party time!!!!!!!

Baby Sharif and Ruth have a birthday on sunday the 25th! first birthday party at the care home........ cake = excitement!!!!!!!!! come join us everyone, only fun times...

The Transition!

First of all, we want to thank each one of you out there for your unfailing love and support for Arise and Shine Uganda. A lot has been happening in AASU the past week; we would like to tell you about how your support is helping us grow every other day.

My heart  sings with joy, anxiousness and excitement   as I watch some of our children in transition!

Peninah and Joan got a sponsor from the Netherlands; they are now in Kibuye village attending school in the Arise and Shine Nursery and Primary school.  Education is such an important aspect of life, and while everyone else in the western world can have access to free education, In Uganda education is an opportunity!

 Many children go to bed at night praying to God for the opportunity to go to school. What an honor and privilege it is for Bulungi Uganda to be part of that far greater plan and be an answer to some children’s prayers. Peninah and Joan can now get an education and enjoy the benefits that come with it in the future.

Last Monday they were taken to the village and reunited with their family. It was such a special moment. Very happy to see their older siblings, their mom and of course after telling them about the plan for their stay in the village, I got a question.

new friends!

 “Shall we then be able to wear our uniforms and shoes and a back pack to go to school every day? “Joan asked. It was cute! She needed reassurance.

Am excited for them, looking forward to see how they do in school, even with the widest vision what they will be in life. I just wish them all the best.

Niina and Sari are also in transition, their adopting parents are here and living with them at the moment. Getting used to a new family has never been such an easy thing especially for a two year old. But God is faithful; I trust that they are well. This is our first adoption and I have to say adoptions are not easy and of course no one said it would be a rollercoaster. Especially doing it for the first time, under the guidance of many people, rushing you to do many different things in such a short time and finding out they are  driving you in the wrong direction and such things are not even necessary after so much hard work! We have met our challenges and still pray for the best. God is faithful. We are looking forward to spending more time with the adopting parents here at the children’s care home and we are praying that all goes well with the adoption. What an honor and privilege it is for this family to be God’s answer to a child’s prayer! Niina and Sari will have a home with a loving mother and father! 

MEET THE BABIES AT THE ARISE AND SHINE CHILDREN’S CARE HOME

 I know we have written a lot about the project in the previous blogs but we have never actually introduced to you our babies at the AASU children‘s care home. We currently have 20 babies both able bodied and disabled children. We take on babies that are orphaned, abandoned or any other children in vulnerable situations. Some children will have parents but due to the financial situations at home, we take such children in our care with the aim of restoring them back to health and then later reuniting them with their families. Other children get adopted while others are put in foster care homes in the kibuye village to attend the Arise and Shine Nursery and primary school. Other than the children with disability, most of the children we take on are 4 years and below. We take care of them to the age of 5 and later send them to their foster families in Kibuye village. The disabled children stay with us at the Arise and Shine care home depending on the degree of disability. For some that have minor disability and can attend school with ease, we send them to the village for school at 5 years of age. But if the degree of disability severe then they stay with us and attend preschool at the care home.

At the moment we have 20 babies under our care. Most of them were malnourished and they have blossomed under our care. Meet our babies!

Joviah was 18months when she joined us. She is originally from Masindi district, her mother and father died from HIV/AIDS at the beginning of this year. They had 2 children who were left behind as orphans. Jovia and Phiona were then brought to Jinja district to live with their grandmother who leaved close to the baby home. The grandmother was always struggling to feed the children .she works in a small restaurant which pays her 3000 shillings a day not enough to sustain the needs of both children and herself. Joviah is on daily medication for her health condition. The drugs require to eat well before taking them. Her grandmother could not afford all this and joviah’s health was being compromised. When she learned about the AASU children’s care home, she sought our help in taking care of Joviah. We took her in when she was 18months and now she is 2 yrs old, a healthy child.

                   Phiona    Is 4 years old her and her sister are happily blossoming under our care. She is a very smart caring girl. At her age , she is interested in helping out holding little babies! She is always asking if she can hold a baby if they were crying .Am always amazed by her. Am so sure she will make such a good mama one day! She is still finding her real self, very quick in switching from grumpiness to happiness and that is our major concern about her. But again, she is 4 and she has gone through a lot more than some of us have seen. She was older than Joviah when the parents died, taking care of them when they were sick and also looking after her little sister Joviah while her mom was sick. And the last blow of seeing her loved ones die, then moving into new homes one after another. She is adjusting well to the environment.

 Pross  is a twin sister to Rose and also sister to Joan and Peninah. Their mother is Faith Nakisuyi from kibuye village. Her husband separated with her after getting her disability. Faith has 8 children and she is a stay home mom who solely depends on subsistence farming. She had been struggling with feeding children the past few years and always living by the mercy of other people who brought food for her so she could have a meal during harder times. Finally AASU took over the care 4 of her twins and also supporting the rest of the other children who are currently attending school in the AASU Nursery and Primary school. AASU has found a job for faith; she makes paper beads and now hoping to have a sustainable income with that. Peninah and Joan will be reunited with the family and hope with her

income, faith will be able to take care of the girls.

