and said "yes, we will pay your school fees. We will make sure you can go to school." Her face lit up in a bit of disbelief and then she gave me a big hug. She was so happy.

Well, she leaves tomorrow for the boarding school. Since she is crippled, she has to stay at the school so she doesn’t have to struggle to walk every day. I told her that God had great plans for her and she said "yes I know. Jeremiah 29:11 tells me so."

So why bother? We all have our own busy lives and our own things to worry about. As someone so ‘eloquently’ told me one day "I just don’t understand why you feel that you have to go all the way to Africa to help those people when there are poor people right here in America." I guess I don’t know how to respond to that other than to say, come and meet someone like Grace and then you will have your answer.  I guess until we decide to change our name and motto we will continue to reach out in love one child at a time.

Mike

June 6, 2007 8:40pm from Uganda:

Mike Salley