We Need A Car!

Alright folks, it is time for Ekisa to invest in a car and we need YOUR help!!

For those of you who don’t know, the main form of transport in Uganda is a boda boda. These are motorcycles that line the streets waiting to take people places. I love, love, LOVE taking bodas - it is how I have been getting around since I arrived in October. Now that we have children with disabilities, bodas are not an option anymore! It is physically impossible for most of them to even get on a boda, or have one of us hold them while riding on one. Because we have a pretty sick kid (Zak) and don't know what emergencies may arise with him or the other kids, having to hire a private car every time we go to the clinic (which is a LOT) is too expensive and very inconvenient.

We have a friend who is selling this awesome car (see below). It is in good condition and a great reliable vehicle. He has agreed to let us drive it for a few weeks to make sure it’s what we want, which gives us a chance to get a jump start on fundraising!!! He is selling this car for $4,500 dollars. That means if everyone reading this blog goes right now and gives just as little as $10 dollars, we would be well on our way to purchasing the car! No amount is too small and if everyone pulls together and helps us out we will reach our goal in no time!



I was trying to think of a clever way to explain to yall how much we need a car, and how much of a blessing it will be to us and the children. But after staring at the screen for awhile and coming up blank I decided I better let the kids do the talking! Pictures do say 1,000 words, right?!




Zak.





Mweru.




Natasha.




Jason.




Selina




Debra.

If you want to donate towards the car, click here!

Thank you so much for your support of Ekisa. We are so blessed to have your financial and prayer support. As Ekisa keeps growing, we love being able to update YOU because yall are the ones that make what we are doing possible!

Blessings and thank you!

Zak

We are always, always, always working against negative cultural views of people with disabilities here in Uganda. And sometimes, like on Monday, it brings me to my knees.

Our friend wanted to take us to three children he knew of that could benefit from coming to Ekisa. So Monday morning, we headed out to meet the first child.

We pulled off onto a dirt road, the vehicle slowly being surrounded by children as we approached the house. I scanned the crowd of precious faces looking for one that might be the little boy we were coming to meet. We didn’t know details, but it was soon clear to me that none of the children in the crowd were disabled. I stepped out of the car scanning the yard and I saw him. He was sitting in the dirt by a pile of bricks all by himself. I took one look at him, sitting there starving and wasting away, and said “he is coming home with us now.” He wasn't staying with family, and his parent's had been out of his life since he was young.  It was clear he was discriminated against because of his disability; all the other children at the house seemed to be well fed and healthy. However he is ten and weighed around 30 pounds when we found him. We found him starving, sitting in the dirt isolated from everyone else.

We were told that he didn't even have a name. So we gave him the name Zak after my dear friend Lauren’s little cousin who recently battled (and conquered) cancer. It is the name of a fighter, and our Zak is so strong!

We brought Zak home and gave him a bath and some food, then took him to the local hospital to run a barrage of tests. He has gained a little over 6 Kilos in two weeks! We PRAISE God for healing in this little one we have already so tangibly seen!!!

One of my favorite things about Zak is talking with him. Since we took him in, the light and life has returned to his sweet eyes. The mamas describe his talking as “it is as if he is remembering how to speak!” Zak will talk with SUCH determination and mostly speaks about food!

Zak seems to understand more than he can speak. But he just looked at us like we are crazy when we say “nkwagala nyo”, which means I love you, and give him kisses. The first time I gave him a kiss he flinched. It made my heart break, and left me wondering “Is that the first time since he can remember that someone kissed him?” I can’t imagine going ten years in life without even hearing the words I love you, let alone never FEELING loved. Zak has been showered in more lovings than he knows what to do with over the last couple of days, and is now responding with a grunt when we tell him we love him!

I am daily inspired by this sweet boy. Please keep him in your prayers.

Mweru, Jason, and Debra.

If you read this post you remember how ambitious I was when I stepped off the plane 5 months ago.

Within the first few weeks of being here I had a long talk with a sweet sister in Christ about how I needed to be ready for God to ask me to wait on His perfect timing, that perhaps God had some more preparation to do inside of us. I listened, but of course I thought I knew best and convinced myself that Ekisa would happen in my timing. I don’t think I was ready to believe that it would take almost 5 months for God to open all the doors and for Ekisa to start taking in children. But looking back now, I know that God was with us the whole time. We had so much more to learn, and the last 5 months have grown me and prepared me SO much for what is to come. I am sincerely thankful for the waiting season the Lord gave us.

For those of you who don’t know, Mweru, Jason and Debra are the “inspiration” for Ekisa. These kids are the reason we came back. Both Emily and I volunteered at Amani Baby Cottage and fell in love with these special children back in 2008. As Emily and I got to know one another we discovered that we both have a heart for disabled children and shared a dream of coming here to help disabled children. I distinctly remember one conversation where I said to Em “I could totally see us opening up a children’s home for children with disabilities in Uganda…..in like 10 years!” Oh how God must have laughed! We may have RAN (okay, we would have) if we knew then that we would be packing up and moving to Uganda in just over 2 years.

