As I write this, it’s early in the morning, the day after our second gathering with the group of special needs kids we met at Christmas time. Over the last few weeks as we’ve been planning for this, we’ve had church staff walking to the families’ houses to invite them to come; money for transport and food coming into place at the exact right time, nurses, a speech therapist and a physiotherapist all volunteering to come and help, and the turnout was amazing. By this second gathering, our little Sunday school room at Lugogo Baptist Church was bursting at the seams!
In total, there were more than 20 kids with varying disabilities, along with their parents and some siblings, coming from all over Kampala and even as far as Tororo - about 9 hours travel time - just to be with us. Jennifer had heard we were meeting through an aunt in the city and travelled by matatu bus with 6 year old Chris… a long, hot and tiring ride, especially with a severely disabled boy in tow. Another young girl with hydrocephalus had been carried there by her teenage aunt, as her mother was in labour just yesterday. So much effort went into coming here and I wondered, why? Why do their tired bodies exert so much effort?
And then I got it: HOPE CHANGES EVERYTHING.
“And His name will be the hope of all the world.” Matthew 12:21
Everyone needs hope. The chance to come, share a meal with friends and children, sit with others in similar situations, talk to a nurse, learn an exercise that can help loosen the tension in their child with Cerebral Palsy’s hands, have someone hold your baby while you eat - or maybe help you feed her, and simply have someone who cares enough to listen to your struggles. These are things that money can’t buy - things that help you carry on in a culture where babies like yours are abandoned by the sides of the road, because mothers can’t fathom doing this forever without any hope.
In Uganda, children can disappear. Left at churches or babies homes, frustrated and overwhelmed parents leave their children with the intention of temporary care while they find work to get their feet under them. They later return to these baby homes to find their children missing - unknowingly relocated to another care facility or even adopted abroad without the parent having any idea. But thanks to groups like our friends at Suubi House who provide family support and encouragement, change is happening to keep these children with their families.
Meet Whitney. Whitney and her twin brother were born weighing around just 1 kilo each, and are being raised by their grandmother after their mother couldn’t care for them, especially after Whitney was found to be developmentally delayed and epileptic. At the ages of 4, their grandmother was called to the village to care for her own dying mother, and left the kids in the care of her daughter. Upon arriving home one month later, the twins were gone - dropped off at a church. She searched relentlessly, until 8 months later she found them in a babies home, who did not want to return them as they had now been promised to a family overseas. Thankfully, the twins are back home with their grandmother now, and couldn’t be loved more! Another example of how support for these families could help keep them together.
It was a beautiful day in every way possible - and even though the there wasn’t enough time for the volunteers to diagnose and treat every child, they did sit with each family, listen to their struggles, and give some helpful advice. I came away with joy in my heart and a desire to do more. Loving these kids is easy, it’s returned without caution or expectation and it makes me want to grab ahold of each and every one of their hands and not let go. Because in the end, aren’t we just all walking each other home?
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
And a little song from Whitney:
