Visiting the slum “The place where we call home”
Today Patrick from ‘Raising up hope’ decided he wanted our volunteers to be taken to a slum, based just outside of Kampala. This is just one of the places that Patrick goes to work with children who are sleeping on the streets and who have run away from home. This slum however was one of the places where no tourist or local Ugandan would visit.
No pictures or words can really describe what we saw or felt on this day where we learned first hand where the children at Patricks centre came from.
One thing we can describe though, were the smiles that yet again, were there amoungst the hardship.
“The place where we call home”
By Peace Nakitto, April 17, 2010 @ 9:30 am
I had the opportunity of visiting this particular slum with the volunteers for the first time. I felt a little fearful at the beginning about this place, but watching the excitement and welcome we got from the children, made me feel like this place gave me a sense of what a home should be like. The children payed no attention of whether their clothes were dirty, or they didn’t have anything to wear, but felt wanted the way they were and one of them whispered to me that, “We didn’t chosse to be hear or live like this”. Others told me that they needed a doctor to look at their wounds and help them get well. Others told me that, they can’t go home anymore. It was shocking to see where and how they lived, but most importantly to me they felt “Just like any other child”
By Roger Mallins, April 17, 2010 @ 10:19 am
Just like we cannot choose our parents these children seem to have little choice but to ‘hope’ that in time some will rid themselves of this extreme hardship. They all at least appear to be optimistic as a result of Patrick and others including Peace Nakitto in his field who care. If he and other mentors promote care there will be a positive spin off for all of the SLUM youngsters !!