next stop The Children’s Home of Joy, Uganda

There we were at the airport again. I couldn’t believe we were already about to leave India! Anyways, we had to wait a couple of hours during night time before our plane would take off. So we lay down on pretty but very uncomfortable long chairs unintentionally listening to a CD with Christmas songs that was on repetition mode, the same CD that was already on when we arrived just a couple of days ago. I mean I love Ave Maria but that very version on constant repetition made us all feel uncomfortable after a while. I wonder if the staff at the airport knew that this CD contained Christmas songs… anyways… We found ourselves soon in the plain and on our way back to Dubai from where we then headed towards Uganda. A couple of movies later we already reached Dubai. What a difference, it’s always a bit unreal to fly over and then land in Dubai. The whole city is so beautifully designed, tidy and even the airport is so huge, palatial and clean, it’s just unreal and somewhat wasteful for sure. There’s so much money in this literal desert and – in absolute contrast to the region in India where we just came from, which was quite a fruitful, but absolutely unpretentious, littered with garbage and almost everyone seemed to be poor…

Same picture in Entebbe, Uganda, where we landed another couple of movies later after boarding the airplane in Dubai. I believe the standard in Uganda is even lower than in and around Hyderabad. Surprisingly everything went quite trouble-free after landing in Entebbe. On arrival we had to fill in some extra form because of the spread of Ebola (even though we arrived from a Ebola-free country and landed thousands of km away from one of the affected countries in Africa as Africa is such a huge continent! They even measured our body temperature. But it was ok anyway. We then applied for Visas which cost 50 US$ each and took around 5 minutes, even for Andy who had never been to Uganda before. I was very much surprised in a positive way. After picking our luggage we left the airport where Nelson, my former much appreciated, super duper Safari guide was already waiting for us! I was so happy to see him again and to be honest I couldn’t believe I was back again, which was so cool! We stowed our bags in “Emma”, Nelsons old Landcruiser lady, that we baptized during our last Safari… Then we took off for a five to six hour drive towards Masindi but first we had to overcome driving through Kampala, the Capital of Uganda which can be and was very jammed. Unfortunately it started to rain and therefore we had to close the car windows. Because of the heat and the rain it became very damp which was a bit uncomfortable. We were quite tired and didn’t say a lot while driving. At some gas station we stopped for a “short call” (toilet stop) and to buy some beverages. Soon we continued our trip and arrived in The Court View Motel in Masindi where Claudia (Stephan’s sister who was my host at the Eco-Farm) already waited for us. After checking in, we had a chat and ordered some food that we had outside. We discussed our schedule as we had quite a lot of things to do in a short time. Then we were informed about the current state of our orphanage project and after that we planned the next steps and the necessary budget for the upcoming investments in the current and next year. It was already late and we were so tired and needed some sleep.

Next morning after breakfast we met with Dennis with whom we discussed some issues. Then we finally visited the orphanage. We wanted to check the site and meet the kids. I was so excited as it was somehow “my orphanage”, as it was my proposal that had been realised. I was very much relieved as soon as we arrived. The main house looked great! It was a bit messy when I had last seen it but now that it was renovated it looked quite homely! Jeanne welcomed us and introduced us to Immaculate our home’s matron who was preparing some food (as we hadn’t found a cook by then). Jeanne showed us around and when we walked around I checked all the neuralgic points that I remembered from when we inspected that site thoroughly with a local engineer. Finally we entered the main house and there they were: our kiddies Karim, Maxlin, Suadik, Mildred, Taban and Chris! They were eating Posho or something and stared shyly at the bunch of musungus (white men) entering their living room. The poor ones looked worse than when I saw them last, only a couple of months ago. Their skin was in a bad state and also their hair. I was happy they moved in now, knowing that they will be taken care of now. We let them finish their meal and checked the inside of the main house, the bathroom, the bedrooms, the kitchen. Everything looked nice, a bit sparse maybe, but that is soon going to change, they’ve just moved in! As soon as the kids had finished they followed us and – of course – we started to play with them and took lots of photographs which they always find very amusing as they can see the results immediately on the camera displays.

