Why Did We Go to Uganda?



Diana and Eddie at Lake Victoria


AFRICA - it sounds like a wonderful vacation, the trip of a lifetime.  I (Diana) have always wanted to go to Africa - put on my safari gear and see zebras, elephants, and lions in their native habitat.  Not to hunt, but to get some great close-up pictures.  And to experience a wonderful culture, new exotic foods, beautiful views, the whole deal.

So how did we end up on a trip that was so unlike that?  In fact, not at all like that.  Most people would not pay to live like we did for 9 days.  We both wondered what we had gotten ourselves into....had we taken this love of adventure just a bit too far? 

But now having been there, we would not change a thing.  This WAS the trip of a lifetime, a privilege, a life-changing experience.

So how did we end up in Uganda?  I'm an advocate with Compassion International, which works to "release children from poverty in Jesus' name," through child sponsorship and other associated programs.  Having sponsored children for over 25 years, Eddie and I are quite familiar with Compassion's child sponsorship program, which helps children from about 5 - 18 years of age, that live in the worst poverty imaginable.  We have seen up close the huge impact it has on these children - spiritually, physically, emotionally and socially. 

But it was the opportunity to see Compassion's "other associated programs" that first tempted us to sign up for this trip to Uganda (trips to other places were available, but they focused only on child sponsorship). While I knew about these other programs, seeing them in person makes all the difference in being able to explain them.  These "other associated programs" include the Child Survival Program (helping pregnant mothers and their unborn children through birth and until the children are about 5 years of age), the Leadership Development Program (university age), and Complementary Interventions (which works to address non-routine barriers to children successfully getting out of poverty - like HIV/AIDS, living situations that are unsafe, etc.).  The point is, we went to learn.  And if we could learn while visiting a continent we had always wanted to visit - well, it just seemed like that was the ideal combination!


Joyce at 5 years

 It seemed like a waste to travel all the way to Uganda and not also visit a sponsor child - so this spring we began to sponsor a little girl named Nkinzi Joyce (in Uganda, the family name comes first, and the given name second - so we call her Joyce, not Nkinzi).  This is the photo we got of Joyce when she was 5 years old.  More on Joyce to come later.....

Finally - for those of you who could use a refresher on just where Uganda is, I have attached a map below (it's in the eastern part of Africa - just below Sudan and Ethiopia, and to the west of Kenya, at the equator).


Continent of Africa