Wednesday, May 23, 2012


Well, it’s been a REALLY long time since I updated my blog! A lot of things have happened since my last entry. To keep from going to long on one blog, I have decided to put it into parts. I hope you enjoy reading about my last month in Uganda though... I’ve tried to add as many pictures as I can :o)

When I left for Uganda last September, I was planning to be there for a year. I was only able to raise the money for 6 months, and took a leap of faith to go at the time they needed me to start working. I had prayed and told God that if He wanted me to stay for the full year, that I knew the money would come through… but that if the full year is not what his plan was, and if the money didn’t come, that God would give me peace about it in my heart… Enough money came in for me to stay almost an extra month which was amazing to have those 3 extra weeks in Uganda. I flew out of Uganda on April 4th after many tearful goodbyes, pictures, and email & phone number exchanges.

It was very hard to leave my friends and family I had made, but I know God has a plan somehow. On the plane trip home and in the past month that I’ve been back, I have gotten a chance to finally absorb and take in all of the experiences that I have had in the last 8 months. Many of them I had written about in my blog, so I will share with you the events, stories and pictures from my last month in Uganda:

Child Sponsorship Program Update


Suubi Children’s Center has changed so much since my arrival in September! Our Sponsorship program is slowly starting, as well as the feeding program… but the effects from both programs are already beginning to take place. The kids are not only happier and healthier, but there has also been a boost of self-esteem and hope spreading through the kids and in the community.
Some of the mommies sorting through the beans before school to take out any stones and dirt

Some of the kids getting ready to eat their lunch of Posho and Beans
Out of 90 kids, we have 40 of them sponsored so far!



There are many benefits to the children being sponsored, but my biggest joy when I see them is that they have shoes. For many of them, this is their first pair of shoes! 

Uganda has a problem with Jiggers. This is a very small “sand flea” that gets under the skin and lays its eggs. It is very painful! The Jiggers are most common found on the feet because many people cannot afford shoes. You do not know you have a jigger until 3 days after it is there, and to remove it, you must dig it out with a needle.
The problem that goes along with that is the fact that the parents in the village have no antibacterial medicines or bandages to cover up the wounds when the Jiggers and eggs are out… therefore leaving infections and scars.

But, because of the Sponsorship program, this means that there are 40 kids in the village who will be less likely to be getting Jiggers in their little feet! Yay!!

Before Sponsorship

After Sponsorship

New Kitchen!

Our previous kitchen was a small campfire area with a wooden “counter” to dry the porridge cups on. It was out in the open with no walls or even a roof, so when it rained the cook had a very hard time starting a fire because of the wet wood. During the rainy seasons, this meant that the kids had to go without food while at school.


A group in Germany was able to donate money for us to build a new kitchen for the school. It was completed at the end of February. The new kitchen has a roof and walls! The cook is very happy to stay dry while she makes the meals, and there is enough room to build 2 fires!



Fun School Supply Donations!
Pastor Robert with special teaching aides
With donations of special school supplies, stickers, flash cards and toys, we were able to teach the kids more ways to make learning easier....



and then have a new class we introduced called “P.E.”!



My host brother Arthur was able to come to Bukeka for 2 days. He does a lot of work with kids, and also helps with a kids tv program on Saturday mornings in Kampala. So, we brought him back out to the school to play some special songs with the kids.



They had so much fun! Some of the parents even stayed around in the mornings to watch us sing songs like “Hokey Pokey”, “Head and Shoulders”, “Baby Jesus”, “Shake the Mango Tree” and a few more that were in Luganda. It was such a fun day!!

Thank you and please stay-tuned for part 2!



Sunday, March 18, 2012

Visit to Rwanda

    Alicia sent this blog post to me last week, and I am sorry I didn't get it on here sooner. Wow...This was HARD to read, I cried, I felt my heart breaking for the country and people of Rwanda. As Alicia says at the beginning of the post, its tough to read about, but hopefully this will help bring some perspective to all of us....


I just wanted to put a not at the beginning of this blog post. It is about my trip to Rwanda. This was a very difficult entry to write after having gone through the different Museums and areas learning about the Rwandan Genocide from the 1990’s. There are stories and pictures that are very detailed and hard to read for some people. If you don’t want to read it, I completely understand. There are many more things I could write about it, but I don’t think my mind is ready to deal with and go into detail of some of the stories we were told… I am writing this mostly for my own benefit to express what I saw and to try and wrap my mind around the horrible history that this beautiful country and it’s people have lived through…

Because of Visa rules, I had to leave Uganda for a couple days and enter again with a new visa. We decided the closest country to go visit was Rwanda. I’m always up for visiting a new country, so I was excited about our weekend. Rwanda is a country full of history, heartbreak and rebuilding. The country itself is amazing! So Beautiful, Vibrant and full of life! The city of Kigali reminded me in many ways of the Santa Barbara Area in California. There are no police bribes allowed…motorcycle taxis are only allowed to carry 1 other passenger and helmets are required… there are set prices for traveling around the city on Bodas (Motorcycle taxis) and they do not try to charge tourist more just because we are white… They are very respectful and I was very surprised with how clean the city is. I felt extremely safe while we were there!


