The day we met the family of... 15?

Today was another long one. We left at 9:30 for Kampala. After meeting up with our case worker, we went to a district called Mpigi; where Gideon's family lives. After talking briefly with Gideon's social worker, we went to visit Gideon and his family. When we pulled up, the place looked vacant. However, as soon as we started getting out of the car, kids seem to flock from all around. They were hanging on us and all of them were smiling. Clearly, they knew who we were and that we were coming [and most likely, that we had gifts].

There were two buildings on this family's property. I'm not sure about the one that wasn't the house, but we did get to go into their actual living quarters. The "sitting room" has a table, 3 chairs, a bench, and a few things hanging on the wall. I believe this was the biggest room in the house at about 10' x 12.' Of course, we all sat on the chairs and the kids and grandma all piled on the floor; grinning happily. They sang us a couple songs and said that they were very thankful for food we had brought them. When I started pumping up another soccer ball [I'd previously given one to Gideon], the other boys started to get anxious

So, the kids and the three of us took the two balls and for the next hour, we played. We made up games similar to volleyball, soccer, and keep away. The kids had so much fun and so did I. I was amazed at how well 12 kids could play with only two soccer balls [Either there are 12 kids, or a neighbor boy was mixed in somewhere]. Afterwards, I noticed Gideon was drawing the letter "D" over and over again in the dirt, so I reached down and did the same. Then, I traced my hand and he did the same! We've got a smart little guy on our hands ;)

We went inside one more time and the kids all sang to us again. We were served a fruit in Uganda called "Jack-fruit." We've heard people rave about how good it is.... but we all hated it. I even felt a little sick after trying a piece. I tried one more piece tonight at dinner and still didn't like it.

Right before we left, Gideon's cousin [Jackie] and aunt [Fiona], who also live in the house, asked us about helping them with going to school. Since the family only farms for their own food [feeding 15 or so mouths is no small task], Jackie and Fiona do not have money to go to school. We learned that Jackie wants to start college, but cannot afford the $300/semester for tuition. Fiona isn't sure how much school is for her, but since she would be in high school, its probably cheaper still. Kristen and I need to talk and pray about this, but it's a request we'll have a hard time saying 'no' to.

If you'd like to help out with this as well, shoot me an email and I can get you more details.... when I know more details ;)

Lastly, we learned that Gideon has been sick for the last few days and so we gave grandma some money to take him to the doctor. After that, we left to go take a picture at the Equator [I know, no big deal, right?]. The ride back to Kampala took an hour or so longer than the ride to Mpigi. This was to our dismay, since we're getting pretty tired of spending a minimum of 45 minutes in the car everytime we get in the car.

After getting something to eat, we met up with our hosts. They had a "wedding meeting" to attend. They discussed costs of everything and then we took off for home. Since we had two cars there, it was decided that it would be a good time for me to start driving. So, I drove home..... on Saturday night..... in a city of more than 2 million people.... where the rules of the road are...

...actually, I don't think there are concrete rules; maybe suggestions at best. Of course we encountered crazy traffic and one of the worst traffic jams since we've been here. At one point, I got the car stuck in a pothole so big, and so full of water, that I had to back up [in the most intense traffic EVER] and get a short running start at it to get out. Around 2 hours and about 15 kilometers [about 10 miles] later, we got home. Whew...

So, like I said, today was a long day; but a very good day. I'm so excited that everyone in Gideon's family and everyone working on Gideon's case is so supportive. It was great to meet the whole family and spend time playing with all the kids. I'm going to miss all their little smiling faces when we leave Uganda. The grandma is a sweet lady and its obvious that she loves all her grand kids. The idea that God would use us to help Gideon, Jackie, Fiona, and the rest of the family is very exciting. I'm very much looking forward to what that will all look like in the future.

Theoretically, the Child Care Order should be getting submitted on Monday for Gideon's case. We heard this directly from the parole officer for this case, so hopefully she sticks to her word and gets it done! We hope to hear about a court date for Gideon and Viola's case this week.

With that, I'm signing off. Have a mentioned that it's been a long day? Thank you to those of you who send emails and who post comments on my blog. Your encouragement and prayers mean a lot! To those of you who are secretly reading, speak up :)

Derek, Kristen [and Ellie]