We left the orphanage as we had our next meeting with the bishop with whom we had to clarify a few things regarding the orphanage. We discussed the staff, budgets, money transfer modalities and so on. It was already getting dark when the meeting was finished and we were all a bit exhausted. After the bishop left we ordered some drinks and food and continued our discussion. We then went to bed as we wanted to be well rested for the upcoming opening of the Children’s Home of Joy.

Next day we finally got to officially open Children’s Home of Joy. We met with the bishop and some of his staff on site and prepared a table and a few chairs on the veranda. The bishop then hold a speech and cited a few verses from the bible. During his speech his wife joined us who just came from another event she had to attend. After the bishop introduced us to her he asked Robyn to teach the children a song, which she did enthusiastically. She made the children sing and dance and the adults clap and dance. After that the bishop asked everyone to say a few words which we all did. After a prayer the ceremony was finished. Then we had some snacks like samosas, chapatis, chips and lemonades. Highlight of the buffet was a nicely decorated carrot cake, pudding and chocolate bars. What a feast, not only for the kids. It was so good to seem them enjoying the food peacefully. Later we took some photographs to document the official opening and then we went over to playing with the kids, the part some of us enjoyed most. We had some balloons that needed to be ignited. But those things were pretty stubborn and therefore some of us didn’t manage to inflate them. Dennis turned out to be the most skilled inflator amongst us and thus was asked to do so until each and they were all ready to be played with. We also played football with the kids or fooled around with them. After a while the bishop, his wife and staff said good bye but we stayed a little more as we wanted to spend some more time with the kids. Taban showed me a booklet with drawings he made. I didn’t like the motifs too much as he drew mostly Kung Fu warriors but I was amazed about the accuracy with which he drew those men. He also sketched the orphanage and got the perspective quite right. He is a very talented young man and I am sure that he would be fostered in a country like Switzerland. Well, we then had to go back to the motel. But we came back later to play again and sadly say good bye to them. I was a bit down when we had to leave but I knew that the children finally have the chance to be fine. And I was going to come back for sure.

Back at the motel we had a final supper with Jeanne and Dennis before we went to bed. In the early morning Nelson picked us up to bring us to the airport. Another good bye, then a check-in procedure and a lunch at the airport snack bar then a bit of waiting and off we flew to Doha once more where we checked in at one of the hotels right at the gate where the boarding would take place in the morning. We went for an ice cream and then went to relax in our luxurious rooms. In the morning we met  for a coffee at one of the restaurants just next to the hotel. We chatted about God and the world when a young Asian-looking lady asked me in perfect German what kind of language we were talking. I then told her that we were talking Swiss-German and so on. We then chatted a bit and told her about Licht für vergessene Kinder. But as our flight was already boarding we needed to say good bye. A couple of hours later we landed safely in Zurich where Andy’s car was parked. He drove us to Stephans home where I had my car parked for a week. Even though Daniela invited us for a piece of apple strudel we decided to go home as we were a bit exhausted. Then we said good bye to each other and set off. It felt a bit unreal to find myself sitting in my car again. What a trip! We’ve spent around 30 hours in planes ravelling over 20’000 km, and we also drove about 1’500 km during that time. How ridiculously small that last lap of 18 km to my hometown was. Was it worth all the trouble you might think? I assure you it’s been worth every minute! Every single smile of any of the kids was worth travelling that far! And only through our presence on site we can really make sure that the invested money is spent exactly in the way it was intended to be done. And once you’re there, looking in the eyes of the kids, chatting and playing with them, you exactly know that even the smallest contribution really does make a difference!

Thank you very much Stephan, for establishing Licht für vergessene Kinder and letting me contribute to your wonderful work, thank you so much Andy and all our other sponsors for your kind generosity and charity, a big thank you to all our old and new friends in India and Africa help us in all our endeavours to supporting the needy children and last but not least thank you all you wonderful children that we met. You are our greatest motivation to continue our work!

I’ll be back, promise!