The country is very beautiful and calm, which is impressive seeing how  much tragedy has happened in recent years.

Here is a History of Rwanda:
Rwanda had always been a very peaceful country. The tribes got along well and there were no issues between them. Then in the early 1900’s, Belgium colonist came to Rwanda. They wanted a way totally the different tribes apart, so they came up with a system. They decided that there were 3 main tribes. Hutu, Tutsi and Twa. The Hutus and Tutsis were the largest tribes. In 1932 the colonists decided that anyone who owned 10 cows or more would be considered a Tutsi and anyone with less than 10 cows would be considered a Hutu. This Law would also apply to their descendants. They gave everyone an identity card which stated which tribe they belonged to. Until that time, there had been peace… But now there was a divide among the people and the Tutsis were considered better than the Hutus. Because of problems that arose over the next couple decades, the Belgians tried to fix the situation. When the Belgian Colonists left Rwanda, they decided to correct their mistakes and left the Hutus in Charge of the Country that they had previously let the Tutsis run. 700,000 Tutsis were sent away to other countries and into Exile. Tutsi killings happened off and on for 30 years. In 1993, the Rebel group was able to get a 12 Million dollar loan from the French to acquire weapons.

But then in 1994, a group of Hutus decided to get rid of ALL the Tutsi people once and for all. Their plan took a long time work out, but on April 6, the signal was given over the radio. At 9:15 pm, roadblocks were set up and the shooting began within the hour. Houses were searched and any Tutsi found anywhere in the area was to be killed. They used Blunt objects, Guns, Clubs and Machetes.

Neighbors turned on Neighbors, friends against friends, and even some of the intermixed families delt with Fathers turning again their own wives and children.

The majority of the Genocide occurred in a span of 100 days. In those 100 days, the Hutus killed more than 1 Million Tutsi people. Men, Women, Children and Babies. 10,000 each day… 400 each hour… 7 people per minute.


Thousands of widows, Families missing children, and whole families completely wiped out with no one left alive to remember them or even to document their deaths. The Killings also resulted in leaving over 300,000 children orphaned and 85,000 of them became heads of their households.

The international media reported what was happening, but no one sent help. The UN had some troops there, but they were not allowed to shoot. They were only there to keep the peace. Rwanda was left on it’s own… to fight a loosing battle… knowing that the rest of the world had turned their backs and would not send help. I just can’t understand why governments around the world let this happen. It’s not like it was centuries ago when we didn’t have the equipment and skills to help… All of this happened in 1994... That was only 17 years ago!


We visited the Genocide Museum where 250,000 people are buried. Each room in the Museum is for a different aspect of the Genocide. The  first 2 rooms are filled with pictures, history and information about it. One room had photos of families and adults who had been killed.


One room had displays of bones, clothes of the victims, and identity cards.


One room was filled with pictures and information of other genocides from around the world, and the last room was the children’s room.


This room had pictures of kids who died in those 100 horrific days. Each picture had a profile of that child. Their name, favorite food, favorite family member or best friend, favorite activity, their age, and lastly a description of how they died. If they were 12 years of younger, they were considered a child. There were so many that died, but the profiles are only of kids who had family members who had pictures of the child or even just ones that had family members still alive. The pictures and profiles were in order from oldest (12 years) to Youngest (9 months). The forms of death for most of them were: Shot, stabbed, tortured, burned to death, killed by a grenade, or hacked to death with a machete. One 12 year old girl named Mami Mpinganzima’s last words were “Mum, where can I run to?” before being shot…

                                                             Mami Mpinganzima AGE 12

After the genocide memorial, we could not emotionally handle anymore  and were planning to have that be our only stop in regards to the Genocide. But Arthur wanted to see another one… A Church… We decided to go on our last day in Rwanda. We knew we would regret not going, so we drove an hour outside the city to Nyamata Church. The Museum in Kigali was a beautiful building specifically designed to give you the information, but was not as personal. I thought I would be able to handle going to a simple church to look around, but nothing could have prepared me for what we were about to see. The outside of the Church is beautiful with a lovely yard and tall trees around it. A school has been built near the church, and life goes on as normal. Due to special rules, people have to have prior permission to take photos inside of the Church, but I was able to get some online for you to see…..

Nyamata Catholic Church was seen as a place of safety for many people during the Genocide.


