So today I had a chance to visit the farm of my Host Family. They grow ground nuts (peanuts), rice, and are in the process of creating an orange tree farm. They do quite a bit on 25 acres. Down the road a bit, they have a piggery of about 30 pigs. It was nice to see a little of what is possible around here. This is a family that has worked very hard to gain what they have gained. They share in their prosperity by opening their home to countless children. They pay for their schooling and raise them as if they were their own. They are beautiful people of God! No other way to describe them.
Following the visit to the farm, we went to an afternoon prayer meeting where they simply prayed for the people and land of Teso to be prosperous and to continue to lean on the promises of God. This lunch hour turned into 2 1/2 hours of praying with maybe a tad bit to much preaching. My attention span isn't that long. Their faith is amazing!
I'm going on Wednesday to buy the oxen for the Carepoints. This will allow them to start farming and growing food to help with feeding the non-sponsored kids. It will be at least three months after the garden is planted before the harvest will be ready to gather. We need to get the crops planted. I'm beginning to learn more about farming than I ever imagined. I need more knowledge though.
On a different note, I was able to speak to my employees back home. They are an incredible group of people. Without their hard work, my trip here would be impossible. I thank God that he has brought that group of people to me.
Thanks for your prayers!
Tom Cox
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
Memorial Monday
Monday was a day of rest for me. It was a day that I spent catching up on some sleep, learning the Teso Language, (no I don't have it mastered) and Skyping with some friends back home. By the way, my Skype name is "tomcoxokc" in case any one wants to call. I'm not always available, but when time allows, it is good to speak to you back home.
Learning the Teso Language is very hard for me. They sat me down with a children's book. It was kind of like "See Jack run". I was, however, able to read the book. And with the help of the pictures, I can tell you what it is saying. The thing is, they seem to put what they are doing ahead of who is doing it. I'm told that this is a lot like the Spanish Language, but I wouldn't know. The only languages I am fluent in is Redneck English, Okie, and some English. So pray for me in this endeavor. I need lots of prayers for this to happen.
The guard dogs here are getting used to me. They don't bark at me anymore, but I still haven't dared to pet them. It seems there is not a Teso word for pet. They just laugh when I try to describe petting the dogs. By the way, the dogs names are Blackie, Hitler, No Name, and No Name. I have been advised just to say "Blackie" if I am ever outside when they are loose. Hope I never have to try that! They made it clear that that only works when you are from within the compound, not from without.
Well, Yogo Do for now.
Tom Cox
Learning the Teso Language is very hard for me. They sat me down with a children's book. It was kind of like "See Jack run". I was, however, able to read the book. And with the help of the pictures, I can tell you what it is saying. The thing is, they seem to put what they are doing ahead of who is doing it. I'm told that this is a lot like the Spanish Language, but I wouldn't know. The only languages I am fluent in is Redneck English, Okie, and some English. So pray for me in this endeavor. I need lots of prayers for this to happen.
The guard dogs here are getting used to me. They don't bark at me anymore, but I still haven't dared to pet them. It seems there is not a Teso word for pet. They just laugh when I try to describe petting the dogs. By the way, the dogs names are Blackie, Hitler, No Name, and No Name. I have been advised just to say "Blackie" if I am ever outside when they are loose. Hope I never have to try that! They made it clear that that only works when you are from within the compound, not from without.
Well, Yogo Do for now.
Tom Cox
Sunday, May 29, 2011
It's Monday Morning
So today I am taking a break from the traveling. It seems that is all we have done since we arrived as a group. Anyway, this will be a great time to catch up on what I have been doing since the rest of the team went home. Glad they arrived home safely.
Let me start by why I'm here. Without going into why it has happened or the politics of everything around here, things are as I have found them. There is nothing we can do about the past, but learn from it. What I saw when I arrived at the schools literally tore my heart in two. I found that after I arrived home from the first trip, part of my heart was left here. What we are doing here is incredible and amazing. The kids we saw a year ago are healthier and happier today. When we arrive they call us by name. We see the now tattered shirts that say WCC somewhere on them or the Tuttle Tigers or any of a number of things on them that relate back to Oklahoma. They have become tattered now from almost, if not, daily use. I hate to imagine what they would be wearing if they didn't have those on.
The thing that really bothers me though is when I look beyond the kids and see the men of these villages sitting idly by. Occasionally they will wonder onto the school grounds with their palms turned up and ask "What about me?". So I had to ask myself, "What about them?". Are we creating a youth that will simply grow up asking the same thing? I'm no psychologist or sociologist, but what I see is a bunch of men who have lost their pride. They have lost their ability to support their families. In a place that requires four cows as a dowry, they can't get married. The young women aren't getting married. So what happens is that many kids are born out of wedlock, HIV is still spreading rapidly, and the men that are married are abusive to their wives. They simply have lost their manhood.
So what about them? I have done my own research and have learned that a good wage in these villages is about Three Thousand Ugandan Shillings a day. The converts into roughly U.S. One Dollar and Twenty-Six Cents. Literally, $13,104.00 would employ 40 people for a year. Now some, you would have to pay more. Just like anywhere you need supervisors to make sure that the work is being done. Its not about just giving them money.
Here's the good news. Sunday we visited all three villages and were able to put into place three supervisors. They will start hiring people today. We will have a total of about forty-five workers by the end of the week. They will start by cleaning up the grounds around two of three Carepoints that we just had built. Construction is still ongoing, so only two of them are ready for this phase of work. We want to make these Carepoints a beautification point of the Villages. At the third school, Ngariam Corner, we will start by clearing a field behind the school to create two football (soccer to us in the States) fields.
It may not sound like much, but to the men in the Villages it is work. It is the beginning of getting their self worth back.
So the next time a man comes to me and says "What about me?", we can simply say "Here is a job!"
God is so good!
Please keep praying for me and the work that is being done here.
With Love,
Tom
Let me start by why I'm here. Without going into why it has happened or the politics of everything around here, things are as I have found them. There is nothing we can do about the past, but learn from it. What I saw when I arrived at the schools literally tore my heart in two. I found that after I arrived home from the first trip, part of my heart was left here. What we are doing here is incredible and amazing. The kids we saw a year ago are healthier and happier today. When we arrive they call us by name. We see the now tattered shirts that say WCC somewhere on them or the Tuttle Tigers or any of a number of things on them that relate back to Oklahoma. They have become tattered now from almost, if not, daily use. I hate to imagine what they would be wearing if they didn't have those on.
The thing that really bothers me though is when I look beyond the kids and see the men of these villages sitting idly by. Occasionally they will wonder onto the school grounds with their palms turned up and ask "What about me?". So I had to ask myself, "What about them?". Are we creating a youth that will simply grow up asking the same thing? I'm no psychologist or sociologist, but what I see is a bunch of men who have lost their pride. They have lost their ability to support their families. In a place that requires four cows as a dowry, they can't get married. The young women aren't getting married. So what happens is that many kids are born out of wedlock, HIV is still spreading rapidly, and the men that are married are abusive to their wives. They simply have lost their manhood.
So what about them? I have done my own research and have learned that a good wage in these villages is about Three Thousand Ugandan Shillings a day. The converts into roughly U.S. One Dollar and Twenty-Six Cents. Literally, $13,104.00 would employ 40 people for a year. Now some, you would have to pay more. Just like anywhere you need supervisors to make sure that the work is being done. Its not about just giving them money.
Here's the good news. Sunday we visited all three villages and were able to put into place three supervisors. They will start hiring people today. We will have a total of about forty-five workers by the end of the week. They will start by cleaning up the grounds around two of three Carepoints that we just had built. Construction is still ongoing, so only two of them are ready for this phase of work. We want to make these Carepoints a beautification point of the Villages. At the third school, Ngariam Corner, we will start by clearing a field behind the school to create two football (soccer to us in the States) fields.
It may not sound like much, but to the men in the Villages it is work. It is the beginning of getting their self worth back.
So the next time a man comes to me and says "What about me?", we can simply say "Here is a job!"
God is so good!
Please keep praying for me and the work that is being done here.
With Love,
Tom
Thursday, May 26, 2011
The Morning After
A couple of days have passed since my last blog, but that doesn't mean that nothing happened. We spent our last day visiting the Villages as a group. It was a short visit in terms of time, but it will be full of memories. For instance, the kids found a Hedge Hog. By the time we noticed what they had found, it had already been hurt. I believe it was Gloria, not Jackie, that rescued the Hedge Hog from the children, but it was Jackie that released it off the roadside along our way home. The funny thing though is that we later found out that they would have eaten the Hedge Hog. Strange, we took food away from the very kids we were there to feed. I can assure you that it would have only been a small portion.
Aside from the Hedge Hog, the team members who had not done a home visit to their sponsored kids were able to do so. I accompanied Tania and two of her girls to one of their huts. The mother was so grateful. It was amazing to watch her with that family. Tania went on and on to the mother as to how smart her daughter was. She would then turn to the girl and tell her to stay in school. The young lady has dreams of becoming a nurse. I think she will do it!
Wednesday we spent the day traveling. We took the long route in hopes of being able to stop on road and feed bananas to the Baboons. Unfortunately, the baboons we did see scrambled when we stopped the bus. No bananas for them!
After a long day of driving we arrived in Jinja to learn that the government had decided to hold a secret meeting at the hotel we had reservations at. That meant that all reservations were cancelled. They did however, help us to find other accommodations. The new rooms had a great view of Lake Victoria, but also had a great view to a lot of ants and what they call a lake fly. Joseph took us to a very nice restaurant and by the time we arrived back at the hotel, it didn't matter. We, at least I, had a great nights sleep.
Thursday we had an early breakfast and then it was back on the road. This time, though, it was different. The rest of the team was headed home. An early morning conversation with my niece and nephew, Dallas and Dax, really brought to my attention that I was about to be here without my teammates. The day was off to an emotional start.
So it was off to Kampala for a busy time at the market that everyone was looking forward to. It was a chance to pit our US bargaining skills against those of Uganda. I think they won, but it didn't matter. Our team was happy with the deals they had made, and they are headed home as we speak with lots of goodies for their families and some very fortunate friends. I hope I didn't spoil any ones surprise. It was fun, but I will live to shop another day.
After shopping, it was off to eating. We had pizza! Our goal was to get out of Kampala before five o'clock. It seems that they are still protesting a bit, but now they are doing it by making as much noise as they can everyday at five o'clock. We succeeded in our mission, but it was strange to see the ramp up of police in anticipation of the protest. It is legal for Ugandans to protest, but they must get a permit. I don't want to get into the politics here because that is not why we are here, but when you talk to people, they seem to be happy with their President, but like everyone, they want a better life.
We stopped at the hotel in Entebbe that we stayed in our very first night in Uganda. That is where Joseph and I reserved a room for Thursday night. As a team, we sat down on the beach of Lake Victoria and just visited waiting for the time to take them to the airport. Time both went slow and fast. Slow in that I know they are ready to get back to their families. Fast in that they were leaving. Time does have conflictions.
Once we arrived at the airport reality really sank in as to them leaving and me staying. It was hard to say goodbye. As we hugged and said our goodbyes, it was the l
kiss on the cheek that Jackie gave me that turned on the tears. My eyes water as I type this. However, there is once again a conflict with time. As much as I hated to see them go, it also means that it is time to really get started on project that I feel so strongly that God has called me to do.
Joseph and I will spend some time today in Kampala looking for tools that we can get to make this project happen. Keep us in your prayers. Keep me in your prayers.
Goodbye for now, I'll share more as time allows.
God Bless,
Tom Cox
Aside from the Hedge Hog, the team members who had not done a home visit to their sponsored kids were able to do so. I accompanied Tania and two of her girls to one of their huts. The mother was so grateful. It was amazing to watch her with that family. Tania went on and on to the mother as to how smart her daughter was. She would then turn to the girl and tell her to stay in school. The young lady has dreams of becoming a nurse. I think she will do it!
Wednesday we spent the day traveling. We took the long route in hopes of being able to stop on road and feed bananas to the Baboons. Unfortunately, the baboons we did see scrambled when we stopped the bus. No bananas for them!
After a long day of driving we arrived in Jinja to learn that the government had decided to hold a secret meeting at the hotel we had reservations at. That meant that all reservations were cancelled. They did however, help us to find other accommodations. The new rooms had a great view of Lake Victoria, but also had a great view to a lot of ants and what they call a lake fly. Joseph took us to a very nice restaurant and by the time we arrived back at the hotel, it didn't matter. We, at least I, had a great nights sleep.
Thursday we had an early breakfast and then it was back on the road. This time, though, it was different. The rest of the team was headed home. An early morning conversation with my niece and nephew, Dallas and Dax, really brought to my attention that I was about to be here without my teammates. The day was off to an emotional start.
So it was off to Kampala for a busy time at the market that everyone was looking forward to. It was a chance to pit our US bargaining skills against those of Uganda. I think they won, but it didn't matter. Our team was happy with the deals they had made, and they are headed home as we speak with lots of goodies for their families and some very fortunate friends. I hope I didn't spoil any ones surprise. It was fun, but I will live to shop another day.
After shopping, it was off to eating. We had pizza! Our goal was to get out of Kampala before five o'clock. It seems that they are still protesting a bit, but now they are doing it by making as much noise as they can everyday at five o'clock. We succeeded in our mission, but it was strange to see the ramp up of police in anticipation of the protest. It is legal for Ugandans to protest, but they must get a permit. I don't want to get into the politics here because that is not why we are here, but when you talk to people, they seem to be happy with their President, but like everyone, they want a better life.
We stopped at the hotel in Entebbe that we stayed in our very first night in Uganda. That is where Joseph and I reserved a room for Thursday night. As a team, we sat down on the beach of Lake Victoria and just visited waiting for the time to take them to the airport. Time both went slow and fast. Slow in that I know they are ready to get back to their families. Fast in that they were leaving. Time does have conflictions.
Once we arrived at the airport reality really sank in as to them leaving and me staying. It was hard to say goodbye. As we hugged and said our goodbyes, it was the l
kiss on the cheek that Jackie gave me that turned on the tears. My eyes water as I type this. However, there is once again a conflict with time. As much as I hated to see them go, it also means that it is time to really get started on project that I feel so strongly that God has called me to do.
Joseph and I will spend some time today in Kampala looking for tools that we can get to make this project happen. Keep us in your prayers. Keep me in your prayers.
Goodbye for now, I'll share more as time allows.
God Bless,
Tom Cox
Monday, May 23, 2011
Can I Get A What What?
Today we had a meeting with nine out of the twelve schools located in this district that we are in. They were represented by the Head Masters, or as we would say, Principles. It was a nice meeting. We spent a little bit of time telling them what we were doing there and spent most of the time hearing from them as to some of the frustrations they were having in trying to teach these children under these circumstances. What you learn very quickly is that they have what seems to be an impossible task,
What we have learned is that most of these kids don't have the word "breakfast" in their vocabulary. They start their day doing domestic work for the family. This work may be working in the fields, it could be hauling water to the hut, or it could be any number of things that just need to be done on a daily basis in order to survive. Regardless, it has to be done before they start their, what could be up to five kilometer, walk to school. And if you have an infant brother or sister, your probably taking them to school with you.
What I'm getting at is that for most of these kids, their first meal of the day could and usually comes at eight to ten o'clock at night. It's just in time for them to go to bed and get ready to start the whole thing over again the next morning. Fortunately, some of the kids are sponsored and they at least get lunch. The other sixty percent (60%) don't get that luxury. That's weird, I just called lunch a luxury.
Having text books to learn from seems to be another problem. In this area, the text book to student ratio seems to be about one for every twenty students. So forget being able to take your work home. On top of that, many of the students don't have paper to write on or a pencil to write on the paper if they had it. The things we take for granted every day....... copy machine, stapler, pens, pencils, white-out, paper, post-it notes, computers, google, the list goes on and on. We have information at our finger tips. Many of these kids have never even seen what they look like let alone what an elephant or a lion looks like.
There were a couple of really simple request. One was for us to provide balls for the kids to play with. Another was pens for the kids to be able to write with. We had both of those and had already planned on surprising them with those items. Another request was for bibles for the students. Can you imagine a Principle at one of our schools asking for a bible to give their students? I love that request. We really need to make that happen.
The last request that really stood out today is really going to stick out to the females that are reading this blog. They need sanitary napkins for the girls. The teachers keep really good statistics on the students. They can tell you how many girls are in each grade. The older a girl gets, the less likely she is to come to school. They attribute not having the napkins to being one of the leading causes of a girl dropping out of school. Can you imagine why? Its something that is so simple yet so life changing. A product taken for granted everyday back home, yet so life changing here. There has to be a way to correct this problem and it shouldn't be rocket science.
I ended my day in the Village with a visit to the hut of the two kids that I sponsor. Some of you already know from my previous trips that the girl that I have sponsored has had a baby girl. Today I had an opportunity to meet the father of that baby. We had a great talk. I learned that he is trying to raise the money to pay the dowry of four cows. He already has two of the cows. He looked me right in the eye and never backed down. The Ugandan men that were with me from Hope Chest came away from that meeting very impressed with the young man. I must say that I was to. He told me that he loved Phoebe and he would work very hard to not only take care of Phoebe and the baby, but also Emma, Phoebe's little brother. I ended my conversation by telling him that if there was to be a wedding wile I was still here, he would probably get a very nice wedding present.
Keep us in your prayers.
With Love,
Tom Cox
What we have learned is that most of these kids don't have the word "breakfast" in their vocabulary. They start their day doing domestic work for the family. This work may be working in the fields, it could be hauling water to the hut, or it could be any number of things that just need to be done on a daily basis in order to survive. Regardless, it has to be done before they start their, what could be up to five kilometer, walk to school. And if you have an infant brother or sister, your probably taking them to school with you.
What I'm getting at is that for most of these kids, their first meal of the day could and usually comes at eight to ten o'clock at night. It's just in time for them to go to bed and get ready to start the whole thing over again the next morning. Fortunately, some of the kids are sponsored and they at least get lunch. The other sixty percent (60%) don't get that luxury. That's weird, I just called lunch a luxury.
Having text books to learn from seems to be another problem. In this area, the text book to student ratio seems to be about one for every twenty students. So forget being able to take your work home. On top of that, many of the students don't have paper to write on or a pencil to write on the paper if they had it. The things we take for granted every day....... copy machine, stapler, pens, pencils, white-out, paper, post-it notes, computers, google, the list goes on and on. We have information at our finger tips. Many of these kids have never even seen what they look like let alone what an elephant or a lion looks like.
There were a couple of really simple request. One was for us to provide balls for the kids to play with. Another was pens for the kids to be able to write with. We had both of those and had already planned on surprising them with those items. Another request was for bibles for the students. Can you imagine a Principle at one of our schools asking for a bible to give their students? I love that request. We really need to make that happen.
The last request that really stood out today is really going to stick out to the females that are reading this blog. They need sanitary napkins for the girls. The teachers keep really good statistics on the students. They can tell you how many girls are in each grade. The older a girl gets, the less likely she is to come to school. They attribute not having the napkins to being one of the leading causes of a girl dropping out of school. Can you imagine why? Its something that is so simple yet so life changing. A product taken for granted everyday back home, yet so life changing here. There has to be a way to correct this problem and it shouldn't be rocket science.
I ended my day in the Village with a visit to the hut of the two kids that I sponsor. Some of you already know from my previous trips that the girl that I have sponsored has had a baby girl. Today I had an opportunity to meet the father of that baby. We had a great talk. I learned that he is trying to raise the money to pay the dowry of four cows. He already has two of the cows. He looked me right in the eye and never backed down. The Ugandan men that were with me from Hope Chest came away from that meeting very impressed with the young man. I must say that I was to. He told me that he loved Phoebe and he would work very hard to not only take care of Phoebe and the baby, but also Emma, Phoebe's little brother. I ended my conversation by telling him that if there was to be a wedding wile I was still here, he would probably get a very nice wedding present.
Keep us in your prayers.
With Love,
Tom Cox
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Sunday In The Village
Today was a great day! This morning started with a great breakfast served by the wonderful women taking care of us, Emmaculate and her niece Jessica. They both take really great care of us. We had omelette's this morning!
Today was going to be special though. Our plan was to head into the village and than split up into two groups and visit two different churches. When we arrived, however, the priest had to be away, so the Catholic Church simply wasn't meeting today. So we all went to the other church. Problem there was that all of our kids were at the care point waiting for us to get there. You see, we were feeding all of the kids today, both sponsored and unsponsored. As far as church went....... we were treated as if we were sent by Jesus Christ himself. I can't fully explain to you how grateful the people here are for everything. It is both humbling and exciting to be a part of this trip.
After church we walked to the care point, but by the time church was over, word got out that we had all went to church and slowly but surely, they started showing up in time to walk us back to the care point. When we arrived, the cooks hired by Hope Chest were busy preparing a big meal for all those kids. A meal that included a freshly slaughtered bull we had purchased the evening before. That was interesting to watch them parade a group of bulls by and let us choose the lucky winner. They say to always bet on the grey and he was the winner, winner...... steaks for dinner!
The opportunity we had today to see all of our kids together today from all three care points was amazing. We were a little tired, but having the opportunity to have all of them in one place was amazing. The boy and girl that I have sponsored were both there along with her little baby who is just over a year old was just incredible. The baby doesn't want to have a lot to do with me yet, but Phoebe and Emmanuel are really coming around. He snuck up on me today! That is a far cry from the day I first met him and had to drag him over to talk to me. It really feels like he is beginning to trust me. By looking at his calloused hands, I can tell he is a very hard worker. He has to be. After all, its his sister, who is 18, her baby, just a baby, and himself, who is maybe 12. Its a lot of responsibility.
Now for the bummer part of the day. Just before we left to head back to where we are staying, a man approached us while wearing a WCC shirt that we had just given him, and with the palms of his hands turned up, asked...... "What about me?" He wanted another shirt. When we pointed out that we had already given him the shirt he had on, he informed us that he was going to give that shirt to his wife. The problem was that he had another shirt hanging out of his front pocket. A pink shirt that we had already given him for his wife. I hate to admit it, but I lost my temper. Not in the sense that I yelled at him, but in that I asked our guide how to tell him not no, but "hell no" (sorry mom). You will be happy to know that I was not given the interpretation, but that we simply left for the day.
As we drove off on our daily one hour and forty-five minute trip back to where we are staying, his words kept sticking with me........ "What about me?" Mind you, this was one guy out of who really knows how many. The bigger problem I have is what we saw on our trip home. Let me explain. The last couple of days we have been tossing t-shirts and soccer balls out to the kids that we have seen on our route. Today, as we drove along that one hour and forty-five minute drive we were met with lines of kids who would come running out to the road at the very sight of our bus. That sounds exciting, but what I noticed was that most of them came running with the palms of their hands up shaking them up and down. Even though I could not physically hear them....... In my mind, they were all screaming....... "What about me?". I have to tell you that it both angered and made me a little sick to my stomach.
When we first visited here a year ago, our kids were very malnourished. They needed and still need our help. I can tell you first hand that what we are doing is making a huge difference in their lives. I believe with all my heart that we are supposed to be here. The message I heard loud and clear today was that feeding them is not enough though. This cycle of "What about me?" has to end. These kids have to be empowered to believe that they can do something. I am more convinced now than ever as to what God is leading me to do here. The next phase is getting it implemented. More on that later, but for now, please ask God to give us wisdom in what we are doing, open our eyes to what he wants us to see, and that we allow God to use us as his light.
This is a beautiful country with beautiful people. They are God's sons and daughters, they are my brothers and sisters.
With Love,
Tom Cox
Today was going to be special though. Our plan was to head into the village and than split up into two groups and visit two different churches. When we arrived, however, the priest had to be away, so the Catholic Church simply wasn't meeting today. So we all went to the other church. Problem there was that all of our kids were at the care point waiting for us to get there. You see, we were feeding all of the kids today, both sponsored and unsponsored. As far as church went....... we were treated as if we were sent by Jesus Christ himself. I can't fully explain to you how grateful the people here are for everything. It is both humbling and exciting to be a part of this trip.
After church we walked to the care point, but by the time church was over, word got out that we had all went to church and slowly but surely, they started showing up in time to walk us back to the care point. When we arrived, the cooks hired by Hope Chest were busy preparing a big meal for all those kids. A meal that included a freshly slaughtered bull we had purchased the evening before. That was interesting to watch them parade a group of bulls by and let us choose the lucky winner. They say to always bet on the grey and he was the winner, winner...... steaks for dinner!
The opportunity we had today to see all of our kids together today from all three care points was amazing. We were a little tired, but having the opportunity to have all of them in one place was amazing. The boy and girl that I have sponsored were both there along with her little baby who is just over a year old was just incredible. The baby doesn't want to have a lot to do with me yet, but Phoebe and Emmanuel are really coming around. He snuck up on me today! That is a far cry from the day I first met him and had to drag him over to talk to me. It really feels like he is beginning to trust me. By looking at his calloused hands, I can tell he is a very hard worker. He has to be. After all, its his sister, who is 18, her baby, just a baby, and himself, who is maybe 12. Its a lot of responsibility.
Now for the bummer part of the day. Just before we left to head back to where we are staying, a man approached us while wearing a WCC shirt that we had just given him, and with the palms of his hands turned up, asked...... "What about me?" He wanted another shirt. When we pointed out that we had already given him the shirt he had on, he informed us that he was going to give that shirt to his wife. The problem was that he had another shirt hanging out of his front pocket. A pink shirt that we had already given him for his wife. I hate to admit it, but I lost my temper. Not in the sense that I yelled at him, but in that I asked our guide how to tell him not no, but "hell no" (sorry mom). You will be happy to know that I was not given the interpretation, but that we simply left for the day.
As we drove off on our daily one hour and forty-five minute trip back to where we are staying, his words kept sticking with me........ "What about me?" Mind you, this was one guy out of who really knows how many. The bigger problem I have is what we saw on our trip home. Let me explain. The last couple of days we have been tossing t-shirts and soccer balls out to the kids that we have seen on our route. Today, as we drove along that one hour and forty-five minute drive we were met with lines of kids who would come running out to the road at the very sight of our bus. That sounds exciting, but what I noticed was that most of them came running with the palms of their hands up shaking them up and down. Even though I could not physically hear them....... In my mind, they were all screaming....... "What about me?". I have to tell you that it both angered and made me a little sick to my stomach.
When we first visited here a year ago, our kids were very malnourished. They needed and still need our help. I can tell you first hand that what we are doing is making a huge difference in their lives. I believe with all my heart that we are supposed to be here. The message I heard loud and clear today was that feeding them is not enough though. This cycle of "What about me?" has to end. These kids have to be empowered to believe that they can do something. I am more convinced now than ever as to what God is leading me to do here. The next phase is getting it implemented. More on that later, but for now, please ask God to give us wisdom in what we are doing, open our eyes to what he wants us to see, and that we allow God to use us as his light.
This is a beautiful country with beautiful people. They are God's sons and daughters, they are my brothers and sisters.
With Love,
Tom Cox
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Black Outs
Well its hard to believe that its already Saturday Night in the big town of Soroti. A lot has happened since my last post, but we have not been able to post anything. The place we usually stay at in Katakwi is full. They are in the middle of putting up a bunch of electrical poles. The poles are going up, but there is not wires being ran. Miss that place!
We spent Thursday night in a little boarding house that was in the back of a general store. They finally fired up a generator, but the power lines coming into the rooms was what looked like thermostat wire that had been pieced together, and the wires were laying bare. We tried to plug our power inverters in, but it shut the generators off. So, the bottom line was....... No Power!
The Hope Chest Team here in Uganda has been great. They were very upset with the accommodations and decided that we would go back to Soroti, and just drive each day. Accommodations here are wonderful, but unfortunately, we have had rolling blackouts here. Power is on now, and everything is charged up.
Here is the funny thing. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, because none of us are. This is a fabulous group. Nobody has complained. We have all just learned that, as they say, TIA, This Is Africa!
So enough about us. We just spent our third day visiting our Care Points. The kitchens are being constructed and are coming along nicely. The cooks are excited and the communities see a permanent structure that tells them we are committed.
