New Uniforms for Orphan Students

Girls, after receiving their new uniforms. Ruth on the left, Becky on the right

Boys, after receiving their new uniforms.  Henry on left, Peter on right

Diane's last day, when all the children lined up to show her and us how great they looked!

New Uniforms

One of IAM's projects for which we received your donations was to see each child at the orphanage school, approximately 225, receive a new uniform.  Many children's uniforms were in poor condition and many others did not have a uniform at all.  We are still working on a few that did not fit or were not accounted for, but overall we were pleased with the efforts.  

Diane made the effort her last day before leaving Mityana to go to the orphanage to see the children.

In the pictures above, the first two were taken on the day we actually distributed and tried on the uniforms.  The last picture shows the assembling of the children in the new uniforms.  It was a great day!  Thanks for helping through your donations!

Diane Goes to Work!

Diane came with three loaded suitcases full of blessings for the orphans of Mityana Orphanage.

Through donations of others, primarily her own triplet grandchildren, Megan, Brett, and Ellen, she had enough clothes to outfit almost each orphan with one new play outfit. Thanks, Megan, Brett, and Ellen! We went to a used clothes market here in town where we were able to buy used clothes for the older children for about 30 dollars.

None of the children had their personal basin for bathing.  Now they do!  We purchased through donations to IAM, a basin for each child, and Diane sat one night and personalized 65 writing the children's names on each basin!!

We had purchased in Kampala and Mityana new towels, new sponges(washing cloths), a  bar of soap, and pajamas, and flip-flop sandals for each child.  None owned a pair of pj's and slept either in clothes or naked.

It was better than Christmas for these children who never receive this many personal gifts and "new" items!  Although it was a day of hard work distributing, labeling, and trying on, it was a great day of blessing for both receivers and givers! 

 Thanks to all of you who contribute to IAM's work in improving the living conditions of the children and the orphanage in Mityana!

Pictures below show children in new clothes, new pajamas, new sandals and personalized basins!

Orphans Receive Abundant Blessings

May 1, 2009

Greetings from Uganda,

I realize it has been 48 days since my last update, and so much has taken place during that time; however, I do apologize to those of you who were faithfully following, and I hope that you will once again check in on this blog. 

On March 15, my sister Diane from Baton Rouge arrived for a two week stay.  We accomplished so much while she was here and she was able to participate in the many activities and programs of IAM. Unfortunately, two days before her departure date of March 29, she got seriously ill with pneumonia and ended up in a hospital in Kampala for five days.  Once back home at my house, she still had a recovery period of about 5 days as we attempted to get her well enough to fly home. 

My sister Sally met her in Amsterdam to accompany her to the US.  Diane was very very sick, but we were blessed that there was a retired  lung specialist from Manchester, England, who was doing TB research in our hosptial and he was able to care for Diane and advise us.  Diane has been under the care of lung specialist in the US and is now, for the first time since being ill, beginning to feel stronger and resume her activities. 

But while she was here, prior to becoming sick, she was strong, active, and such a blessing to me and the Ugandans.  The pictures above tell some of the story of her trip and all that we did! 

Random Photos

Some photos during Sally and Bernie's trip. First photo was taken in Gema at the Open Air Meeting--Sally and Irene. The rest of the pictures were taken on visits to Nama.

You don't see many cats in Uganda, but this little kitty in the second picture was very interested in our visit. The older man, George Nelson, is Thereze's husband. He is 83 and he loved Bernie. He would hug him every time we went. We loved going there to visit. The second picture shows the men that Bernie and Henry went to share with in Nama.

March 13, 2009

On February 25, my sister Sally and her husband Bernie, a pastor of Grace Church in Austin, Texas, arrived for a two week visit. They both hit the ground running and within one hour of arriving in Mityana, Bernie was off to visit in Gema and teach. The next day, we visited a group in Nama and took care of Thereze's heel wound. We all enjoyed visiting with George Nelson and Thereze as Dan Douglas took care of cleaning the heel.
We distributed gift bags to the orphans which Sally and Bernie had brought from their church.
Bernie taught a Bible lesson at the orphanage school and at a large high school in Mityana.
We hosted a weekend retreat at my house for members of Mityana Baptist Church , approximately 32 people,and we even had a group of four travel from Kampala for the teaching. It was a great weekend.
With many members of Mityana Baptist,we participated in an Open Air Meeting on March 7 in preparation for the new church which was planted on Sunday, March 8. Although IAM was very involved in assisting with all plans, the church will be a branch of Mityana Baptist Church.
On Thursday and Friday, March 5 and 6 we traveled to Kampala for meetings with the printer and artist for the book series. On Friday we traveled with two other pastors from Mukono to the village of Kayunga for a book distribution. In between all of these activities, we met with individuals, groups of young men and women, and Bernie did much discipling of the young people.
I enjoyed the visit so much and am so grateful for the gift of labor and teaching which Sally and Bernie did for the people of this area. They worked tirelessly and enthusiastically up till the moment I took them to Kampala before they headed to Entebbe to depart. I wish they could have stayed longer, but I look forward to my sister Diane's arrival on Sunday. I will try my best to post more regularly to the blog while she is here.