AIDS Highway

The past 10 days have been exciting to say the least. As usual, I feel entirely overwhelmed when it comes to recapping them in an update. So, I'll do my best at giving you a taste of the full picture!

A major part of the past few days has been taking Mark to school every day. If you recall, Mark is a 5 year old kid that I've been working with. He was pulled out of school at the beginning of the year because the teachers couldn't handle his disruptive behavior. They also thought he had some mental disabilities. After working with him while I've been here, I thought it'd be a good idea to try to get him back into school. So, I've been going with him Mon-Fri from 8am-12:15. It's been interesting in many ways, because I'm able to see how Mark interacts within the classroom, how he responds to instruction and the teachers, and also how the teachers handle their K3 class (which is pretty much a preschool). Although they consider their education at GSF fairly "Americanized," it's pretty far from what walking in a preschool in America would be like. There are 41 children in single-room, 30x30ft (guesstimation right there) building. The kids' ages range between 3-5, with most of the kids being 4. There are two desks (one for each of the teachers), a shelf of toys, and a shelf for the kids' workbooks. Besides that, it's empty. The children sing, dance, recite the alphabet, sing songs about months of the year and days of the week, practice writing, hear a story, have a Bible lesson, and some other random things (I honestly haven't even caught the pattern of the day yet - each day seems so different). Whenever the kids are being taught, they are sitting in the shape of a U around the teacher. They have to sit still, legs straight and hands on their laps, without disturbing the kids next to them. If they disturb, they have to stand up. The kids are taught lessons on how to write letters and draw shapes. The teachers demonstrate using a small hand-held blackboard and chalk. Then the kids are each given their work book to practice writing the letter. The work books aren't an actual curriculum or anything - they're just empty notebooks that the teachers have filled out for each child. For instance, they were learning the letter "g" so the teachers wrote the letter a couple times in each book and then the kid was supposed to practice writing the letter g. For advanced kids, they also throw in a couple words that start with the letter g, and have them copy the whole word. For slow kids, they have the letter "g" already somewhat written, the kid just has to trace the line. It was neat to see how they pay attention to each kid's achievement level and assign work accordingly. From around 10:15-11 the kids have a break. They all go to the pavillion for a cup of porridge and a handful of soy beans and peanuts, and then they go to the playground for about 15 minutes. During this time all of the "K" classes (K3, K4, and K5) are together, so there are probably at least 100 kids. It's pretty crazy but lots of fun.

I wasn't sure how it would be stepping into the classroom, such as how the teachers and children would respond, but it's been good. The teachers were excited to have a "Muzungu" (white person) to help, and immediately asked for classroom feedback and promoted me to "Teacher Corinne." They have me work with many of the children, not just Mark. I think this is a good thing so that it's not like all of my focus is on him. They also have me do some of the lessons sometimes including story time. They've even started fixing me a nice cup of porridge in the mornings haha. They're definitely happy for the help, which is expected considering they juggle 40 kids every day!

All of that said, Mark is doing really well. There are definitely rough times when I think "Should he really be in class?!" but other good times when I think, "he's doing so well! Do I really need to be in class with him?!" The first day was definitely pretty rough, but I think overall he has been showing steady improvement. He sits so well and stays quiet while the teacher is going over the lesson. When it's play time, he usually does well. Sometimes he gets a bit excited and ramy with the toys and other kids, but he's pretty under control. Actually, if he ever gets too bad then I take him outside, talk to him, and sometimes ask him, "Are you going to be a good boy or do I need to take you home?" and that pretty much clears up obedience problems for at least a little while. He loves being at school, so the threat of taking him home is pretty intense for him. As far as his learning goes, he's doing pretty well. He started with knowing like... nothing. When I asked him to circle things, he would just scribble somewhere on the paper - he was so bad at handling a pencil. Now he can circle answers, trace letters, and even write letters without tracing (if he tries really hard). He's excellent at matching shapes (drawing lines to connect matching shapes or letters). When the class used to go over the alphabet and songs, he used to just sit there and do nothing. I don't know if he actually knows the alphabet or songs, but I can see now that he's at least trying to repeat the teacher. He's also improved with stuff like using the toilet instead of the grass when he needs to use the bathroom, not hitting other kids, and responding to discipline. Just because he hadn't been in such a strictly disciplined environment before and he had been spending all of his time with Moses and Caleb, two disabled boys, I think that he legitimately did not know what was and was not acceptable behavior. So, it's still a work in progress, but he's definitely learning. PRAISE GOD! I'm so excited for him and have totally fallen in love with little Mark! It's so fun to work with him. In such a big group of children, it's only by God's grace that he's doing as well as he is. The teachers are not fully convinced that he's "normal" yet. They have it in their heads that he's autistic or something (which for the record, he acts in no way autistic). They also doubt that he'll be able to pass K3 this year. So, we'll see what happens. I mentioned to them that, even if he does not pass K3 and has to repeat, it's better for him to be in class than spending all of his time with the mentally disabled children who do model good behavior and are unable to properly communicate with him. I think they both agree with me on that one =)

Today was super interesting because I was able to go to a feeding program that Carolyn, a missionary in Jinja and former director of GSF, has started. She meets with 12 moms every Wednesday to give them food, formula, tips on how to care for their babies, and the love of Christ. The feeding program is held at a nearby hospital, and it's purpose to help babies in great need while keeping them in the care of their mothers. Many mothers with no way to care for or feed their babies either let them die or desperately try to give them away. However, the mothers in this feeding program are given the gift of food as well as hope and motivation for raising their child well. Most of the children have AIDS and were on the verge of death upon entering the program.

