A changed heart...

• Nearly half of the estimated 2 million orphans are orphaned due to AIDS, with the total expected to rise to 3.5 million by 2010.

"He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,

rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash,

Seats them among the honored guests,

a place of honor among the brightest and best.

He gives childless couples a family,

gives them joy as the parents of children. Hallelujah!" psalm 113:4

Michelle in her final weeks at Baby Watoto, Uganda

It is bitter sweet, the ending of a beautiful journey.  Michelle will be coming home soon to continue her studies at the University of Texas in the fall.  She has learned, she has grown, and she has been changed.  It gets in your soul and you forever know the abundance of love.  Please read some of her final thoughts as she closes this chapter in her life's novel.  We are so proud of Michelle and her selfless desire to just show love to those who need hope.

Peace & Blessings, Diane.

I think that before, because it felt like I still had so much time here, I was kinda anxious and wanted to go home. But now, I only have one week left, and it’ll go by so fast. I’m currently sitting in the rocking chair on our porch, looking at three Ugandans working in a patch of tall grass, looking out over the hills and clean, beautiful sky, and its times like these where I don’t want to go home, back to drama and busy life where people make tiny problems huge and get mad at lines and traffic. How can I go back after being here and seeing how these people live? They work so hard and still have almost nothing, but are the most giving people I’ve met. They can’t even drink their own water without getting sick. They live a simple life. We live such complex lives, and I wish we didn’t. You think you know the world, or at least have a grasp on it, until you actually go out into it.
Yes, the city is much different from the country, it smells and the roads are full of pot holes, but I love these people. God loves these people. He loves these kids, and He loved them when no one else did. When they were found in a box or a toilet or with a bag over their head, He still loved them and saw them as His beautiful children. And there are kids all over the world like this. I wonder if God’s heart isn’t breaking every second, because mine is for these kids. I’ve been trying to figure out how to handle leaving, and I can’t imagine feeling anything but sadness, because I really love these children, these babies, these nannies, these volunteers. I’m probably never going to see them again, and that breaks my heart. I love waking up to the sweet innocence of the babies, even if they cry and smell. Sometimes, you just need to cuddle a baby in the morning to make the rest of the day good.
Two and a half years ago at world mandate, God laid Uganda on my heart. I even got one of those bracelets to remind me to pray every day for this place. And now I’m here. I tried other organizations and options, but the doors all closed. Except for this one. So when I miss home, I just remind myself that this is where I am supposed to be. And maybe I won’t learn some huge profound lesson, but being here is changing my heart, I think. Just the way I look at people and the world and my own life. And sometimes we need that, a reality check. If anyone ever needs a reality check, go to a place worse off. It makes you take a good look at what is really important in your life.
Why am I here? Because it’s where God put me, where I needed to be so that my heart would change. To do something truly not for myself. To see God in other places and people, outside of my box I keep putting Him in. To love the widows and orphans. To become who He wants me to be. Because He called, and I followed. And I couldn’t have asked for a better way to do all this.
All Glory to Him,  Michelle

Trouble in Uganda

Dear Friends,
You may have learned that last evening during the World Cup Finals twin deadly bombs went off in the capital city of Kampala, Uganda.  74 people were killed.  This is a very sad day for Uganda.  Michelle, our college intern, was there but if you've been following the blog you know that she was moved to the Watoto location at Suubi, which is 45 minutes from Kampala - Praise God. We are so thankful that Michelle is okay, but unfortunately there are still many in the rubble. 

We are praying for our friends in Uganda at Watoto Childens Center & Humble School and for our brothers and sisters in mission who are lending their time and talents to the people of Uganda but most especially, we pray for peace in Uganda and for everyone who is today sad and scared and lonely that they come to know the mercy in God.

Below is Michelle's latest blog.  She is still pressing on with an amazing spirit for Christ.  We are very proud of her and all the work she continues to do with those precious babies.  God Bless.
Peace,  Diane

Meet Baby Blake.  Super Cute right?!  =D

So it’s been a little while since I last wrote…

Last night was the World Cup final, which we watched downstairs with the night shift nannies. It was quite fun, but sad to see the Netherlands lose. Then apparently after the game, two bombs in Kampala went off, killing 64 people and counting. One bomb was not far from where I was staying before I came here to Suubi. I’m so thankful that I’m currently 45 minutes away in from the city, because I’m sure it’s crazy down there. Pray for the victims, and Mulago Hospital where most of the people are being taken. It’s not a very good hospital, and is where Watoto gets some of its babies. It’s a sad day for Uganda and many people are still missing from the explosions. I just can’t believe I was so close to it all, and am so thankful to be safe.

Things at Suubi have been pretty slow. Just work and hanging out in the evenings. We’re now trying to do some developmental activities with the children during the times they aren’t feeding, like sensory exercises and practice crawling and strengthening muscles. We also have Freedom Fridays, where the kids get to do something extra fun like play in the water or with goop or play dough. I’ll also be working more with the special needs kids, called the lions, this week and going with a few of them to physical therapy on Thursday. They are all such sweet kids who really love to drool.

Anyways, that’s about it from around here. I am so blessed to be able to love on each of these kids every day, and that they have a God filled environment and safe place to live. So cool what is going on here in Suubi.
All glory to Him,  Michelle

Freedom Friday!  Yeah!!

The spectrum of both worlds....

If your in the mood to get chills, smile, maybe shed a tear...read this from Michelle our college intern in Uganda...Peace, diane

What a crazy week:

Friday night a baby died. Her name was Mercy, and she was two and a half years old. There's not much I can say about it all besides the fact that it just hurt. Mercy was so sweet tempered, but she had been having seizures and had surgery on her lymph nodes and was just getting worse, and eventually just stopped breathing. The memorial was Saturday afternoon and I got to go because I had the weekend off and was in Kampala. At the service Pastor Doug spoke and we had worship, and he read this poem (sorry its kind of long):


A Child Loaned
written by Edgar Guest

"I'll lend you for a little time
A child of Mine," He said.
"For you to love the while she lives,
And mourn for when she's dead.
It may be six or seven years
Or twenty-two or three,
But will you, till I call her back
Take care of her for Me?
She'll bring her charms to gladden you,
And should her stay be brief,
You'll have her lovely memories
As solace for your grief.
I cannot promise she will stay,
Since all from Earth return,
But there are lessons taught down there
I want this child to learn.
I've looked this wide world over
In My search for teachers true,
And from the throngs that crowd life's lanes, I have selected you; Now will you give her all your love, Nor think the labour vain, Nor hate Me when I come to call And take her back again?
I fancied that I heard them say,
"Dear Lord, Thy will be done,
For all the joy Thy child shall bring,
For the risk of grief we?ll run.
We'll shelter her with tenderness,
We'll love her while we may,
And for the happiness we?ve known,
Forever grateful stay.
But should the angels call for her
Much sooner then we planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes
And try to understand.

Anyways, it was so neat to hear about the name Mercy and how appropriate it was for this little girl, because God had mercy on her and brought her out of suffering and sickness into a safe place in the Bulrushes.

Sunday was the Fourth of July, which was so fun. Out of about twenty volunteers, seven were American. So we had a big party in the volunteer apartments and ate way too much food, more foor and sugar than I have had in a month. The rule was each person had to bring some kind of American food, so we had Kraft mac 'n cheese, taco meat seasoned with Taco Bell seasoning, Mountain Dew, guacamole, Doritos, four different kinds of brownies, and ice cream sandwiches. It was so fantastic, and I must say, I was pretty proud to be an American.
In conclusion: my week has been a roller coaster. But good thing God is the same through every part of it.
All glory to Him,   Michelle

NEWS FROM LODJA - THE CONGO

The supplies have arrived!

The supplies and material, not to mention Paul's truck have safely arrived in Lodja. Finally.

As I mentioned in my last blog, in the meantime, Paul has been keeping the workers busy with a road project and bridge construction in preparation for the Annual Conference.


Here are before and after pictures of the Loyehi bridge project. This is
a bridge Paul and his workers
rebuilt and is an excellent example of the quality of work we can
expect with the dam construction.


What else have they been doing? In order to get a higher quality of soil for the dam, it was necessary to build a gravel road on the other side of the dam. That road is now complete!

The soil with a heavier clay content is on the other side, Paul has a dump truck on the way to haul it and before too much longer, the dam will be going up. Rock-n-roll!

The project is a little behind the original schedule but still within budget. Paul will send some pictures and another update soon.

God is Great!

Baby Watoto, Uganda - Michelle's Journey

Good Day.  There are many vulnerable babies in Uganda who are abandoned or orphaned due to poverty & HIV/AIDS.  Many of them do not make it to their 5th birthday.  Michelle, drops college intern, heard the call to this ministry and drops decided that we needed to know more.  Michelle is a UT student who has given her summer to help, learn, and play with babies at this amazing center that is rescuing, restoring to health, and rebuilding many children's lives - giving them hope for a bright and healthy future. 

These precious beings come to the Watoto center through many different avenues...some not so inspiring - found in pit latrines, garbage dumps, under trees, buckets of water and on doorsteps.  It is common for them to be premature, abused, and with serious medical conditions. 

Below is another entry from Michelle's Journey.  I hope you are enjoying her stories.  We at drops are so proud of her and all that she is doing and looking forward to the possibility of future partnerships.

Peace, diane

Michelle at Baby Watoto, Uganda

I am now at Suubi!

Suubi is another Watoto village. It's about an hour and a half from Kampala, kind of in the middle of nowhere. On Thursday evening I received a text saying I needed to pack my bags because tomorrow I and three other volunteers from the Bulrushes would move. It was sort of a shock. I figured I?d be in Kampala at least a little longer, but this is Africa, you have to go with the flow.

So here I am with six other girls (plus Trent in his own apartment - lucky) living in a concrete flat in the Suubi babies home, directly above crying toddlers. Although friday night I fell asleep to what sounded like tribal noises outside my window. Drums banging, hollering and shouting; it lasted a few hours, but was quite interesting.

Sleeping past eight in the morning is practically impossible, and we're no longer in a city so there's not much to do when you aren't working - except watch movies and whole seasons of tv shows. I've currently finished season one of Grey's Anatomy, and have started The Big Bang Theory and Flash Forward. Also, Julie, one of the girls here that I share a room with, asked me if I knew I talked in my sleep. I probably should have given them a heads up haha.

Church today was cool, we got to pick a baby and take them with us which was actually kind of stressful, but fun. I took a little girl named Ella (I'll try to get pictures soon but my camera is acting up).
Worship was in Luganda, I think, and so joyful. I love seeing other cultures worship. It's just the coolest thing ever. I've discovered, or maybe I already knew, that my verse for this trip is 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. We are ambassadors to Christ. I've only been to two church services so far, but each one has talked on this verse that Kara prayed over me before I even knew I was coming to Uganda. I think it's God's reminder that He really is in all of this and that I'm here for a reason.

6/30/10

So there are some basic things I realize I haven't really discussed:

My schedule: If you work mornings the shift is from 7am to 3:30pm, afternoons are 11am to 7pm. The nice thing is there's no night shift in Suubi. They feed you lunch and dinner here, which are the same meal, but breakfast is on your own, whatever you bought at the store to eat. I usually have cereal or toast... but you probably don't care about that. (insert smile) The meals here usually consist of watermelon, pineapple, rice, beans, or potatoes. On Fridays we have Rolex, and Mondays are I think fried chicken. We basically eat lots of carbs all the time.

The nannies: All really nice. They like to talk to each other in Luganda and sometimes they laugh at you, but they're all sweet and love the kids. We've picked up on the songs they sing to them like "martin is the best baby I've ever seen" and stuff like that. It's cute. They are very good about making the kids eat their food; they're a lot more forceful than I was in the beginning. But I basically have the hang of things now.

The babies- The basic schedule for the babies is wake up, bottle, play, food, play, bottle, nap, and repeat throughout the day. At night before bed and in the morning they get baths, which is hectic. But I discovered I love dressing the kids, it's so fun to make them all cute :]

The facility- Suubi is a big concrete building with two stories. The bottom is for the babies and the top is for us volunteers and the office. The view is beautiful because it overlooks hills and country, but the building itself needs furnishing... its grey and empty mostly. We?re hoping to get a couch soon... and maybe a dresser or something so we won?t have to live out of suitcases anymore.

The Bulrushes is much more colorful with lots of windows and shade to play outside. It feels a little friendlier I guess you would say.


Living in Kampala is just so different because it's a city with bustle and people everywhere all the time and fun places to eat and shop. Out at Suubi things are a lot more relaxed.

We had a birthday party for one of our girls, Lela, today and got to eat cookies and have a juice box. It?s a big deal. But we sang and had balloons and a sash for her which was cute. She is so blessed to even be having a birthday; she was premature and came from the hospital and is now a healthy two year old. So many kids are blessed to be here alive? it?s just cool to think of what a huge plan God has for their lives that they would be here now.

All glory to Him,  Michelle

Baby Watoto, Uganda - Michelle's Journey

Good Day.  There are many vulnerable babies in Uganda who are abandoned or orphaned due to poverty & HIV/AIDS.  Many of them do not make it to their 5th birthday.  Michelle, drops college intern, heard the call to this ministry and drops decided that we needed to know more.  Michelle is a UT student who has given her summer to help, learn, and play with babies at this amazing center that is rescuing, restoring to health, and rebuilding many children's lives - giving them hope for a bright and healthy future. 

These precious beings come to the Watoto center through many different avenues...some not so inspiring - found in pit latrines, garbage dumps, under trees, buckets of water and on doorsteps.  It is common for them to be premature, abused, and with serious medical conditions. 

Below is another entry from Michelle's Journey.  I hope you are enjoying her stories.  We at drops are so proud of her and all that she is doing and looking forward to the possibility of future partnerships.

Peace, diane

Michelle at Baby Watoto, Uganda

I am now at Suubi!

Suubi is another Watoto village. It's about an hour and a half from Kampala, kind of in the middle of nowhere. On Thursday evening I received a text saying I needed to pack my bags because tomorrow I and three other volunteers from the Bulrushes would move. It was sort of a shock. I figured I?d be in Kampala at least a little longer, but this is Africa, you have to go with the flow.

So here I am with six other girls (plus Trent in his own apartment - lucky) living in a concrete flat in the Suubi babies home, directly above crying toddlers. Although friday night I fell asleep to what sounded like tribal noises outside my window. Drums banging, hollering and shouting; it lasted a few hours, but was quite interesting.

Sleeping past eight in the morning is practically impossible, and we're no longer in a city so there's not much to do when you aren't working - except watch movies and whole seasons of tv shows. I've currently finished season one of Grey's Anatomy, and have started The Big Bang Theory and Flash Forward. Also, Julie, one of the girls here that I share a room with, asked me if I knew I talked in my sleep. I probably should have given them a heads up haha.

Church today was cool, we got to pick a baby and take them with us which was actually kind of stressful, but fun. I took a little girl named Ella (I'll try to get pictures soon but my camera is acting up).
Worship was in Luganda, I think, and so joyful. I love seeing other cultures worship. It's just the coolest thing ever. I've discovered, or maybe I already knew, that my verse for this trip is 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. We are ambassadors to Christ. I've only been to two church services so far, but each one has talked on this verse that Kara prayed over me before I even knew I was coming to Uganda. I think it's God's reminder that He really is in all of this and that I'm here for a reason.

6/30/10

So there are some basic things I realize I haven't really discussed:

My schedule: If you work mornings the shift is from 7am to 3:30pm, afternoons are 11am to 7pm. The nice thing is there's no night shift in Suubi. They feed you lunch and dinner here, which are the same meal, but breakfast is on your own, whatever you bought at the store to eat. I usually have cereal or toast... but you probably don't care about that. (insert smile) The meals here usually consist of watermelon, pineapple, rice, beans, or potatoes. On Fridays we have Rolex, and Mondays are I think fried chicken. We basically eat lots of carbs all the time.

The nannies: All really nice. They like to talk to each other in Luganda and sometimes they laugh at you, but they're all sweet and love the kids. We've picked up on the songs they sing to them like "martin is the best baby I've ever seen" and stuff like that. It's cute. They are very good about making the kids eat their food; they're a lot more forceful than I was in the beginning. But I basically have the hang of things now.

The babies- The basic schedule for the babies is wake up, bottle, play, food, play, bottle, nap, and repeat throughout the day. At night before bed and in the morning they get baths, which is hectic. But I discovered I love dressing the kids, it's so fun to make them all cute :]

The facility- Suubi is a big concrete building with two stories. The bottom is for the babies and the top is for us volunteers and the office. The view is beautiful because it overlooks hills and country, but the building itself needs furnishing... its grey and empty mostly. We?re hoping to get a couch soon... and maybe a dresser or something so we won?t have to live out of suitcases anymore.

The Bulrushes is much more colorful with lots of windows and shade to play outside. It feels a little friendlier I guess you would say.


Living in Kampala is just so different because it's a city with bustle and people everywhere all the time and fun places to eat and shop. Out at Suubi things are a lot more relaxed.

We had a birthday party for one of our girls, Lela, today and got to eat cookies and have a juice box. It?s a big deal. But we sang and had balloons and a sash for her which was cute. She is so blessed to even be having a birthday; she was premature and came from the hospital and is now a healthy two year old. So many kids are blessed to be here alive? it?s just cool to think of what a huge plan God has for their lives that they would be here now.

All glory to Him,  Michelle