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Some of you might not know but we are here in Uganda working with our teams and beginning the construction of our Field of Dreams project. It is going to be amazing!

Today I met a lady who inspired me to truly live life on purpose.  Her name is Deborah and she is totally blind.  She lost her eye sight when she was young due to some type of illness.  While this had to be a tragic setback in her life she didn’t let her circumstance stop her from living a full and productive life.  Even though her physical eyes do not work, she has more vision than many of us who can see!

We met her when we first purchased our Field of Dreams property in Kaliti Village, Uganda.  Deborah serves as a leader for the disabled and visually impaired people of Wakiso District.  This group that she leads is made up of close to 10,000 people with various “disabilities.” 

One thing to understand is that in Uganda there are no laws or building codes that we have seen that would assist the physically challenged.  Most of the roads in the villages are dirt, but quickly turn into slippery mud with deep ruts. They do not have crosswalks that notify you of when you can safely cross the” street” much less sidewalks.  The buildings are made of concrete, wood or mud and are not wheelchair accessible.  They rarely have buildings with elevators!  When you stop to ponder these things, you realize how blessed we are in America! 

Most of those that are crippled do not have access to wheelchairs or canes, but rather find strong pieces of tree branches to aid them in walking. They wear flip-flops on their hands for protection as they crawl through the dirt.  Their legs are often very calloused from them dragging the ground constantly. Life is tough enough in Uganda for those who are not physically challenged. When you have a disability here in Uganda, it is sometimes your death sentence.

For some reason, Deborah has not let her blindness stop her from pursuing her dreams. She is a passionate and educated woman who is being a voice for those that are challenged in their everyday living.  She serves on the city council and is always thinking of ways she can help her friends.  She has inspired a group of people to not let their challenges stop them from using the gifts and talents they have, but rather, believe that they were created to live life on purpose.

We are excited to partner with Deborah and the people of Kaliti Village.  We will be selling some beautiful hand crafted products made by the group Deborah is working with. This includes earrings, purses, necklaces banana fibre cards, African dolls and many other unique gifts.

We will be posting these items on our website in the next week.  All the profit from these items will go to help the disabled people and orphans that Show Mercy International is working with.

Consider purchasing one of these treasures as a Christmas gift. Not only will you be blessing your friend or family, but you will be sending a message to our friends here in Uganda that they do matter and are truly making a difference! If you would like to pre-order any of the items above, please email us at info@showmercy.org. We can give you prices and descriptions of the items available before posting them.

Thanks for helping Deborah and her friends as well as Show Mercy International SEE OUR VISION come to pass in this country.

Living on Purpose
Lori Salley
www.showmercy.org

One day while visiting Hope Children’s Home I was noticed a young boy named Ronald who was sitting on the porch looking very sad.  I asked the girls that I was talking with why he was so upset.  We found out that another boy, David who is around 8 years old, had stolen a letter that he was writing to his sponsor in America.  I confronted David but he insisted he had not taken the letter and proceeded to blame another child for the theft. We had a real mystery on our hands.  

After some time, we discovered that he had he had indeed taken the paper. He reached down into his little plastic bag and slowly removed the letter. His head was down, facing the ground. He knew that he done something wrong and had disappointed us. It showed in his humble demeanor. I had him give the letter back to his friend and apologize.  They both made up, but the training had just begun. 

I began to explain to David that what he had done is exactly what thieves do.  I told him, of course, that he is not a thief, but rather a wonderful young boy who we love very much.  I began speaking love and purpose into his life.  I did explain that if he stole again, he would have to be punished, but that I was sure we wouldn’t need to do that, because we knew that he would begin to make wise choices.  He looked like he was about to cry and began to walk away, but not before I planted a huge kiss on his cheek and expressed my love for him.

About 20 minutes later, I finally got into the car to leave for the day.  As I was reaching for the door to close it, guess who was standing there with a huge smile and waving?  David, the young boy I had earlier corrected and loved.  I almost melted, because I saw right before my eyes, the power of love!  He knew that he was loved even though he made a mistake. He knew that he would not be rejected but accepted no matter what. He also knew that we cared enough to train him on how to make decisions that would bring him joy and not pain.

As we all continue to reach out in love to these children, they will begin to be confident in who they were created to be.  They will be secure in love knowing that they do not have to try and control others to feel special and important.  We believe love is a major key to changing a nation! Thanks for being a part of that love.  Together, we are making a huge impact on these kids!

Lori Salley
Co-Founder
Show Mercy International

Please consider partnering together with us with your financial support. You will be making a difference! You can make a donation at www.showmercy.org or mail your tax deductible donation to:

Show Mercy International
PO Box 607
Albany, Oregon  97321

I just had a wonderful day at Hope Children’s Home!  I spent time with the older girls and talked with them about their day to day life at Hope.  They get up every morning at 5am and do their chores.  For some, that means mopping the concrete floor of the home.  For others, it is washing bed linens and clothes.  They also sweep the yard with straw brooms to remove all the debris from the day before. Finally they all bathe and prepare for their day at school.

As we were talking, I looked out the window to see 3 young girls who are around age7 washing clothes.  Washing in Uganda is a little different then what most of us are used to.  This is how their “washing machine” works:  wash cycle – hand scrubbing clothes with a bar of soap in a plastic tub filled with water; rinse cycle – using another plastic tub filled with water to rinse the soap; spin cycle – twisting the clothes as hard as you can to remove the water; dryer – hanging all the clothes on a line, fence, or brick wall.

They informed me that the house moms were training these young girls how to wash clothes as well as mop the floors. As they shared with me, they were excited to tell me about the cooking teams that the older girls have formed. They are in charge of preparing the meals for the entire home on Saturdays.  Honestly, I was surprised they were excited to be able to cook all day on a Saturday.   They shared with me that they are learning how to take care of a house and that they will be prepared to be a good wife when they get married.  How exciting for them to have “moms” training them to move from child hood to womanhood. They were once orphaned and abandoned and they are now adopted and loved.

We then began to talk about their journey to marriage.  We had great conversations and I began to see each of them on their wedding day!  That will be a fun time in all of our lives to send our daughters into the world to be all that they were created to be!  We will see the fruit of all of our labors of love and it will be very exciting!

Lori Salley
Co-Founder
Show Mercy International

Please consider joining with us with your financial support. You can make a donation at www.showmercy.org or mail your tax deductible donation to:

Show Mercy International
PO Box 607
Albany, Oregon  97321