So since 2008 Jason, Mweru, and Debra have been on our hearts. These little ones are SO sweet, and I am so thankful God used these specific kids as instruments to start Ekisa! And I am SO thankful for Amani for caring for these kids and loving them. Even though they are here at Ekisa now, I still can’t imagine the Amani compound without Mweru wandering the yard and greeting every Auntie and Uncle who comes through those gates.


Our first family photo!



Words cannot express how much joy surrounded our home on Friday when these little ones came home! We had prepared for a difficult transition, as all 3 kiddos have spent most (if not all) their lives at Amani. Although it was not perfect (nor would we expect it to be) the first few days have been very smooth, and we are so thankful!

In case you haven’t met these wonderful children, here is a bit of information about each of them.


Mweru

I honestly don’t know how to begin describing Mweru. Boy, he is something! Mweru has Autism, and he is around 8 years old. He loves to be a stinker! Within ten minutes of meeting Mweru you will notice he loves to scream, dance, and throw toys (preferably over the kitchen door – we hate that game!). But most of all Mweru loves to LAUGH! He is so filled with joy! Even though he is a stinker 90% of the time, he makes up for it by being so sweet and loving. This boy has captured my heart in a way no other child has.

Jason

Jason is probably the sweetest boy you will ever meet. Jason loves to help out, and when another kid is crying or upset he is always there to comfort them. Jason lives with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and is 7 years old. Jason is also best buds with Mweru, and you can often find them running around causing trouble!

Debra



Debra is one SASSY girl! Debra is 4 and has cerebral palsy, but she doesn't let that slow her down! She has already developed many ways of communicating with us and we can’t wait to develop this further. She recognizes and is proud of the progress she is making. Though the odds are against her, I am certain that this girl’s spirit and motivation will take her SO far in life and she will one day walk even though the doctors say it may not happen.

We also have another little boy who came to live with us Monday, his name is Zak. He is ten years old and weighs 14 kilos, which is just over 30 pounds. A blog post is in the works for this little guy and I will share more then. Until then BE PRAYING for his health and wisdom in caring for this precious child!

Natasha.

This is a hard post to write. Perhaps it’s because I am sleep deprived and I am not thinking clearly. Maybe it is because this story is not a fairytale, like I wish it was.

Natasha is beautiful, yet a challenge.



An organization in Kampala had gotten a call about a child abandoned at a hospital, with physical disabilities. They had heard of Ekisa, and told the hospital they would call us. The social worker told me about a little baby girl who needed somewhere to call home, and soon! To be honest I had a line of excuses to tell her (its elections, we aren’t prepared, there is so much still to do, etc. etc.) and out came a “Yes, we will take her.”

So a couple days later I headed to Kampala, not knowing what to expect.

I walked into the cramped room in the hospital and followed the nurse to the bed where little Natasha was asleep. The nurse picked her up, and Natasha looked at me with her gorgeous big eyes. She was beautiful, no doubt. It was clear within minutes that she was in a lot of pain, she was being fed through a feeding tube and her muscles were in constant spasm. The nurse scooped her up and we were rushed to discharge. During this time I had the chance to talk to the Social Worker at the hospital and learn more about how Natasha was abandoned. Her parents brought her into the clinic that is attached to the hospital earlier in February. After being seen by the doctor, and receiving the bill of 26,000 shillings (equal to about $13.00 dollars) they ran; leaving their child at the clinic. Natasha was clearly well loved (her hair was braided, she had bracelets, and her ears are pierced.) It is so obvious that her parents love her. I cannot imagine making the decision to abandon your child, in order to save her life. Since Natasha was abandoned at the hospital, they treated her and nursed her back to health. It breaks me that these parents had to choose this path. We are going to try our hardest to find them.

After clearing everything up at the hospital, tons of paperwork later, we arrived back in Jinja welcoming the first child home to Ekisa! However the homecoming didn’t last long. After taking Natasha to the hospital here in town to have her checked out, and the doctor wanted to admit her after finding Pneumonia still in her lungs. This is what she was being treated for in the other hospital, but it was resistant to the medicine. We moved into the hospital for most of the week, Emily and I taking turns watching over little Natasha. She required feeding every three hours, and multiple medicines. Needless to say little girl is high maintenance!!! Slowly Natasha started improving, and on Friday we were able to bring her home.



While she is improving (and getting CHUBBY!) it is clear Natasha is in a lot of pain. She suffers from cluster seizures, and cries sometimes just when you move her. Her muscles are constantly in spasm and holding her and trying to comfort her sometimes can just causes her more pain. It is heartbreaking to watch, and it is awful to not be able to make the pain go away. We are trusting this little life into the Lord’s hands!

My prayer is that Ekisa is standing in the gap for little Natasha. We so desperately want to find her parents and walk with them in loving their child.

Until then, we will fill the gap with joyful hearts.