Capture life 365–week 29–Hope celebrated

This week we are celebrating hope.

While the media around us tells a different story and displays a world falling apart. Despite it being full of atrocities, seemingly prevailing evil and people taking sides – when surely if we would only take the side of love your neighbour as you love yourself, the world would start to be a different place. While our hearts break with those who are victim to their circumstances, we also find reason to rejoice and to believe that a beautiful story can still be written as someone rises from the ashes of their broken world.

This week we are celebrating with those who are rising up. Those who could and would have been statistics, but for God. We’re celebrating with families who give hope a face.

This is what hope looks like. A new beginning for a family. A bicycle and supplies to start her own water fetching and laundry business that will provide for her family and keep them together.Hope is seeing the next generation rising up to make a difference in their world. I love Charlottes giggles as she tries to communicate in Luganda with a grandma who doesn’t speak English but wants to tell Charlotte how very happy she is that her daughter is still alive. Hope for this mum who after a lifesaving trip to the hospital is now going to live. Hope lives on for her three small children who still have their mum.  

Hope begins for a family that completes their care & action plan with their social worker in preparation to join the Imuka program. This house. Hope now lives here.

Our version of dining out! Making the most of time with friends before they leave Uganda. Living in the hope that goodbye just means, I’ll miss you until we see you again.Hope shared as a new community care group begins – mums supporting, encouraging, learning from and holding each other accountable.

Despite our many failings (including our clear inability to organise ourselves for photos) – we want to be part of seeing hope restored and believe everyone can make the difference in the life of someone. One by one. Family by family.  You too can be part of seeing hope rise as we join with Orphans Aid International to do the Live Below the Line Challenge. We’ll each be living on NZ$2.25 per day for all our food and drink for 5 days. Click here to help us raise money for the fight against poverty, or you could sign up to do the challenge yourself!

When the world says, "Give up," Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."
~Author Unknown

Capture life 365–week 27–through another lens

Beginning of July we had the amazing Carl Van Schreven and Henoch Kloosterboer from Orphans Aid International stay with us. They got to experience the Imuka project up close and personal as well as life with us crazies! Instead of being the one behind the camera, I found myself on the other side of the lens this week, so thought it fitting to show part of our life that was captured through the eyes of Orphans Aid International. This post is a little longer than usual, with so many great pics it was hard to narrow them down!  I could probably do a post on each individual photo as well as the ones that weren’t included, but I’ll save that for another time!Henoch making the most of his Uganda experience: muchomo – meat on a stick! Bought out the window while driving.Roasted banana – another roadside purchase from the van window…and last roadside purchase for the day - sugar cane. We really do have it all, we can even buy ‘ray ban’ sunglasses, chewing gum and toilet paper while stuck in traffic! Don’t be jealous!

Boys day out! Quad biking along the Nile. So nice for Pete to have a much deserved day of quality bloke time!Our number one takeaway – so, so good! Always love me a good rolex! Chappati wrapped omelette & avocadobeat that McDonalds!

Getting ready to deliver temporary food support to some of the families in the Imuka program.

Home visits. Seeing that babies and mums are doing well is always one of my highlights - the snuggles are a bonus!Love this boy to bits. And love that he’s getting to grow up in his family where he belongs.

We like to give an authentic Ugandan experience when guests stay, so Henoch got to ring the power company to try to find out why our power was still off and assist in the capture and demise of a small rat at the same time with the aid of a headlamp. He may have even found the cause of the lingering vomit-like smell in a corner of the lounge when he moved a chair to find said rat. Or not, probably not, because we’re way too classy to have undiscovered vomit under our chairs.Drew’s a pretty good shot with his blowdart. Even in the dark!

A trip to the craft marketGenius solution for when you don’t want sun coming through the window!

Harriet cooking up a special Imuka graduation lunchFamily photos for all the mums graduating from the Imuka small business course. These are now treasured family items! Thanks Henoch!! They LOVE them! Special guests at the graduation were the Imuka kids – putting on a show for their mums!

So proud of these ladies. Between them they’ll be starting up businesses to keep 29 children in their families!

Lunch is ready!The Imuka team!

Photo credit for most of the photos goes to Orphans Aid International.

Capture life 365–week 25

Our kids can legimately use the excuse ‘the cat ate my homework’. One literally lies in wait for loose bits of paper to eat and this one guards them. As if our life wasn’t crazy enough – we now have to hide anything paper…

The amazing Harriet – cooking lunch for everyone! (and yes, that would be a bow and arrow in the corner because we take our food security seriously!)Ashraf loves his beans, rice and avocado!

Yeah, that would just be a gunship doing some low flying out the window

Incredible mums working against the odds to keep their families together and learning to rise above adversity! Pictured on the last day of their small business training with their littlest family members. Graduation here we come!

Not hard to fill my snuggle quota when you’re surrounded by babes that only want to sleep when they’re being snuggled… sigh… such a hard job!

Below: A baby girl boda sandwich! On their way home from Imuka Kids Early Learning program.

 

 

 

 

 

Progress = decimating not just one, but FOUR giant cockroaches with a stick to make sure they’ll never take another germ infested footstep in my kitchen drawer again. If only the boys were home to see me in action – they’d have been doing the job for me proud!

Lily the guinea pig!

So awesome to see one of our team get married on Sunday! They truly are the sweetest couple!We’ve learned whenever attending any official event here to always go prepared to be called upon to speak!

A bonus pic this week of the new pup ‘Dusty’ who has a way of wrapping everyone round his cute little little paw, I mean, look at those eyes – who could resist!