Visiting our Sponsored Children

Meeting Phebe

The Bushikori bus dropped us off at a corner of the main road through Mbale. We followed Dan, the Childcare Co-ordinator, to a hair dressing salon (called saloons here) where some young girls were practising braiding hair. In a typical Ugandan understatement he said, “So, we are here!” This was Phebe’s place! We walked in and met a lovely lady with a huge smile on her face who was very excited to see us. We did the usual handshake and “you are most welcome” routine and then Dan told us this was Phebe’s mother! Then there were hugs and more, “you are most welcome” and “thankyou so much for coming”. Dan then told her to get Phebe. She came out from the back very shyly. It was hard to believe we were finally meeting her. She had grown so much compared to the photo we have of her on the fridge at home. We were all overwhelmed by the moment. As she had just completed her term 1 school exams she was able to show us her school report. She is 15years old, in Senior 3 and doing very well. She attends the local secondary school.

Teddy, her mother, then ushered us into the backroom of the salon (where they live). It was so small, just a tiny sitting area with an area curtained off where Phebe sleeps. Her mother sleeps on a mattress in the sitting area and packs it away each morning. She told us a bit about her family circumstances and how she trusted God through all the hardships which she encountered bringing up several children on her own. She seemed to be a well spoken, strong Godly woman. She was so thankful for Phebe being sponsored. We then gave Phebe a small gift (blouse and necklace) which she immediately went and put on. It was a perfect fit!

A couple of days later at the Bushikori Youth Empowerment conference, we met Phebe again. It was wonderful to have such a special bond with her. She also is a great singer and led some of the worship. Her mother Teddy was also the guest speaker! She spoke on Ephesians 5:15 – “Be careful how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.”

Meeting Martin.

As we left in the Bushikori bus to meet Martin, Dan said, (in typical Ugandan style) “We drive a bit, and then we walk a bit. It is up in the mountains. (UP UP!)” We drove for an hour on horrendous roads (click on player to hear road sounds)


, through many tiny villages and even a village market.

Dan then said, “So now we walk!” Dan had organised for a man to guide us up the mountain. We walked on a rough road again passing many small villages. The scenery was breathtaking.(Click player to hear the Ugandan Chatter)

We saw many different types of crops being grown, onions being planted and fields being hoed and weeded by the women. The men sat around in groups talking. It is a time of not much food as it is still growing season. The farming here is subsistence only. They need to be taught how to grow their food more efficiently and proper means of storing their surplus food. Dan started calling out to a woman sitting outside her mud hut preparing some food. She was Martin’s mother. How pleased she was to see us. She ran out to welcome and thanked us for coming and she laughed and laughed. She followed us up the road. We then veered off onto a skinny “goat” track which certainly went UP UP! Liane needed to stop and catch her breath. Our guide called out “Mummy, are you bad?” (White women are often called mummy) “But you must do it!” Mother Womono chuckled, took her hand and started pulling Liane up the track. Around every corner we thought “This must be it!”

Finally after an hour and a half walk we reached a small group of huts (Bulamununyi). Some chairs were quickly produced and we were ushered into them. One of the young men called Michael told us that Martin was at school. Oh no! Out came a mobile phone! And Dan made some calls to get Martin and Fred (Jan and Big H’s sponsored child) released from school. It was an hour’s walk for them to get to us, so we sat and enjoyed the serenity and picturesque scenery amongst the dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, pigs, cows, goats and many curious children. (Click player to hear the animal sounds)

In the meantime Michael proudly showed us the hut which he shares with Martin, Fred and two other boys. It consists of a small sitting room and three small bedrooms. One with a triple bunk he had made so as to keep the mattresses (which the work party supplied last year) off the ground. Their blankets were very thin and as it gets very cold up in the mountains we will look into purchasing some new ones for them all. Martin had written on the door to the hut “All visters yo ur most wellcome visters. I am at school” Dan asked someone to get us some sodas which we thought was quite amusing in a primitive rural village at the top of the mountain.

Finally Martin arrived. He is 18 years old and in P7 and has very little English, so Dan did some translating. He was very thankful for the gifts we had sent and for sponsoring him. He said that now he truly knows that there are sponsors helping him. Our visit had made it real for him. He told us that he would like to be a teacher or even a head master. We then gave him a gift (a shirt) which he put on straight away – a perfect fit again! We said how delighted we were to meet him and encouraged him to continue working hard at school. We felt sorry that he had to walk an hour back to school to complete his exams. As it was now getting onto 2pm we were invited to stay for a meal of matoke, tough old chicken stew (which Rex couldn’t even get his teeth through) and greens. After this we headed off back down the mountain, a much easier trek, followed by a young man carrying 2 bunches of matoke on his head, a woman carrying a large bag of passionfruit on her head and Pastor George carrying a live chicken under his arm. All items were loaded into the bus (even the chicken) and we also ferried a very sick old man to the next medical centre for treatment. What a wonderful experience God had given us.

Both these visits have been the highlights of our stay in Uganda. Once again we saw the two extremes of life in Uganda, one sponsor child living 5 minutes away from us in the city and the other in a remote rural village.