Doug Van Pelt

Mizungu [Uganda.23]

When addressing us as a group of bloggers, our terrific hosts and trip leaders talk about the task of "processing" what we've seen during the day. That is almost a huge task, because we have seen and done so much on this day. We got a pretty early start and went to Compassion Headquarters. So much happend during this morning time and where we visited in the afternoon, that they seem like two whole separate days.

Pulling into Compassion Headquarters was a cool deal, because we all knew how special it was for us and them as well. We were eager to thank them and congratulate them as being the heroes that got most of the work done over here. They were very happy to see us as well. Shaun Groves shared a short message on humility and he did a great job communicating on how God's kingdom (the kingdom of Heaven) comes to earth when we help the poor. I wish I had a transcript of what he said, because he really crystalized his points well. He started off by talking about things that made him humble and referenced how the poor in spirit are especially blessed, because they depend on God for everything. It's like they can tap into brokenness and humility easier than someone who is not desperate. A couple of times he talked about how the rich are being blessed also, by their humbling themselves and reaching out to the poor. It was especially relevant to us, because even the poorest of us from America are mighty wealthy compared to here.

After Shaun's homily some of the Compassion folks introduced themselves and they shared with us a presentation about their cool Child Survival Program and how they work. I thought of my wife, who has volunteered at a place called LifeCare, where she would counsel some pregnant mothers and mothers with newborns about care for their children. This is similar to the home visit type work done in this program, where pregnant girls get lots of counseling for their new child. Apparently 58% of births in Uganda are home births. Roughly 1.3 million women become pregnant each year here. It sounds like such a super practical way to help people here. The situations where this help is administered is pretty much desperate with the current AIDS crisis here, but also just because so many children here die before they reach the age of 5.

After this powerpoint presentation we were blessed by a song and dance that all the Compassion staffers performed a song. I think they were singing "Waberay Yesu," which I believe is the simple equivalent of "Thank You, Jesus." They had drums going and clapping, and lot of bounce and a little bit of dance. It was a total and joyous blessing. That kind of stuff has so much personality ... so cool. Then we split up and some of us that needed to post blogs went upstairs to use their faster higher speed internet, while the rest of us visited with some other staffers, who explained what goes on with gifts and letters from sponsors. They actually take pictures of the sponsored child or family with the gift, as a way of showing accountability of that giving.

Shaun Groves (the man of the hour this morning!) shared a cool story about a gift he gave his sponsored child's family in Ecuador (I think). Like all direct gifts above and beyond the child sponsorship money (which I hear has an 80/20 ratio of 80% going directly to the child and 20% to overhead in making all that possible). All of it goes to the child or their family. In Shaun's case, it was a simple gift of $20 and the family was able to pay for a brand new roof over their house with it. That small amount was a blessing to that entire family. That's awesome to know, because it makes it a little bit easier for us to take action and help out, making a difference.

It's easy, sometimes, for us to get discouraged and despairing when looking at poverty and terrible situations, but when we realize that change is possible and how we can give hope and practical, material help with so very little sometimes, it changes our perspective from "there's way too much" to "I can do this."

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at February 13, 2008 09:50 AM