The morning of Saturday, March 2nd, one of our favorite UG drivers, Francis, came and picked us up and drove us 5 hours north to Lira. Steve & I have been to Lira on previous trips to visit Calo Me Lare, the orphanage & school that Project Hope Worldwide built, but it was the girls first time to go and they were sooo excited to meet the kids there. (We thought it would be best to go to Lira before meeting Asher because that would be a verrrrrry long drive with a toddler and we didn't want to confuse him or the kids at Calo Me Lare.)
Sunday morning, our friends from Oklahoma that are currently working at Calo Me Lare came and picked us up and took us to church there. I looove church in Uganda and especially loved hearing the sweet voices of the kids singing praises to God...
Playtime after church...
Our girls are part of a ministry called Girly Me Missions, along with about 10 of their friends. They make crafts and sell their items at craft shows and all their proceeds goes towards sponsoring this little girl named Nelly. Mackenzie & Abby were so excited to meet her in person. Such a great experience for them!
Abby is pictured here with Paska. They have been writing letters to each other for a while now so it was neat for them to meet, too. ;-)
Mackenzie is taking a picture with Anna, Nelly's sister, whom we also co-sponsor. We love those girls like they are part of our own family.
Private keyboard and guitar lessons are given on Sunday afternoons
On Monday, we went back to Calo Me Lare and I got to observe the kids doing school. I was very impressed with the teachers and their rapport with the students. They were very expressive in their teaching and checked for comprehension often. I could tell they genuinely loved their jobs and it was important to them that the kids got a good education...
The girls and Steve hung out in "the tower" while school was in session...
RECESS!!!
Tuesday was our last day in Lira. We thought it would be neat for the girls to go hut-to-hut to meet some of the people in the area so we were hooked up with an interpreter and went for a long walk. Quite an experience for the girls - eye opening poverty, yet, for the most part, their people are happy and content. We can learn a lot from them...
The girls are pictured here with a girl named Brenda. I was so happy to see her looking so good as I met her my first trip to UG back in December 2010. You can see pics of Brenda here - she's wearing a burgundy skirt and tan shirt. She seemed pretty excited to meet two young Muzungos (white people) and our girls were pretty smitten with her, too ;-)
After going hut-to-hut, the girls gave small gifts to the girls we co-sponsor & their house moms...
And we had a little more playtime before saying our "see you laters"...
Dennis and his wife, Margie, are from our church in Oklahoma and are spending a year working at Calo Me Lare. They love spending time with the kids and have made such a difference to all that goes on there. They are a huge blessing to CML and the surrounding community.
I met Tracy on my first trip to UG - you can read her story here. It's so neat to watch her grow and thrive at Calo Me Lare.
I also met Dickens on my first trip to UG - you can read about his story here. God has big plans for that boy!
That night, we were invited to dinner at the home of Dennis and Grace who work for Calo Me Lare. (We've known Dennis for a few years now & we even got to spend some time together when he came to Oklahoma to visit a few years ago. Such a fun day!) Grace served an amazing traditional Ugandan dinner & we had a great time visiting with their family (and the neighbor kids)...
Lira has been great but we are so ready to meet our boy!!! Two more days!
Hello Bobbie! So sorry I just now read your comment - only 9 months late! Sheesh! Well, I pray things are moving for you guys. Where are you in the process now?
Congrats! We are also on this journey and are so very very excited and feel so blessed!
ReplyDeleteHello Bobbie! So sorry I just now read your comment - only 9 months late! Sheesh! Well, I pray things are moving for you guys. Where are you in the process now?
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