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Greetings to our Friends and Sponsors!
Over the past few years this saying, "Be the change you want to see in the world", has become one of my life mottos. I believe going to Uganda in 2010 was only a small step in the path the Lord has planned for my life. Last year I never would have thought I would be returning to Uganda in 2011 with the sole purpose of supporting a non-profit organization that I helped to establish, but that is exactly what I and four others who joined me did. On July 18th our team consisting of Ali Garrett, Hayden Paulsen, Chris Baum, and Mikki Proffitt, embarked on a two week journey that would show us the faces of joy, sadness, health, disease, poverty, and of our God himself.
While we were in Uganda our main purpose was to serve at Rock of Ages School (ROA). We kicked off our first week by passing out shoes to each of the 130 students currently attending ROA. With bright shining smiles on their faces and new shoes that had never been touched by the red Uganda dirt on their feet, the children were more than a joy to play with at the end of each day. Watching them walk awkwardly away from the area where we were passing out shoes (as they adjusted to having shoes that actually fit on their feet) was an eye opener to all of us. Here in America most people have several pairs of shoes in their closet, I myself having many more than I need. Most of us take shoes for granted. I cannot count how many little feet I had to pry out of dirty, smelly, worn, and torn old shoes that were filled with holes and so small the child had to shake their foot to get it back to its regular state. Something that really struck my heart was that many of the old shoes we were removing, I recognized as ones we had given out last year with the 2010 team. Passing out shoes had a huge impact on our hearts and this was only day two!
After our "shoe days" were complete we began distributing sponsorship packets. I am going to take this opportunity to extend a special thank you to all of the sponsors who made a special packet for their child, sending school supplies, letters, pictures and many other much needed items. The children loved seeing their sponsor's faces and learning more about them and it was good for them to put a name with a face and to be able to see who it is that blesses them through their education and the goodies inside the bag in their hands. Although we did not have specific packets for each child, we were able to make enough generic ones to pass out to each child in the school. Many items were donated - beanie babies, hygiene products, clothes, school supplies, etc. enabling us to bless every child. These packets are not a only a blessing to the child but also to their families, as most children have at least two other siblings at home with whom the items will most likely be shared.
Although the shoes and sponsorship packets were our largest projects we also did a lot of paperwork for Hands4Uganda, finding out family information and specifics on each child. I cannot explain how great the team was in working together to accomplish all that was needing to be done. Looking back on the things we accomplished I can say that though we helped those children, they helped us even more by opening our eyes to the change a small team of four can make, to the change a sponsorship of $20 a month can make, and to the change we are able to make through God's grace at ROA through the support for H4U.
For more on my trip please
Ariane Drake
Hands4Uganda
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