 

the renovated main house

Immaculate, the matron

the boys room… equipped with mosquito nets which is very important around here

and here they are eating in the living room

some curious neighbouring kids

Jeanne caring for the kids who suffer from skin problems

not only is Taban a hard-working young man but also he’s a very talented draftsman

Dennis with whom I travelled around Uganda to finally find a proper place for the kids

the bishop kindly took some time to hold the opening ceremony

Robyn teaching the kids to sing a song

our current staff at the orphanage with the children

finally we opened the buffet

Then some balloons needed to be inflated… Robyn tried it by conjuring… in vain…

Dennis did most of the hard work as most others failed inflating the balloons

and the bishop harvested Dennis’ fully inflated balloons…

in the end all the children had one…

or two… or even three…

our neighbour’s kids also got their share

when we came back Chris had built a car out of a juice box

and one of the other kids drew a Giraffe

unfortunately we had to leave, but it was good to see our kids laughing and playing

back at the motel we had supper with Jeanne and Dennis before we had to say good bye

first stop Mothers Nest, India

We left Switzerland on October 21st with heavy luggage. We packed our personal stuff into our hand luggage and filled some suitcases with loads of things for the children. It took a while to check-in all the luggage as the necessary information about our excess luggage was missing in the computer system. But we had a very nice and patient ground hostess who managed everything with a smile on her face. After a few calls and some waiting time we were checked-in and proceeded to the gates. Our flight was heading to Dubai from where we took a plane to Hyderabad at about 4 am. I spent the time watching movies as I can never manage to sleep during flights. After we landed in India we had a drink outside of the airport as we had to wait for our friends to pick us up. After a while father Joseph and Brigitte arrived and finally drove us to Mothers Nest. Our driver drove very slowly so we felt pretty save during the ride. Somewhere on the way we stopped at some kind of restaurant to have a snack. I don’t exactly know what we had but it was all delicious! Soon we continued our travel to the orphanage. When we finally arrived the children and staff already waited to give us a warm welcome. We were given a floral wreath to be put around our necks and painted a red dot between the eyes. Then some of the children danced for us which was very cute. We said hello to each and every one and although I tried to grasp their names I failed as I was not used to all these beautiful Indian names. We then were shown our room that was prepared nicely. We just stored our luggage in the room when some kids brought a cup of coffee for us. We were then shown around, took pictures and talked a bit with the kids. Later we played games with them before supper which was served outside. It was very delicious and so good to see how much the kids enjoyed it as well. After finishing the meal we played again with the kids and had a chat with Joseph and Brigitte before we went to bed. It’s been a long day and I was up for about 36 hours so it wasn’t very hard to fall asleep.

Next morning I woke up well rested. As we left our room the kids brought us some coffee that we drank in Joseph’s room. We then planned to do an excursion to a water park as it was Sunday. But after we had breakfast  and before leaving the place father Joseph held a mass outside as every Sunday. Then we prepared ourselves to leave. As we were around 45 people and only had two cars we had to drive twice. So we filled up both cars with the kids. They then left and the drivers returned with the empty cars to bring us also to the water park. Later one of the cars returned to pick us up and bring us to the park either. We had our personal guide who showed us our pavilion which was reserved only for us. Then we were brought from station to station. The coolest one was “rain dance”. There was a stage covered with showers. After the kids entered the stage, the water was turned on and a DJ played some stomping Indian style disco tracks. It was so funny to see everyone laugh and dance underneath the shower. It was truly like in a Bollywood movie. The kids and the staff were still wearing their clothes which seems to be normal in a water park.

When the next group arrived at the “rain dance” experience our kids had to leave the stage. We then were brought to a meadow where we were served a nice lunch. After the meal we played a bit and then the kids were brought to the swimming pool, another highlight for them. Andy and I didn’t jump into the pool as we wanted to take photographs. The children stayed in the water until they were shaking all over from the cold of the water. In the late afternoon we decided to return to Mothers Nest where we rested for a while. We again spent time with the kids who were doing their homework on the veranda or played outside and inside. It was amazing how well they behaved. They were very nice to us and each other, never squabbling, never screaming, in fact they were very attentive, supportive and acted independently. This was even more surprising as I got to know some of their life stories which were partly heart-breaking. Anyways, we later had supper and went to bed a bit earlier than the day before as the kids had to go to school next day.

