April 2009 was a significant time for me and 10 other women who left for Uganda unaware of how much God had in store for us. We went with determination and fire in our hearts ready to do the task set before us: we were to build a classroom for a Watoto village in Gulu.
From the beginning I was amazed at how God had already been working in us and the people we would meet. Each of us brought something to the team and we all knew that God had specifically planned for each of us to be there.
We set to work, it was tiring in the heat but with each brick we lay down we understood that this building would be a part of changing the children’s lives. Time on the trip was precious to me and I tried to make every moment count. On the breaks during the day I played with the children who were already living in the new Watoto village. I have never seen such joy, as the children would run up and embrace you. Their smiles were breathtaking, and their eyes told a story. One lunch time I chatted to a 14 year old girl, she told me how she lost her parents and her auntie tried to kill her and how the people in her own village mocked her and hated her. I felt the tears in my eyes, she put her arm around me and began to speak about how she was now not afraid and she knew God loved her. She then spoke about her dreams to be a lawyer. It was a living testament to how Watoto works to restore the lives of so many broken children in Uganda.
We visited a refugee camp where there were still 1500 people living. It was a shock to see how differently these people and especially the children lived; so different to the experience at Watoto. We also went to a government run boarding school for war affected children. Here 99% of the children had been child soldiers. As we spilt off to look around, I saw many children who had scars on their faces and still clung to a sense of fear and hopelessness. Brenda, a young girl who had been at the school for 2 years, showed me around her dorm. It was difficult for me to know how to feel, you see how these children have a bed, food and are receiving schooling but in my heart I saw that wasn’t enough. As I spoke with Brenda and a social worker it was easy to see how not only Brenda but all these children were still living the nightmare they had been through. They did not have the hope, the faith and the love that is given through Jesus and that was the difference between these children and those at Watoto. They had no new home or new mother or new brothers and sisters and it’s then I realised the amount of children that desperately need God and need to be in a Watoto home.
One rainy evening we walked along wasteland; it was a former killing ground for Idi Amin and nothing grew there. It was quite eerie. We walked until we came to some squatters living on the land. We gave out sweets to the children and began to play with them and we had some gifts for a particular family we had already met with. As I turned and saw a girl no older than two run up the hill towards me, little did I know how this moment would change me for the rest of my life. She fixed her eyes on me and as I knelt to the ground she landed in my arms. I felt her strange sense of relief as she rested her head on my shoulder. I felt her fingers grip me tight and as I rocked her back and forth I sung of God’s love over her. The noise in the background of children playing faded and I felt her heart next to mine. I knew she had never felt love before and my heart still breaks as I think of her and where I had to leave her. I pray that even as a child she will remember how she felt when I had her in my arms and she will know she is loved. I still carry her with me.
The trip changed my outlook on life and how precious we all are and how joy is not found in how much ‘stuff’ we have, it’s found in Him. As I watched the Watoto children worship I was reminded how true that is. I encourage you, do what you can, you may not be able to fly to Uganda, but you can still change a persons life, even if it is only a hug! Every day I thank God that I am alive, I have a bed to sleep in at night and a family who love me. It opened my eyes to how precious our lives really are and how much I really do have to be grateful for.
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Tags: Gabby Dunbar, Gulu, UgandaPosted in: Watoto
