Orphan Sponsorship – The Reality

Our family has sponsored two orphans in Uganda through Hope 4 Kids International (H4KI) for approximately three years – Catherine and Isaac. We had two other children through another organization (World Vision) prior to that, but were informed that they were no longer in the program right around the time that we took on these children in Uganda. We decided to stick with the H4KI sponsorships because all of the money that we send goes to the children. (No administration fees are deducted)

So, each month we have an automatic deduction of $26 per child from our checking account. We receive an update and correspondence from the child once or twice per year. We pray for them daily. But, all of these things are so automatic and routine that I tend to forget that these are real children with real needs and that our money (little as it is) is really impacting their lives and should be impacting our lives more than it is.

Darrin has had the chance to meet Catherine and Isaac in 2006. He met them and gave them a face to the family that was reaching out to them. I was very much looking forward to meeting them as well.

On Wednesday, February 20, in a village called Mumatumba (love saying that word!), I met Catherine. What a beautiful girl! She is very shy and doesn’t speak English well yet (she will continue to learn English in school). Her parents have died (most are orphaned because of AIDS). She is being cared for by her grandfather. He joined the visit as well. Her uncle, Joshua, is a field officer for the orphan program. He knows Darrin well and introduced me to Catherine as her mommy and told me, “She is very humble, just like a Potter.” (Referring to Darrin). He said she fits right in with my family. I brought a few gifts to give to her – a Bible story book from Emily, a letter and drawings from Rachel, a little red dress that I had purchased on the clearance rack at Walmart for $6, and a small stuffed animal. She was very grateful. Oh, and I laminated a family picture and in that picture, Emily is wearing the same dress as the one I bought her.

We didn’t speak the same language. She wasn’t overly affectionate (most kids there eat up any and all affection you give them), but I felt such a connection to her. This was real! It was so much more than $26 a month! She is my daughter, entrusted to us for care. She looked at me like my children look at me.

After I gave her the small gifts, we just hung out together. Some other team members brought some toys to play with the children. We went outside (we had been in a church building) and played with bubbles. I got some great shots of Catherine. Once she got the hang of the bubbles, she thoroughly enjoyed it. We were sitting down on a bench and I had my arm around her. She was a little distanced from me; not sure of her comfort level. Suddenly, a little boy that had just gotten out of school was running up the road toward us. He had his sights on me and was running as fast as he was able. He ran to me as if he had known me forever. He went to the arm that wasn’t around Catherine and wrapped himself around me with the biggest hug. At this, Catherine came into me and hugged me. She seemed to give him a look that said, “Back off, she’s mine.” :-) We gave her and her grandfather a ride on our bus to the road to their village. She sat on my lap the whole way. Great memories!

She is still working on my heart. I am very concerned about her living in that far away village with her grandpa. He seemed very loving and looked at her as if he treasures her. But, I know she is still going without some very basic resources. It made me think about sending her to boarding school. This is the next level of sponsorship through the orphan program. In boarding school they have a home, bed, regular meals, the school curriculum is stronger (she loves science by the way) and with much smaller class sizes. We are praying about this to see if it is possible that we can do this. My heart was so touched by her. I also met some sponsored children that have benefited from boarding school and have since gone on to a university. Amazing transformation and hope!

The night that I met Catherine, my heart was sort of heavy. I felt sad to leave her and regretted how little priority I had put on communicating with her for the past years. I resolved to talk to Darrin about boarding school and promised myself that I would make her a greater priority for our family.

((Please view photo album of Catherine here:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=1c9kqrn.chv43f8n&x=0&y=-hwl58o