After breakfast the children put on their uniforms. One of the children practiced English with three new kids who had never had the chance to go to school before they were brought to Mothers Nest. So they needed to be prepared before they would be sent to school. The kid teacher shouted out loud spelling words that she read from a poster. K – I – T – E, KITE she shouted and her pupils had to repeat. Soon they had to leave so the children squeezed themselves into the cars and then they left. We then took a short walk in the neighbourhood. After that we prepared ourselves for a ride into the city of Hyderabad. We were invited at a judge’s house who sent some kids to Mothers Nest in the past. So we set off and soon got in a massive jam. There were so many people in this city! It somehow reminded me of the daily mess in Kampala. I really admire all those patient people who manage to drive safely through this mess without crashing every five minutes. In the middle of the city our driver stopped the car at some corner and then he left the car with Joseph. Joseph told us to be back in a minute. After a couple of minutes we left the car to watch the hustle and bustle in that busy city. Then went to a teashop on the other side of the street and had an Indian tea. It took quite a while to prepare it and the guy prepared it in a very artistic way. The tea was served in a very small glass, sized like a liquor glass and it tasted wonderfully, a bit sweet though. Soon Joseph returned in a taxi as our driver needed to pick some wood for Mothers Nest. So we hopped the taxi and continued our journey. The ride was much more comfortable as the taxi was air-conditioned. About two hours too late we arrived at the judge’s house. She gave us a warm welcome and introduced us to a friend of hers. As we were late she decided to have lunch with us at her home. After a welcome drink we were asked to sit down at the dining table. Her housekeeper had prepared a couple of wonderful dishes for us. We had a nice conversation and enjoyed the delicious food. The judge was really a wonderful and wise lady and I was very excited to listen to her stories. She later showed us the roof terrace and her guest room and invited me to come and visit her again which I would really love to do. Then we said good bye and drove back to Mothers Nest for our farewell-party. In the meantime the children and staff prepared a stage and decorated the whole place for the party.

Before the party Stephan was asked to lay the foundation of the boys quarter that was going to be built in the next weeks. So he and father Joseph climbed down a ladder to bless the future home of the boys.

After that we moved back to the main house and sat down in front of the stage. One of the kids introduced himself as that nights host and soon introduced the first act, a vocal performance. Then some more kids sang songs for us and some rehearsed sophisticated dance performances. They must have practiced all this for weeks and we were really touched by their show. They really did great! After the show father Joseph, Brigitte, Andy and I were asked to hold a speech which we did. It was such an amazing show and we were sad to say good bye to the kids after the show. They were already so close to our hearts after these few days with them. After another cup of coffee and a drink with Brigitte and Joseph we had to say good bye to them too. Then the taxi driver picked us up to drive us to the airport… Wow, what a wonderful place Mothers Nest has already become! Joseph has already accomplished to build a real home for the kids, it’s all a big loving and caring family. We couldn’t have wished for anything else!

Thank you Joseph, thank you children, thank you Mothers Nest! Bye bye India, It’s been a colourful and wonderful experience… hope to see you all soon!

 

Stephan with our heavy bags filled with stuff for the kids

on the way to Mothers Nest we stopped for a tasty snack

the kids and staff already waited for our arrival

some of the children danced for us

father Joseph with the youngest one

a mandala on the ground

our room

the garden – they’re growing cassava as in Africa

here’s where an additional boys quarter will be built

the wall around the site was painted beautifully – isn’t it lovely?

rabbits

mounting of solar lamps

then we played with the kids

later we met outside for supper

a party of table tennis on a Sunday morning

Sunday’s mass with father Joseph

breakfast

squeezing as many as possible into the cars to get to the water park

“rain dance” at the water park

queuing for lunch at the water park

play ground

at the pool

back home some of the children had to do their homework

kids before leaving for school in the morning

kid teaching some friends before school

waitng in the streets of Hyderabad

lunch at the judge’s home in Hyderabad

our farewell-party – the children sung and danced for us