Thursday, June 14, 2007

Boat to Bethany

My first outing in Africa, other than the bus ride to the hotel, happened on my 3rd day in Uganda. A group of us conference-goers had the opportunity to visit Gaba Community Church in Kampala, about 15 miles from our hotel on Lake Victoria. How long was the bus ride? That's right - an hour. TIA.
Our tour guide was Pastor Fred Sekyewa, the executive director of Africa Renewal Ministries (http://www.africarenewal.org/), which is part of the church. ARM ministers to adults by introducing single mothers to cottage trades and men to business mentoring and pastoral training. They also administer Compassion International funds through their child sponsorship program that allows children in dire circumstances to be fed, clothed and educated.
After a quick tour of the church, we listened to a few stories from young men who came through the program and were given an opportunity for education at Gaba's school. They each had completed a university degree and shared their dreams for the future. It is amazing to see the difference education makes in the cycle of poverty.TIA moment - In Uganda, we are quite a spectacle to the locals. Whenever they see a foreigner, they yell "Mizungo", meaning white person, to get our attention.The next part of our tour was visiting Bethany Village, one of the sites where orphans are educated and cared for through Compassion International. The "fastest" way to get there was by boat, so most of us climbed in and headed to the village.We had quite the bon voyage - thanks, Monique!Lake Victoria provided beautiful vistas on our hour ride to Bethany. There were many fishermen bringing in their catches for the day. They used nets to haul in the fish. . .. . . and laid the nets out on land to dry for the next day (I think).We arrived a short while before the sun set. Here is the view from Bethany Village. Ironically, it looks more like a tropical resort more than an orphan village, doesn't it? We were taken to the children's homes. There are generally 13 children between the ages of 5 and 12 in a house with one "mother" who cares for their needs.I was given a tour by Paul (tall one on the far right). He obviously had done this before and was so proud to show his home. He explained a typical day in their lives at Bethany: wake up, eat breakfast, read the Bible (he loves to read the Bible), go to school, play football (soccer, of course), eat dinner, pray together and go to bed. I was touched by these kids, so much so that I almost missed the boat literally. Pastor Fred had to come retrieve me. In fact, one boat had already left. Oops. The room mother asked if I would return. I sure hope so!We rode the boat back under the stars, took the hour bus ride to the hotel and arrived around 9 PM.
Last TIA for the day - The field trip was scheduled from 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM. Hmmmm. By this time, I had come up with the theory that you basically double any time estimate given. TIA.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oh but, Suzanne, aren't you glad the field trip was later than scheduled? What an opportunity to be on a boat ride on Lake Victoria AT NIGHT!!! How totally cool and beautiful. And those children - they were beautiful, too! Thanks for taking us with you, once again! :)