Excitement on the horizon..

It's another beautiful summer morning in Makarere (just on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda). I awoke just before sunrise, and have been contemplative as I've quietly started my day, to the sounds of birds singing and the city awakening slowly in the distance. It's hard to believe that I left Tulsa almost two weeks ago already, and that this part of the adventure is nearly halfway through.

Perhaps I should provide a bit of background before I continue with this entry. As you can see, I'm back in Uganda now, just 2 years after having been here the first time. I came to support Jenny in her efforts to rebuild/revamp a community-based initiative that she's headed and been working on for the last 2 years (since she left Uganda after our East African adventures of 2009). For a number of reasons, that project is on hold of the moment as she assesses which actions to take now, as circumstances have changed for her in the district she's been working in, so she's laying low for the time being but still involved in supporting that community. In the interim, we've had the pleasure of meeting some incredible people from the UK and the US who have a tremendous heart for resettling kiddies back with living biological families. The unfortunate state of affairs is that, for many, "orphanages" have evolved into terrific business models in this country. Often times (not always), this consists of children being institutionalized for the financial gain of the director/administrator of these said "orphanages". The sad reality is that most of the children in Uganda's "orphanages" aren't actually orphans at all, but have living relatives (yes, sometimes even their mothers and fathers) who love them , but for whatever reason had given their children up during a time of crisis. Tragically, some children are trafficked into "orphanages" without their families' knowledge, and even sometimes adopted to other countries from there. Imagine the loss these families must experience, never seeing their child again!!

All is not lost, however!! As we now know (research provided by the UN and others) that institutional care results in developmental delays and inadequate coping abilities in children, the answer seems clear - supporting and encouraging families and reuniting them with their children! The people I'd briefly mentioned above are keenly committed to this work, and a few of them have already been involved with resettling several children out of an orphanage and back with their biological families. This small group of committed individuals will sit down later this month, and ultimately create a non-profit whose aim is to reunite children with their families, or into foster families when appropriate. What an exciting prospect it is, to think that orphanages in this country (perhaps even the world over! I know, I'm getting ahead of myself) might be closed down because there is no longer a need for them! What an honour to think I might play some small part along this incredible journey!