Help, I need somebody

I’ve just handed a package to a small shy boy. His clothes are dirty and although he’s wearing shoes, the laces are missing. He doesn’t seem familiar with unwrapping a present – eventually I help, and we rip it apart. He holds up the T-shirts, I don't know if he's pleased. He speaks Kumam... His friends and teachers speak Ateso. Fortunately David speaks Kumam.  We show him the coloured pencils and drawing pad and he draws a tree and a cup. He lives alone with his Grandmother in town. They can’t live with the family in the village because a land dispute ended in violence, and it isn’t safe for them. His mother has left him but brings him today. His father died. His grandmother earns money by peeling potatoes. She’s paid 20p per basin of peeled potatoes. That’s what the pair of them live on.

Because of sponsorship, this boy can go to school – his fees are paid, he’s provided with uniform and books. He will receive soap, healthcare and general welfare care. He will have lunch at school every day.  He’s 4. Without Global Care he would be unlikely to start school until he is much older... If ever. Living alone with his grandmother, he helps with chores around the house. He will get gifts from GCare which may include fruit trees, a mattress, water carrier, oil lamp, cup and plate – even livestock. He’s been given a chance to have hope for the future.

Blog followers will know there is always a blog about sponsorship. We’ve been excited to meet up with our own children and those sponsored by friends. We met a tiny frightened hungry child in 2008, with his baby brother and desperate widowed mother. Now he’s a strong healthy teenager training to be a motor mechanic. We've seen the value of this programme. We’ve sponsored children who were bright academically, and met ex-sponsored children who are doctors, lawyers and engineers. For others the outcome may be different. Girls may get pregnant, thinking a man is a good option for financial support. That is rarely the case. We’ve sponsored children who’ve moved away, who’ve completed education and we’ve lost contact, and some repeat primary school years so many times they are 18-20 yrs old when they go to secondary school. They have gaps.in education...  the weather is too bad for the walk to school along several miles of muddy flooded tracks.  Their family may prefer them to work at home. One option is to apply for vocational training schemes. We’ve seen ex-sponsored children working in carpentry, hairdressing, sewing, welding and mechanics. Some even have their own business. Global Care sponsorship is about enabling children to gain skills to be able to support themselves and their family one way or another. We’ve come up with a phrase this week ‘improve life chances’.

Yesterday we saw barefoot children in ragged clothes living in dark, tiny claustrophobic huts. Some of these children have no hope of ever going to school. Some will struggle to get anything other than casual labour. In villages, we see small children fetching water, looking after cows, caring for younger siblings, cleaning, working in the garden, fishing for mud fish - all tasks focussed on survival, some jobs are dangerous or unsafe. We’ve seen poverty in many guises, including lack of basic needs such as food, clothing and sanitation, but also in terms of loss of respect or being ostracised and alone.

What excites us about this charity is that it isn’t afraid to attack the most difficult situations – they really do bring hope and light to places of fear and darkness.  We’ve seen schools with wheelchair ramps, school gardens with successful crops providing food for all the children, safe storage for books, concrete classrooms where once there were leaky thatched roofs. And you can’t underestimate the impact The Ark and the Disability Support Group have made to families with children or adults with disability, and the slowly changing attitudes amongst local people to disability. In Soroti there was a feeding programme during the drought, there is a skills training centre for sewing, they are working on their own garden as part of a self-sufficiency plan. Everyone you speak to who has encountered Global Care is full of praise and gratitude, every family, child and community.

Trust us, this system works. It takes a holistic approach to children and families in the context of their community. It works to improve the lives of as many people as possible and always looks for self sustainable solutions. The staff are inspirational. Go for it - £22/month for sponsorship, but as little as £3/month to be a project supporter. You know it makes sense!

https://www.globalcare.org/product/sponsor/ 

Today we also did a session on Business Planning, wrote reports, suggested recommendations, and visited the wonderful YWAM centre for abandoned babies and sick children... See  Drtomgoesglobal  for more.