Another Hope Children's Ministry

This week I received a phone call from Ruth, the Executive Director of Another Hope Children's Ministry.  She had looked up my number at the suggestion of a friend and supporter she had met in the US who is an old friend of Krista's family and had heard we were in Uganda.  Another Hope is located in a suburb of Kampala, so I suggested we come and visit.  Today we made that visit and are grateful to have had the opportunity to do so. 

Another Hope takes in children who are orphaned or unable to be cared for by their parents.  They place some children into foster-homes in the community and some reside at the Another Hope home.  School-age children attend a nearby Christian school or the school where their foster brothers and sisters attend.  We were warmly welcomed by Ruth and some of the other directors of Another Hope who shared with us the history of the project.  Since we had come in the middle of the day, most of the children were at school but there were a handful of toddlers playing at the home.  They were well cared for and we saw some coloring, some eating a snack, and some singing to themselves.  They were all a bit shy.  Children generally don't begin to learn English until they begin school, but it doesn't take much English to smile and wave, so we did a lot of that.  After an introduction to the project, Ruth showed us some of the crafts the children learn to make like woven palm-frond bags and paper-bead necklaces.  We also took a tour of the home.  I was happy to see the mosquito netting in the children's rooms - Malaria is a significant threat to children in Uganda.  Ruth was even more excited to take us on a little drive a bit further outside of town and a well off the main road to see some land Another Hope had purchased where they hoped to build a new facility with an expanded capacity.  They have enough land there to teach additional skills like farming or raising chickens or pigs and which could provide food for the project at the same time.  I was happy to see coffee already growing on the land - their future American visitors will enjoy that!  Then we stopped by the school since the school-age children had heard of our visit and wanted to meet us.  We arrived as the lunch bell chimed and the youngest grades were let out so (I hope) we didn't disturb things too much.  The children are so eager and polite - what a pleasure to meet them. 

We had only a few hours this midday to visit with Another Hope and hear about some of their dreams for the future.  The children we met who are in their project have a bright future indeed, with Ruth, the other directors, and the volunteers who come to work there.  The way the children greeted Ruth and one of the directors known as Big Brother was encouraging.  This project is definitely a family, bound together in Christian love, a new family for children in need - a family that extends all the way across oceans to sponsors who assist with school fees, food, clothing, medicine, and volunteer labor during short-term trips.  Were Another Hope closer to our home, I'm sure Krista and I would be there often.  Praise the Lord for His good work in this small suburb of Kampala - where another hope springs forth in the hearts and minds of His little ones.  -Shauen