Haywoods in Africa

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Proud Parents!

Of course the highlight was seeing our 5 children and 5 young women & men we sponsor at New Hope Uganda. We are soo blessed that God hand-selected them for our family!

Unfortunately, because the 5 oldest all live off site now, we weren't able to get a pic this time of all 10 together. But here they are, oldest to youngest:

1. Zziwa Godfrey

Our "firstborn" (as they say in Africa ;) of our Ugandan children. He is such a tender-hearted, kind young man. He just graduated from tech school and got hired at the local hospital as a lab technician where he was doing his internship. it was so neat, because he had the interview while we were here, and got to pray for him at that exact time. Then a couple days later we got the good news!!! Since he will now be earning a paycheck, we are no longer sponsoring him, but he will always be our son!

He was so excited to be on the payroll now, that he treated the kids to ice cream!

2. Kato Joshua

He is an artist & musician studying to be a doctor and is taking science courses at a prep boarding school. He has an amazing heart and is keeping himself pure before The Lord, despite much adversity at his college. Because of us, he started sponsoring his own little boy! He wants to pay it forward and pass on the blessings God has given him.

Thanks Uncle Ron for donating the size 13 shoes!!! They are next to impossible to find in Africa. He sewed 2 shoes together to make a shoe that fit. The best part of the story is that he was going to use the Christmas money we sent him to buy new shoes, but instead he used it to buy shoes for Paul, the little boy he sponsors. God honored his generosity and giving heart! He was sooo blessed by God's provision!

Good thing Joshua is so tall; he could reach Jonas to catch a gecko.

3. Kiweewa Christopher

Ging to college to become a Veterinarian. We got to visit the Vet Clinic where he works in between his school terms. He and Jonas share a love of animals. They have a special bond.

4. Rosemary

In her first year of Teacher's College. She's going for Primary (Elementary) Education like us! :) Very sweet young lady!

5. Mirembe Susan

Finishing up her Investment Year, then will goto college next year for Accounting. She has such a gentle spirit and is known for her kindness.

6. Sentango Isa

P6 (6th grader, age 13) Loves to laugh, loves to have deep talks with Joey, Class Prefect (like a student council leader), great role model, has matured so much in the last 2 years. I always looked for his smile in the crowd when we were up front leading VBS. He was the one worshipping God so sincerely.

He still wears the Tshirt we sent in a care pkg years ago!

Drinking Porridge that he made.

7. Zephaniah

P6 (classmates and good buds with Isa). Loves playing football (soccer) with Jonas, was one of only 9 students who passes the Social Studies exam (out of 28)! Also has a winning smile.

Because it's hard to get pics of them alone, since they are always together, here's a few photos of Isa & Zephaniah together....

Isa also still wears the jersey we gave him 2 yrs ago (even though its very faded).

They have to "dig" (hoe weeds) as part of their agriculture class.

8. Rashida

P5 (5th grade), very quiet but loves to play games!

She had her birthday while we were there and shared a piece of Ally & Carol's Bday cake!

9. Robinah

P4 (4th grade) Quiet, but has the cutest giggle.

10. Sandra

All 3 of our girls are super quiet & shy.

The girls.....

Another Quick Update

We are on our way to Entebbe (where the airport is). Trying to get a bunch of posts caught up on this bumpy bus, then hoping to upload them at our guesthouse before we fly out tmrw night (Aug 7th). Once again, our posts published out of order, so sorry for the confusion. Be sure to scroll back to the new post titled "HIV Children's Outreach", that got shoved down into the list of older posts. So hard to believe that we are at the end of our 8 weeks! I HATE goodbyes!!! This morning was absolutely heart wrenching! Alea, who got homesick on week 6 of last summer's 10 week road trip, asked thru tears why we couldn't stay longer. When I asked her why she wasn't homesick and not wanting to go home yet, she said, "Because Africa is my 2nd home, not those National Parks!" With fresh tears staining my cheek, and a huge lump in my throat, I will attempt to recap our last 2 weeks at Kasana Children's Center (New Hope Uganda). As always, no words can summarize the depth of love or the intensity of the joy we have felt here. But here are a few photos to give you a small glimpse of the journey our family has been on.....

Monday, August 5, 2013

Monkeys!

After camp, our team from WI flew back home, and our family + Ally stayed for 5 more days in Kampala at Pastor Micah's house again. They often have monkeys hanging around their yard!

Kampala Again

It was great to be able to spend more time at the Rwothumio home after our team went back to WI. Unfortunately, Pastor Micah was upcountry at the Bible School, but he called to talk to us. We really needed those few days to relax and unwind a little before we geared up for our last portion of the trip. Besides the Mengo Aids Clinic & Sanyu Baby House, here are a few other things we did....