Kids Focus Team - Day 3

Good morning, everyone!    As I write this, it's about 8:30 a.m. in Uganda and we are all getting ready for breakfast before we leave the guesthouse. Our trip so far has been such a mix of emotions, but it's those images of downtown Kampala and the ride to Ebenezer Primary School in Buloba each morning that really get you ready for the day. We see people working (sometimes until midnight as vendors or store owners on the streets) and lots of infants hanging out with their parents for the day (these children are usually too young for school, cannot afford to school, or are waiting to be sponsored or get a loan to receive an education.)    I've learned from our sweet team assistant and a native to Uganda, Betty, that education is on the rise for children in Uganda, but the problem of job shortages even for graduates is a frustrating process. In some way, like the USA, there are many high school and college educated students that graduate and will not find a job for a few years.    Our primary purpose for this trip was to build relationships, and through conversations like these with adults and children here in Buloba, it's eye opening and also humbling. The teachers we are working under in the schools are incredibly resourceful and sometimes we sit back and think how on earth can we really help them? Todd Myers, Jonathan Spurlin (my husband), and I have taught in Mrs. Sarah's room and we've seen how the methods of teaching, are very similar to the USA, but that these teachers mean business. The expectations for the children is very high academically and behaviorally, but you can also see the love that each teacher has for their children and their well-being.    Yesterday I experienced a very special moment, I got the chance to meet Neil and Laurie Waer's sponsor child, Mike, and a teacher called me aside later in the day. He walked me over to an elderly lady, Mike's grandmother, who was sitting on a bench. Before I knew it, the teacher was translated what she was saying and telling me that because I was a friend of the Waer's, the grandmother had walked to the school to tell me thank you on their behalf. She said she received all of their letters to him and because of their support, Mike was able to go to school each day. Needless to say, it was all I could do not to lose it in front of this sweet lady, but the gratitude I felt even in the words I couldn't understand from her was overwhelming! I wish I could take that feeling and transfer it to everyone who sponsors a child and those thinking about it. What God is doing through Cornerstone and so many other people to support these children, really is life changing for them.    Overall, it's impossible to sum up in words all that we are learning and experiencing here in Uganda, but the children at each school and on the road truly grip your heart. From the moment our bus pulled into Ebenezer Primary, for me, this overwhelming feeling of love, gratitude (on both sides) and a humbling equality hits you. It's not all utopia here, even for us, but experiencing the roots of humanity again and what a person truly "needs" is changing many of our hearts already. On behalf of the team, Keri Spurlin