As we, Carolyn, Casia, and me, walked into the room at the hospital carrying the food for the babies, the mothers all clapped and cheered for us. The feeding program provides so much hope for them and their baby. Although the program has only been going on for two months, Carolyn said that the mothers have all become a support group for each other. The children also get weighed every week, and they've all been improving tremendously. One of the mothers in particular who caught my attention was a young girl, about 20 years old, who had twins. It's unimaginable to think of the difficulty of raising two babies with AIDS at such a young age and in such living conditions. However, the mother and babies all looked to be happy and doing well. Carolyn said that already 7 of the mothers have accepted Christ through the evangelism of the program. How wonderful that God is able to use this opportunity to spread the gospel!

From the hospital we headed to a health clinic along "AIDS Highway." This is a highway that runs from Kenya to Uganda, and this stretch of the highway is called AIDS Highway because truckers stop there for prostitutes. Because they are so poor and desperate for money, the women of the village sell themselves for 500 shillings, which is equivalent to about 20 cents. In this area, AIDS is rampant, as well as pregnant women and malnourished babies. The health clinic provides a place for mothers to come for check ups and to give birth. Touring the clinic was absolutely mind blowing. We walked into a small room that was empty besides a table with a bed sheet overtop - this was the delivery room. There was another closet-sized room that had a table and bed sheet overtop - this was the check-up room. It was unbelievable. There were mothers in need all over clinic. We talked to one of the nurses at the clinic about getting a feeding program started just like the one that we had been at earlier. The nurse was extremely receptive of the idea, so we are starting it next week. Until then, the nurses need to investigate and choose 12 babies to be saved. 12 babies is only a tiny fraction of the need at that clinic, but as Carolyn said today, "how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." This idea has been good for me to keep in mind while here. It's easy to get overwhelmed with all of the need and think "There are too many people to help - I can't help all of them so I might as well not try." But that's not the answer. Carolyn is taking on what she can and trusting God to work through her as He directs during through these feeding programs. He can use even a small vessel to do great things.

In other news, the team from California left last week. Casia's team is arriving on Friday, so the guest house will be totally maxed out again. Amanda, another missionary here, is also arriving Friday. The food here is still awesome. I get to see monkeys nearly every day. The Greer family, a missionary family here, arrived last week and they're wonderful people. I haven't seen any snakes over the past week, but I have heard of two others that have been killed around the guest house (one was crawling into our bathroom when Justine, a Ugandan worker here, saw it and killed it). Last week Uganda was "low-lighting" or something, so we spent a great amount of time out of the day without electricity. This week we've had electricity most of the time of the day - Praise God!

Every day I fall in love with this place and these people more and more. I dread the day that I have to say goodbye to all of the beautiful faces I've met here. So, I take one day at a time and try to minister to my fullest with each moment.

It would be such a blessing for me if you could pray for these requests:

1. Please pray for Mark at school, that he would continue to show improvement in behavior and development. Please also pray that the teachers would have a bit more faith in his ability to succeed. Also pray that God would enable me to work with him in a way that would best help him to succeed in school.
2. Pray for the feeding program that Carolyn is doing. Pray for the mothers, that they would see the love of Christ in us. Also pray for the children, that they would grow strong and healthy.
3. Praise God that I've continued to stay healthy. I haven't had health issues at all. Please pray for Casia though; she hasn't been feeling so well every since she got here. Pray that she'd have renewed strength especially before her team arrives.
4. There is a boy Philip who lives at GSF. He is 10 years old, and has been really struggling with his health lately. He has AIDS, so he's never real healthy. But he's been doing especially poor lately. What's more is that he's been very poor in spirit as well. Please pray that God would heal him physically and regenerate his spirit.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!! I appreciate it so much! God has blessed me immensly as I feel the power of your prayers each day, empowering me emotionally and spiritually.  Please keep praying! Also, feel free to email thoughts/questions any time - I'll do my best to respond!

I've included some pictures. I forgot to take my camera today when I went to the feeding programs (such a bummer!!) but I'll take pictures when I go next week. By the way, we got wireless internet here at the guest house...!!! So awesome. It made the internet faster, so uploading photos does not take nearly as long! Anyways, here they are:

This is Mark! We were playing on the playground after school

They coordinated the babies one day. Here are some of them (I didnt even realize they were arranged red-white-red-white-red!)  I'm still trying to figure out a way to sneak them all back to USA in my suitcase..

The kids dancing as a welcome for the return of the Greer family

The worship/dance team at church. This was during the song that went "shake that body that Jesus gave you" Haha!! No joke.

Godfrey in the pavillion. This was during porridge time with the K3 kids (he has porridge in one hand and a handful of soybeans and peanuts in the other). Because there aren't enough cups for all of the kids, the kids get porridge, quick eat it, and then wash their cups in a bucket so that another kid can use the cup for porridge.

Godfrey is a sweetie and put these flowers in my hair. Look at that SMILE of his!! Photo taken by Sophia - she's in the next pic!

Sophia, me, and Godfrey. Sophia is in K5, but she hangs with me during break time when all of the K classes are together. She is an absolute sweetheart, even though she's making that funny face in this pic. We're "best friends" haha

 There's that beautiful smile of hers!

Lauren working on drawing a picture for her sponsor!

Philip, the boy that could use some prayer for healing right now!

Some of us went to King Fisher pool for one of the girl's birthday on Sunday. It was a beautiful resort!!

It's right on Lake Victoria. Super beautiful and very inexpensive resort to stay at if you're ever considering vacationing in Jinja, Uganda! Haha..