Wednesday we travelled through Kampala out to Watoto's Bbira orphan's village where, last year, we face-painted about 70 children in cluster 15. Watoto organise their orphan's villages into groups of 9 houses, one of which is lived in by a senior mother along with her 8 children.
The senior mother in cluster 15 Evelyn and her family welcomed us so much we wanted to come back. For us that relationship is really important. So many teams arrive at Watoto to serve (I know there were 72 last year alone), build homes and infrastructure, on medical missions etc. - and then go home mostly never to return.
We reckon it's important to invest our time into the same relationships and the same group of people - the 72+ children (72 children in the cluster but others were drawn in!) know there are people from Europe who remember them and want to be with them again. We think that speaks more of God's love than going to meet other familys for a brief time.
We arrived and Evelyn came to meet us off the bus to tell us that the mothers were ready. We were there to give the mothers in cluster 15 a break from their chores...and more.
Sonia and Nicole (my wife and team co-leader), both being mothers, were to lead the ladies in a devotion (The Pathway to Peace, R Hickson), wash their feet, give them pedicures and manicures, foot and hand massages etc. We wanted to honour them and their dedication. This was rounded off with the gift of a Pamper Pack containing items listed on a previous post (and I think more items have been added too!). As one mother was not as proficient in English a mother translated into Luganda, the tongue of the Ganda, the largest tribe in the Kampala area.
Meanwhile, their children followed the rest of us to the football pitch, sodden in places with the previous nights rain which is next to an all purpose hall open with 2 arches on either side.
It was here we set up the chairs for face-painting, under a tree overlooking the field. Footballs were pumped up and parachute unpacked. The children love to have their picture taken so they can see their painted faces. Enjoying attention they were constantly tugging our arms leading us to somewhere, wanting to be picked up.
The parachute was not new to them - the older children helped me to keep the younger ones from getting overexcited (the small soft balls intended for parachute games were being thrown between children with some force!) and we had some great fun.
From time to time older children would ask us where we're from and said they'd visited England, Scotland and Sweden on their tours when they were younger. The choirs are an important part of the Watoto model. Not only do they want their orphanage model to be as far removed from an institution as possible by creating families where children can learn to interact with siblings, they also use the phrase "Rescue a child, Raise a leader, Rebuild a nation" - they want their children to have opportunities for travel, experience and be culturally aware - of course it also serves to fundraise the necessary resources to recruit sponsors and to mobilise teams like ours.
When we broke for lunch (the older siblings had to strongly encourage the younger ones to go to their homes) we waited outside one of the houses as the mamas came from within Evelyn's house. They were beaming and all had their Pamper Packs over their shoulders. Each bag been hand-painted and personalised.
Evelyn explained that the sessions were VERY welcome - the mamas had been going through some personal issues including bereavement. They had been praying for peace and to have that time of fellowship and relaxation came at the right time.
Sonia and Nikki have left this experience humbled. The mama's prayers and worship left them with the distinct feeling it was they who'd been ministered to!
ALSO - Watch this space for blog posts by some of our team coming up!
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