Sponsor A Child

When Brett came to Uganda the first time, four years ago, I started to sponsor a little girl named Lillian.  She was 6 years old and so adorable.  I pay a very small amount every month so that Lillian can go to school.  She writes me letters every few months and tells me things she is learning and how she wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

This past Saturday Brett and I had the amazing opportunity to meet her and her family.  She lives about a 10min walk away from where we are with her grandmother.  Her mother and sister live in a village about 2hrs away, but this was so important to them they made the trip here.  This is a very big deal for them.  Not only does it cost them money to get here, but Lillian's mom is disabled.  She has no control of both her legs.  People need to pick her up and move her if she needs to move, or if she is in a room she can drag herself around with her arms.

Anyways,  Lillian and her sister (Lillian is 10 and her sister Jackie is 11) came to get us Saturday afternoon.  They took us to their grandmothers home to meet their grandmother and mother.  They live in a one room home.  There is no light and it reeks because their 6 or 7 chickens also live in their home.  My heart broke when I saw the living conditions.  They were so welcoming though.  And kept thanking us for what we were doing for Lillian.

Me, Jackie, Grandmother, Mother, Lillian, Brett

After talking with them for a while, learning more about the family, we took Lillian and Jackie out for lunch.  Both girls were very shy and hard to talk to.  Lillian knows English pretty well, but Jackie didn't know very much at all.  Since Jackie lives in the village with her mother she hasn't been able to go to school....or afford school.  So lunch was a struggle for us, but after lunch we took them shopping.  We got them some normal every day wear and then we got each girl a new dress for Easter.

Lillian trying on her dress at the store.  This was the first time she smiled.

Once we got them shoes we headed back to their home.  We stopped first to buy the family some staple food here (Rice, Beans, Sugar, Oil).  When we arrived at the house the girls were so excite to show their mom and grandma their new dresses and shoes.

They are so cute!

Again, the mother and grandmother opened up about their lives to us.  We learned that Saturday was THE FIRST TIME Lillian and Jackie had ever met!  When Lillian was born her dad left them and the mom had to send Lillian to live with her grandmother.  Since Jackie is not sponsored she lives with her mother in the village and can't go to school.  This got Brett and I thinking....We asked our interpreter if we were to sponsor Jackie would she stay here and go to school with Lillian?  Would her mother be okay with Jackie not returning home with her?  Is Jackie on the sponsorship list?  If not can we put her on the list?

He talked with them, telling them we wanted to also sponsor Jackie, and they freaked out!  They were so happy.  I can't explain to you how happy they were.  Our interpreter said that we could request Jackie be put on the waiting list at EAC, she would get to stay here and go to school with Lillian asap and her mom was so thrilled.  It's amazing the sacrifice parents will make to get their kid an education.

Chicken!

They were so thankful that we were going to sponsor both girls the grandmother grabbed 2 of her chickens to give to us as a gift.  She said "Two kids, two chickens".

Freaking out!

I wont lie, when she handed them over to us I freaked out a little (okay maybe a lot).

You can see they aren't happy we're holding them.

It was such an awesome day for us.  This is getting pretty long though, so I'm going to post it before the internet cuts off :)