One day thousands of people fled to the Church because in the past, no one dared to kill anyone at church. But unfortunately the rebels did not care about the location. 2,000 people were killed inside the church, and 8,000 people were murdered outside on the church grounds. The fighting lasted hours with guns, machetes and clubs. When the rebels started to loose steam, the phoned the army who then sent grenades to help the rebels kill the Tutsis at Church. Sunlight pours into the church still from the holes in the roof left by the bullets and grenades.


We walked into the church just as the school children next door sang their opening songs to start off their school day. It was haunting to hear their angelic voices as you walk into the sanctuary filled with the clothes of 2,000 victims. Their clothes are in piles across the benches in the main part and in even bigger piles on the sides.


Downstairs in a small room, they have the coffin or a woman who died is such a horrific way that I can’t get the courage to write it out. She represents all of the women and children who died during the genocide. When you walk around the back of the Church outside, they have made an area for Mass Graves.


One side of the graves has a staircase that you can walk down into the tomb area. A small hallway lead s you to a room where you are surrounded on both sides by bones and skulls from hundreds f the victims. They are not in a display case, and are within 7 inches of your face.


The skulls each tell a different story of how they died. You can see bullet holes and cuts from machetes. I held my emotions in as best as I could, but had to walk out when I saw the skull of a baby among the other ones…


The Mass graves consist of people who dies around that area, the ones on the church property, and the ones that died in the Church itself. There are over 45,000 people buried at Nyamata Church….

The adults that were killed in Nyamata Church died mostly from machetes or bullets. But, when the rebels got a Tutsi child who was small enough, they would take them by the feet, swing them around and smash their heads against the brick walls.

Going to the Church was an experience for me that I will remember the rest of my life. It brought the Genocide to a real life level that I was not prepared for. I’m so glad I was able to go there, but am still heartbroken from the stories.

I am so impressed with Rwanda and their president. In 17 years, they have taken their broken country and turned it into a beautiful land to be proud of… I would highly recommend visiting that country to anyone
Wanting to travel to Africa…

Friday, February 10, 2012

Alicia's latest post from Uganda!

Hey Everyone!
  The Christmas holiday was such a great time spent in Seeta with my host family. My friend Madi arrived safely to volunteer with Global Hands of Hope for 3 months. My host sister, Doreen, got married in January, and we have been getting ready for the start of a new school year at Suubi Children's Center in the Village of Bukeka. It has been a bust couple of months, but very worthwhile!
   School started yesterday (February 6), and the day was spent getting all of the sponsored children fitted into their new school uniforms and shoes. I wish I could have captured a picture that best described sense of pride that the kids and the parents had, and also the looks on their faces as some of these kids have never worn shoes before! The kids who are sponsored each recieved a School Uniform, A t-shirt and shorts, socks, shoes and a small back pack. Today on my way into the village on a Boda (Motorcycle Taxi), my heart was so happy seeing the kids walking to school dressed in their new clothes and having them turn around shouting "Good Morning Madam Alicia!!!" with the biggest smiles on their faces!
   We are expecting to have around 80+ kids this year. 37 of them are sponsored! The classes are still getting organized as we wait to see which parents will bring their child back for another year. In the next 2 weeks, we should have an accurate count on how many kids. It is going to be a wonderful year! We have gone back down to 3 classes (Baby, Middle and Top). I am working with Teacher Jennifer, and it is really good, because we grouped the kids according to age, and some of the 5 and 6 year olds were in Baby class last year and will be needing a LOT of extra help to catch up. But these kids are smart, so I think that they will catch on pretty quick.
   I have had an amazing time here in Uganda for the past 5 months. I have had so many experiences that many people don't get to have. I am so lucky and Blessed that God brought these people into my Life. When I came to Uganda, I had only been able to fundraise enough money for 1/2 of my trip and a one way ticket. We origionally thought that funding might continue to come in, but things don't always go as planned. As of now, there is a possibility that I will be coming home a few months early. I believe in what we are doing here in Bukeka. In the short time I have been here, I have seen change and improvement. Even something as small as The kids starting to come up to me on their own and hug me! I know that I can continue to do what God brought me here to do. I know that if funding comes in, It would be great to finish out my year, but I also know that God has filled my time here with so many amazing and lifechanging things! Please keep me in Your prayers as I try to figure out funding. If you feel led to donate to myself or to sponsor a child, please email me at she_she55@yahoo.com or my mom at salliebodine@yahoo.com. Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
Lots of Love, Alicia
             (Note from Nikki) -  Here are 3 pictures that Alicia has put on facebook recently. Love Love seeing these beautiful faces! We may have a new fundraiser in the works, but no details to share quite yet. We will keep you all informed when we have more info. Thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers for Alicia and the kiddos!