Rose joined us when she was 18 months old and now she is 2 years and 3 months now. Rose will live with us for the next two years and together with Pross at 5 yrs will be reunited with their family and will be attending the AASU nursery and primary school.

Peninah is 5 years old, time has passed so fast! She is at the transition age and will be joining the AASU nursery and primary school next year. She has tried on the uniform so many times as they were being

made. She must be excited about starting school soon.

Joan is a twin with Peninah, very sweet kind girl. Sad she will also be leaving us at the beginning of next year as she will be reunited with her family as well. But it’s good for the children to live in the normal African setting were children learn daily responsibilities and chores.

Mariam is 12 months old, her father is 70 years old and her mom is 21 and mentally disabled. Her father is ill. At the moment he is hospitalized in Jinja main hospital .Mariam has a brother but was adopted by an English family long before she came to live with us. We never got the chance to meet the parents. Of late, she has been struggling with malnutrition .First she was admitted in jinja hospital children’s ward. But even when she was discharged, she still got fevers and it was so clear that she wasn’t well. Of recent she has started getting cold sores so at least we know what she has. And we know how to help her. She is getting better, has gained some weight and learning how to walk! Mariam is getting happier each day.

Ruth is about 11 months old, born to a teenager 14 yrs old. On her birth, the father denied being her father and the mother didn’t have any income to support her. She brought her to AASU children’s care home. Ruth is blossoming under our care and fortunately the mom found some sponsors to take her back to school, her parents stopped paying school fees because she had given birth. But now she is back in school and will be reunited with her daughter when she finishes her technical training. Ruth is such a beautiful happy beautiful girl!

Fiona is one of our first children, 3 yrs old and has been living with us for a year now.  Fiona is a healthy happy girl; she has grown more and healthier during her stay with us.  Unless she gets adopting parents, she will be moving to kibuye village with foster parents at the age of 5.

Niina and Sari are twins. They have been sick with malaria, but now they are all better. Niina had it first and it didn’t show for Sari, we had to take her back for another test and it eventually showed in the test. She got treatment and now both of them are all better. Exciting news about the girls is that they have started making a few sentences! It is hard work to understand what they are saying but the sound brings joy to the ear listening! And I am so excited to announce that they are getting a family very soon!  I don’t have much to share about this, but will keep you all updated on how everything is going. For now please pray with us for God’s will to be done.

  

Venekent Is 4 years old now. He originally comes from Kamuli district around Namasagali village. His mother and father died a year ago. He has a sister who is disabled and lives in a different children’s home. We are planning their reunion every once in a while. He has lived with us for about 4 months and doing great so far!

Sharif   joined us 5 months ago; he is about 11 months old now. Sharif was brought to us by his dad, claiming his mother had abandoned him in the house after a disagreement with her husband. He came as a severely malnourished child and now his all getting better under our care; his been able to put on a few kilograms since then and  looking more like a healthy boy each day that goes by.

 Reagan : according to his mom, his father died in February this year. As a stay home mom, Reagan’s mom found it really hard to provide for Reagan. He joined us mid February with edema. He was so big we simply thought he was a fat baby. Little did we know that it was a buildup of excess  fluid between his tissue cells! A month later he started getting sick, after taking him to the doctor, we were educated about his condition. He was flashed down and in two weeks he went from fat to “too skinny”

That was a scary time but he is now getting so much better. He has started playing and gaining normal weight at the moment. Reagan is also trying to walk now!

Pia :  is 3 years now and she has the warmest personality one would ever see in a child! She welcomes everyone that comes to the baby’s home, always ready to hug them all! Her cheerful smiles keep the home very warm. She has lived with us for seven months now.

 Stella : Is one of the kids with a  disability, also supported by Bulungi Uganda. She will be turning 4 very soon. 

Stella seems to be growing taller and taller each day. She is also working out her way of getting around different things in her environment. Her muscles are noticeably growing bigger as she uses them often while crawling. We hope she can be able to walk some day.

Fahad:

 

is also one of our disabled children who was rescued by Renate (from Bulungi Uganda) one of AASU partner s that sponsors disabled children. Fahad was found in extreme vulnerable situations. He was severely malnourished and we all thought he would never make it. He joined us February this year.He

has become much healthier .He is our biggest miracle!

Hussein  : Unlike all the other normal babies, Hussein is a microsophalus baby and was born with his legs stack to his head. The whole of his infancy, Hussein was hospitalized and his legs were broken and put in a cast each month that went by during his first 5 months. I found out that no matter what we do to change his appearance, he would never be able to use his legs. So we have decided to leave him just as he is. He will be seeing a specialist to see if he needs any medication. Hussein is now 8 months and looks perfectly happy

.

Josephine: is 6 years old, both her mom and dad died this year from AIDS. She is our newest addition to the home. Josephine is disabled, cannt walk or do any of the fun things that other kids often do but she is always a happy girl. Thanks again to bulungi Uganda, we can reach out to the children with disabilities. Especially in a community where they don’t have so much support due to different cultural beliefs.