Archives October 2022

Hello Everyone!!!

I hope you’re all doing well and are in good health! I miss all of you so much, especially my family and friends! I miss being able to talk with you all whenever I want, this experience is definitely teaching me not to take many freedoms for granted. As the weather starts to cool down in America, it feels like it’s only getting hotter here in Uganda! It’s so dry too, although the strong gusts of wind give some relief. Even the rivers and waterfalls have all dried up we were all hoping it would rain soon and it did! Finally last night it rained a good bit and it got very cold! The change in temperature felt so good!

Last Sunday, some very exciting things happened! The choir did a performance during the church service held here, they sang and danced and it was very fun. I’ll try to attach the video below!

We also had meat on Sunday! Pretty sure it was beef and it was very good with the beans and rice! I thought it might affect my stomach negatively but it did surprisingly well! Although I can’t say the same for Rebekah, she was sick most of the night and didn’t sleep well because of it.

Starting Monday, we’ve had school classes here for the younger children and some of the young village kids, all of who are still too young to go to school in town. Sometimes it seems very chaotic as none of the kids are used to sitting for long periods of time. It is very cool, though, to listen and hear all of them chanting words, numbers, and songs in the dining hall. The teacher Rebekah hired is a very old man, too old to teach in the schools. But he is very patient and has a teacher’s degree! Some of the staff ladies also help sometimes, to get the kids back in order or to sing the learning songs. It is so good that the kids are getting this opportunity to start learning here. Haha, please pray for continued patience on the teacher’s part and for the children to learn diligently.

I recently learned from Rebekah that many people live in the mountains here, but that they’re mostly criminals running from the police. They go up there to hide and the police don’t go up there since they would most likely be killed by the mostly criminal population. The mountains are so pretty and I could never get tired of seeing them as I walk out my door. Everything here is so beautiful. While the grass dies and most of the ground is brown dirt and dust, it is accented by trees that stay green and a backdrop of tall mountains. The sunsets are also especially pretty here, I’ve been trying to take photos of each one but it turns out that I’m usually busy right about then hahaha!

We also set up a volleyball net! Many of the children and even some of the staff love playing although there aren’t any real rules or scores kept! Other than volleyball, the kids often play soccer (football) and another game that reminds me of a version of dodgeball.

As in all places of the world, there are bugs and insects. Here we have spiders, ants, praying mantes, stick bugs, and beetles, and that’s just to name a few. On Tuesday, I saw my first chameleon! Well, it was dead but it still counts!

One of the school girls, Anjalina, has written me a few beautiful letters and I appreciate them so much! I will cherish them forever and probably show them off a lot. She is so sweet, just like many of the other children here, they all have such good hearts.

Some of my favorite drinks and foods here so far are African tea, minute maid mango juice, and chapati! African tea is a ginger and milk tea, sweetened with sugar cane, it is SO GOOD!!! And mango juice, I mean c’mon, you can never go wrong with mangos. Chapati reminds me of Nan, just as Nan was made of Maze instead of wheat. Rebekah recommended I eat a piece of chapati with peanut butter and then roll it up, it did not disappoint! Another delicious thing here is fried bread and Nutella. Rebekah brought some Nutella from her travels, as you usually can’t find it anywhere near here. Anyway, they sell this fried bread as well as chapati in the town center here in Rupa and it is well worth the walk! As I’ve been here, I’ve started to crave foods from back home and I’ve made a list! I don’t want to forget even the small things that I’ve thought and felt here, so I’m trying to keep journal entries so I don’t forget!

The kids here bring so much joy! They’re so fun to tease and it’s so easy to make them laugh. They’re full of joy and mischievous schemes, they’re so quick to have fun and play! I already know I’m going to miss them so much when I leave in December!

Here recently, I’ve become quite homesick. I miss all of my family and friends very much and it’s starting to weigh on me. I was wondering if that is something everyone might be able to pray for me. I would really appreciate it. I want to do my best here, and
not be held back by sadness, so thank you everyone for the continued prayers.

Sincerely and with much love,
Hannah Weber

www.missionmoroto.org

Hello Everyone!!!

My first week has been so eventful and I have so much to share with everyone! I am having a slight issue uploading my photos onto my laptop, if it doesn’t end up working I will make sure to send a separate email from my phone with lots of pictures!

