Proud to be American

Happy 4th of July (yesterday) from Africa!!! :)

We are so grateful to be Americans.  Especially after living in Africa for a little while - it makes us even more grateful.  It was different, but a very neat experience.  If you have never experienced the 4th of July in a 3rd world country, where things are very under-developed, I suggest you go (with HELP! :) or some other organization) and experience it for yourself!  We are proud to be Americans!

Here are some projet updates from the past week.
I am Proud:
 Many men and women in Uganda lack knowledge on how to prevent getting HIV, how to have safe sex, and many other topics that relate to their health, gender roles, and gender psychology. We want to empower and teach young men and women these important facts, instill self –confidence, and help them to have faith in themselves.

We have been going to many different schools around Lugazi speaking to men and women about these important facts. We have now been able to have the opportunity to expand the “I am Proud” project. We are now revisiting the schools and making it more of a detailed program. I feel that our team has had the opportunity to influence many of the youth’s lives. Not only do we feel that we are inspiring these youth, but they are inspiring us as well.

Happy Child:

In the area around Lugazi there are many children that do not have parents, whether it is from abandonment or death.  Our goal for happy child is to obviously make every child smile but we also want to make them feel important and let them know we care about them.  Every Sunday we work with a man named Francis and teach children new, fun and educational games.  We are also helping to redo the Happy Child office so that it is more professional and hopefully they can get more funding.  We also work with a wonderful woman named Betty who supports five amazing orphaned children. Their names are Egesa, Kitra, Dinah, Earnest, and Baby Betty. We go to their house every Tuesday and Thursday and they are always so happy to see us.  Recently we have had a hard time getting Dinah to smile and be happy for us.  This week when we went on Thursday Dinah smiled so much for us. We figured out that she loves to play outside, be tickled, and thrown in the air.  Seeing the kids smile is always the best part of my week.

God Bless the U.S.A.!