On our arrival at Hope Children’s Home in Uganda, our team exited our minibus and began a wonderful selection process among children and team members. The eyes of the children met our eyes, their hands reached for our hands and each child hoped to find a new friend to call their own. It was an amazing, heart-wrenching time. By the time we entered the Show Mercy site, most of the children had connected themselves to one of us, while some shy ones stood at a distance watching and hoping. The children were simply holding onto us with a hunger in their hearts and a hope that they would find the love and personal attention they desired. They needed us and we had come to love them, if just for two weeks, it was a match made in heaven. Each time our minibus would come and go, our special children would find us in the crowd and hang close to us. I knew early on that the separation from these new friends was not going to be easy for any of us.

Toward the end of our visit, Nancy, a grief counselor and one of our team members, encouraged us that is was OK to cry and let the children see us. She assured us it would not be good for any of us to bottle up our emotions, but to express them to the children and let them express theirs to us. And that we did! On our final day, I had a moment with three of the children: Stephen, Patricia and Claire. We piled our hands on top of one another and I took the above picture. I told the children it was a picture that showed we were not only joined in our hands, but that we would forever be joined in our hearts. We all cried and I shared with them in my mother’s voice: “If we hadn’t gotten close in our hearts, we wouldn’t have these tears. So our tears are good because they mean we love one another. Do you get it?” And the children softly and sadly responded, “Yes.” On our final walk to the minibus prior to leaving, the children held my hands and helped carry my belongings. I was relieved when Lori told me we would make a fairly quick exit because as I told her I didn’t know how much more my heart could bear. One part of me wanted the final minutes to last and the other part of me could hardly bear the coming separation. Parting is such sweet sorrow.

www.showmercy.org