When I first arrived I was greeted by the younger kids (who aren’t in school), and they were happily yelling “Siggly, Siggly!!”. They thought that I was Sydnee, a friend of mine who was recently at the orphanage for three months. Apparently, we look a lot alike haha. When it was explained that I was indeed, not Sydnee, but I was Hannah (the kids call me “Annah”), they were happily surprised. Sometimes, the kids will still say “Siggly” when I do something that reminds them of her, such as taking pictures or when they saw the hammock that I brought. It is all very cute and funny, I am constantly telling them all “Not Siggly, Annah, I am Annah.” They all laugh so much and smile, especially when we play games.

I’ve already grown so attached to all of the kids, especially two of the younger girls, Kk and Nakuri. They are so much fun and are full of personality! There is also a 9-month-old baby of one of the staff members, her name is Lisa although I think the kids often call her Rupa. Baby Lisa loves to be held and she’s starting to stand and try to walk, it is so adorable! My favorite part of the day is in the evening before the older kids get back from school and younger children are all tired from playing and come to sleep on Rebekah’s porch. I love to go and sit with all of them, they crowd around me and we all sleep together, it is so peaceful and those precious moments I will never forget.

Each morning and also in the evenings, Rebekah (the woman who runs the orphanage and who I am helping) gives medicine to sick children. Someone is always sick and most of the time it is with Malaria. She is very good at noticing when the kids are not acting normal, the fever that comes with Malaria is noticeable by the tiredness that it comes with. If she has not noticed one of the older kids will bring the sick child to Rebekah and tell her about their ailment. Malaria, the flu, chickenpox, and the cold are all very common among children and I am slowly learning what medicines go for each sickness.

Each Thursday, Rebekah goes to a prison ministry in town, and this last time I went with her, as I probably will every time while I am here. I have to say it was very long but also new and exciting. There were about 30 women and 100 men. The women and men were separated and taught separately. Personally, I enjoyed the women’s session much more than the men’s due to all the babies and young children who were with their mothers. We also handed out some English and Karamojan (the main language here in this region) bibles, as well as some lollipops for the women and children.

As it turns out, Rebekah needs to travel pretty far (6 hours by bus) this next Tuesday to go and get her long-term visa as well as bring one of the girls, Jessica) to the hospital, she has a heart issue and is needing an echo treatment since her heart is failing and she is needing as much help as she can get. While Rebekah is gone she is leaving me in charge of her chores, I am a bit nervous so make sure to pray that I do well!

The second day I was here, we went to a nearby village called Nakelolo. Previously, Rebekah had met a young girl there, around the age of 11 or 12, her name is Veronica and she is lame due to the tendons in her knees not being long enough. Rebekah had promised to bring the girl to the orphanage and do as much as she could to help her. So that is what happened on my second day, we went and picked up Veronica as well as looked at a new church that some friends of Rebekah are building. Veronica loves being at the orphanage and plays with the other kids as well as helps the staff ladies with chores. She is so sweet and is always smiling! She did leave her grandmother, who had been taking care of her, behind and it was very hard for the grandmother to see Veronica go she is very likely to come to visit Veronica at the orphanage.

I think the most interesting thing that has happened since I have been here being when the staff ladies gave me a name. After they thought for a while they decided on “Nakut”, meaning wind, since I came at the start of the windy season. They have also been teaching me many of the greetings and I am happy to say that I’ve gotten a few down! I also helped the staff ladies select rice, which is cleaning it by sorting and taking out the dirt and things by hand. I was much slower in my progress but I was happy to learn something new! All of the staff ladies speak English well and are so kind and helpful!

There is so much more that I could write and tell you all but I will save it all for next week! The photos do not seem to want to cooperate so I will send another email from my phone. I hope you all enjoyed getting this update, if you have any questions send them my way and I will try my best to answer as many as I can! God is doing so much here and I’m so happy and blessed to be part of this plan. Please pray for all of us here, especially for the protection and health of all of the children!

Sincerely and with much love,
Hannah Weber

www.missionmoroto.org

Please welcome our newest member of our Mission Moroto family Keem Veronica. She is lame and can’t stand up completely. I met her last week when I went with a mission team to her church. Veronica’s mother is dead and her father is not around. She has up to recently lived with her grandmother but with the drought it has become impossible for them to find food. I am hoping to take Veronica to Kampala one day to see if there is any kind of surgery that can be done to help her.

We are praying for more sponsors for these precious children at Mission Moroto

READ HERE ABOUT SPONSORSHIPS