The kids........ right now they are on holiday. The good thing about that is that we get to spend more time with our sponsored kids. The bad news is that we don't get to see as many of the others. Our kids still come so that they can be fed. This is where it gets tricky. You see, the way it works is that our sponsored kids get fed. There's a lot of joy in that. We get to see our kids go through a line and get a bowl of food. In fact, they even let us give them the bowls of food. Then, something strange happens. The cooks suddenly charge into the line and demand that this kid and that kid get out of the line. We question to ourselves what is going on. That's when reality sinks in. Those are the unsponsored kids. They don't get to eat. After all of the sponsored kids had eaten, there was a little bit of food left over so they sat the unsponsored kids into circles of 4 to 6 and gave them a bowl to share. It wasn't much, but it was all that was left. Sometimes reality sucks.
I can't leave you on a bad note though. I was uplifted and amazed to see sponsored kids sharing their plates with younger kids who didn't have a plate. I'm telling you, for every bad things that we see there are 10 good things. I am simply reminded that God Is Good All The Time!
Keep us in your prayers.
Tom Cox
We spent Thursday night in a little boarding house that was in the back of a general store. They finally fired up a generator, but the power lines coming into the rooms was what looked like thermostat wire that had been pieced together, and the wires were laying bare. We tried to plug our power inverters in, but it shut the generators off. So, the bottom line was....... No Power!
The Hope Chest Team here in Uganda has been great. They were very upset with the accommodations and decided that we would go back to Soroti, and just drive each day. Accommodations here are wonderful, but unfortunately, we have had rolling blackouts here. Power is on now, and everything is charged up.
Here is the funny thing. I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining, because none of us are. This is a fabulous group. Nobody has complained. We have all just learned that, as they say, TIA, This Is Africa!
So enough about us. We just spent our third day visiting our Care Points. The kitchens are being constructed and are coming along nicely. The cooks are excited and the communities see a permanent structure that tells them we are committed.
The kids........ right now they are on holiday. The good thing about that is that we get to spend more time with our sponsored kids. The bad news is that we don't get to see as many of the others. Our kids still come so that they can be fed. This is where it gets tricky. You see, the way it works is that our sponsored kids get fed. There's a lot of joy in that. We get to see our kids go through a line and get a bowl of food. In fact, they even let us give them the bowls of food. Then, something strange happens. The cooks suddenly charge into the line and demand that this kid and that kid get out of the line. We question to ourselves what is going on. That's when reality sinks in. Those are the unsponsored kids. They don't get to eat. After all of the sponsored kids had eaten, there was a little bit of food left over so they sat the unsponsored kids into circles of 4 to 6 and gave them a bowl to share. It wasn't much, but it was all that was left. Sometimes reality sucks.
I can't leave you on a bad note though. I was uplifted and amazed to see sponsored kids sharing their plates with younger kids who didn't have a plate. I'm telling you, for every bad things that we see there are 10 good things. I am simply reminded that God Is Good All The Time!
Keep us in your prayers.
Tom Cox
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
First Night
Well we made it. It was a very long flight, but we all made it and so did our luggage. Tomorrow will be an early morning for us, but we will make it to Soroti by tomorrow night.
Just a quick comment. I Luke the Delta and KLM planes much better.
Just a quick comment. I Luke the Delta and KLM planes much better.
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Thursday, May 5, 2011
Starting The Blog
Hello everyone! Well right now, there isn't anyone, but I guess that's the point of this. Today, I'm eleven (11) days from departure. The time is fast approaching. There have been recent demonstrations in the Capital City of Kampala and near the airport in Entebbe, but the government is quick to shut them down. According to the local online papers, you can have a demonstration, but you have to notify the authorities before you have them. Its not much different there than here. If there is too much danger, Hopechest will not let us go. I have spoken to both David and Joseph and neither feel like there will be any trouble. Outside of the Capital, there aren't any problems anyway. Regardless, we will prepare as if we are going and trust God to protect us. I am so looking forward to this trip. We have a great team of people going this time. The care points are being built now so we will be able to check the progress and maybe get to help out a little bit. We just don't want to take away any work from those who need it to feed their families.
I'll post more later, but this is a starting point.
I'll post more later, but this is a starting point.
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