Afoyo to all as I return from a most inspiring month in Uganda!  I spent July traveling around Northern Uganda with Sister Rosemary bearing witness to the amazing growth of the Tree of Wisdom.  Everywhere we went we were met with smiling faces of children.  They were singing, healthy and happy–thrilled to have the chance to go to school. The guardians were full of gratitude to all the sponsors in America, asking that I thank all of you for lifting some of their burden.

The many women making beads and bags are so grateful for the opportunity to earn a living and support their children.

After landing in Kampala we travelled to Gulu, the major town in Northern Uganda.  We were warmly welcomed by the Sisters and students at St. Monica’s Girls Tailoring Centre, a school run by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that provides vocational training for young women in Northern Uganda.  St. Monica’s targets disadvantaged young women, many of whom were previously abducted in the war. This is the headquarters of the St. Monica’s Bead project.  Many women are participating in creating beautiful paper jewelry and cloth bags to help support themselves and their children.  Your purchases of these items are helping to sustain this income generating activity for these women.

Our first Tree of Wisdom event took place in the Village of Atiak, situated 2 hours north of Gulu.  The people of Atiak are struggling with starvation as they are in their third year of drought.  There are 60 TOW orphans in this area.  Our first Sunday gathering was spent with them.  The children were well dressed and clean and healthy.  Many were wearing their school uniforms.   They sang for us and waited patiently as the meeting began.  The guardians have formed a co-op and are banding together to help support each other.  This was very much an unexpected fruit of the project.

The children were excused from the meeting and were so excited to play with the great balls, jumpropes, frisbees and other toys purchased by many of you! We had a beautiful meal and then they wrote letters and drew pictures for all of you back home who are sending them love.  Thank you from all!

In Moyo we have 4 children who are living in an orphanage run by the same sisters.  I suppose most of you, as I, think that an orphanage would be a depressing place, a la “Annie” .  I must say, although parents and home life can never be replaced, this is a happy place.  The children are singing and happy and well fed.  The nuns love them very much.  We all need to keep praying for them though, because there are many of them, and not many nuns, so send them as much love as you can in your prayers!  They are really beautiful children.

Moving on to Paidha, we were in the true African village where Sr. Rosemary grew up, with no water or electricity.  What a  wonderful place!  The people are poor but not starving. Life is very simple–mud huts and grass roofs.  There is a tangible sense of connectedness and community here that I have never felt anyplace else before.

They realize how much they need each other, and they take care of one another.  We can all learn something from this way of life.  Our celebration with the 40 Tree of Wisdom children in Paidha was equally wonderful with much singing and joy.

On return to Gulu, our last gathering was with our few 6 students who are in secondary school.  At the inception of Tree of Wisdom we intended to support primary students only.  After learning about these students and reflecting further, we decided it was important to continue to support these children through secondary school if they continued to do well.  I must admit that our time with these young people was the most inspiring.

While I was in Gulu, we received report cards from 3 of the TOW teenagers who had been brought from the village and started in boarding school.  They are 1st, 3rd, and 5th in their class of 85 children.  These are teenagers, who were destitute in the village, and really didn’t have a chance to continue on in their education.  Janet wants to be a lawyer, Edmon wants to be a doctor &  Diana wants to be a teacher. ( I told  Janet she could only be a lawyer if she promised not to sue doctors!)  It is amazing to see the hope and ambition that these young people exude.  Please pray for their continued success.

Tree of Wisdom is growing strong and tall!  Great thanks to all of you for your support!

For more stories, the travel blog from my trip can be found at docsgogulu.blogspot.com.

God bless you,

Monique

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