A Long Journey to Meet a Special Boy....

Helloooo Everyone...I am writing in my blog as much as I can now because Saturday morning I move onto Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary!!!! I can't even begin to explain my excitement, this it what I have been waiting so long for...to work with, study and care for our amazing chimpanzees!! Unfortunatly, I am told that I will not have internet access on the island but I will write down my blog entries on paper and post them on here on weekends when I am back in the office. However, I have also created a facebook group for my trip that I will update with the same entries I post here. This will be in addition to this blog, I just think it will be easier to post more photos on. I just really want to say thank you to everyone who has been following my stories as I continue this amazing experience. It is really special to me that you and it makes me feel closer to you all and not miss home as much. My favourite thing is to read the comments you leave, I am sorry if I have not been able to respond them but I definitely read them and I am touch by every comment. It really sustains me and I can't thank you all enough for the support.

Be prepared because this next entry is going to be an emotional one. Sunday night I could barely sleep because early Monday morning World Vision was to pick me up to visit Ronald, my family's sponsored child. Peluth and John from World Vision picked me up as planned at 6:30 am and from there they took me to World Vi son headquarters in Kampala. There I met with a number of people from World Vision...they employ over 600 people in Uganda! We signed some papers and then we were off on the 6 hours journey to Soroti (probably the distance from Hamilton to Ottawa!) The scenery as we drove was gorgeous as usual. The further north we drove the topography changes and became more like a savanna with rocky terrain. The heat also increases significantly and I estimates the temperatures to reach 30 -40 degrees Celsius once we had arrived. The towns also became smaller and more rural, and you could definitely see the poverty level increase. When we finally arrived in Soroti we received a call from the regional World Vision office who said that Ronald has been sleeping on the ground of the hut. So I set out to do some shopping with the help of Peluth (who was very nice and explained alot to me along the way). I got Ronald a mattress, tons of food and household supplies and school supplies in addition to the books, pictures and football (soccer ball) that I had already brought him. Finally we arrived at Kamuda and the regional office for World Vision. Everyone I met was extremely nice and they were all very excited for me to go see Ronald, they said that the family had been waiting all day! They explained a bit about Kamuda as being an Area Development Program and that the rate of HIV/AIDS was fairly high in Ronald's region. We then got back in the truck and left the centre of town and headed out on a VERY bumpy dirt path about 4 km's out...as we were leaving there was a group of about thirty school children waving at us, singing and running after the truck. Finally I saw a little hut in the distance with about five adult men standing around it. They told me this was Ronald's home but I couldn't see him at first...then I saw behind the crowd a small boy was sitting by himself and I new that was him I recognised him immediately. As soon as I got out of the truck he ran over to me, shook my hand and was all shy. I couldn't resist, I got down on my knees and gave him a big hug. What a beautiful little boy he is, and surprisingly happy with shining eyes! He had the most gorgeous smile and beamed from ear to ear when I gave him the football. I was introduced to each of his family members in turn and they were all very welcoming. I also brought out some picture books on Canada and I read them to him. They were all surprised to see how much it snows in Canada!! We had a great interpreter that translated word for word as we spoke to each other. He then translated the letter that my parents wrote and I showed him the video message they had made on my video camera, he seemed to really enjoy it...there was about 15 people crowded around trying to see!!!...I looked up and saw a tear in his grandfathers eye. I was feeling pretty emotional and humbled by this little boy by this point but I also got to learn his story...Ronald lives with his grandfather and cousin Richard. His mother stops by to see him maybe once a year and they do not know where his father is. When we first started to sponsor Ronald he was not yet in school but with the help of World Vision and the child sponsorship in Kamuda a school was erected a couple of months ago and Ronald started P1 in February. We ended up kicking the football together for a bit and then he ran into the hut. I couldn't figure out what he was doing but then he emerged a few moments later all weighed down by a massive bag of oranges and a chicken which he proceeded to hand to me!!! He was very proud of his gift and I thanked him wholeheartedly!! Inside I was laughing so hard, it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen and one of the greatest gifts I would ever receive (don't worry I didn't mention that I am a vegetarian). I did jump a little when I heard a squawk and realised that the poor chicken was still alive!! I couldn't stop thinking how my three wonderful nephews would instantly befriend this boy, he demeanor reminded me alot of Dylan. Days later I am still moved by this struggling family...I have never witnessed poverty as I have on this trip....It is cliche to say but we really have no idea how lucky we are in North America. Even though this family has almost nothing we would consider of value in North America, they clearly find the richness in life in each other, in God in their beautiful country...I was really moved beyond words and I think witnessing things like this will alter the way I live in Canada for the better.....I really have seen firsthand the positive changes put forth through child sponsorship. They all said thank you to me but I told them all please thank my parents....they are the miracle workers here...The most difficult thing was leaving him behind, he was no longer shy of me at this point and reached out to grab my hand multiple times....Just as we were about to leave those thirty schoolchildren came running up the path to Ronald's house singing. They lined up one by one and shook my hand, they were very sweet but it was an odd sort of experience because all the girls got down on their knees in front of me. I left smiling Ronald with a full heart but pangs of guilt for leaving him behind to go back to my comfortable Western lifestyle. As we drove away the one world vision worker told me that he had asked to come with me back to Canada...they hadn't translated that... Some of the most defining moments of my life have happened in the short time in Africa...and this was definitely one of them...As were leaving the World vision office a bit later it began to storm so the World Vision team gave me the nickname "Nakiru" meaning the person who brings rain (btw which is a compliment being n agricultural community)...That night I visited Soroti rock, a massive rock in the middle of town and spent the night at a quiet guesthouse and relaxed... thanks for reading, watch for the next entry...