I'm getting extremely excited about going to Africa again in 1 and a half weeks! I'll be traveling with my friend Kate to Uganda and Kenya. In Uganda we're volunteering with VSN (Volunteer Support Network) for 5 weeks at two different orphanages. One is in a rural area in North-Western Uganda called Masindi Family Spirit Orphanage. The other is in Gulu, in Northern Uganda, called St Judes Orphanage.
I am going to be teaching english, maths and dance and I'll be doing a lot of filming and photography. Gulu will probably be the most significant part of this trip for me because it is the centre of a war that has been raging for over 20 years. The LRA rebel army have abducted around 60,000 children in the past 20 years, forcing them to become child soldiers and sex slaves. Villages have been raided and burnt to the ground, people killed in gruesome ways and the children stolen against their will. The entire population of Northern Uganda was forced to move into IDP camps where conditions were inhumane.
The LRA are now in Congo and Sudan, bordering Uganda. There has been no fighting in Northern Uganda since 2007, but the Acholi people of Northern Uganda are absolutely traumatised and will take a long time to heal. My biggest passion is to help war traumatised children and I want to work long term in Northern Uganda.
After Uganda we're going on a 15 hour bus ride to Nairobi in Kenya to volunteer 3 weeks at Mercy Care Centre School which is helping around 600 children who live in the mathare slums. I have been there twice now and cannot wait to come back again! Mercy Care feels like home to me; everyone is so welcoming and friendly and there is such a family atmosphere at the school. This atmosphere has helped to heal so many children who are orphans or come from extremely dysfunctional homes.
This is my 3rd time to Africa. Each time I go, I always go with a new understanding and a new heart for these kids. For me this trip is all about God. Without him and everything he has done in my life, I would not be going to Africa. He is the one that has shown me how to love people and how to give people hope. I know he sees these kids and he is not distant or passive. He is doing amazing things in Africa and I can't wait to be a part of that! For me, there is nothing else worth living for.
