Purse of Hope

Thanks Total Attorneys & Friends!

2011-08-16T03:33:00.003-05:00

(The amazing group: Reza, Katie, Kevin, Leah, Kristin, & Ali)

When Kevin Chern of Total Attorney's & friends (Reza, Ali, Leah, Katie, and Kristin) came to visit us, they brought tons of goodies. Not only did Kevin bring an amazing group of people, but together they brought clothes, shoes, bags, sports equipment, computers, and much more! Our girls felt so loved that many of them started crying tears of joy. Beatrice even said, "I never knew someone could do such a thing for me. I came from dust, I wish people could see me now."

The gifts Kevin & friends brought had much more value than strictly material. To the girls, the gifts showed that they were loved and supported by people all the way around the world.

One of their favorite gifts was the computer! The girls have even asked us to print out pictures of them sitting with the computer. The mentors have added "computer skills" onto their list of activities for the home. So far the girls have learned how to load music onto the computer and are getting familiarized with the keyboard. Here are Concy and Stella (who are very happy to have their picture taken with such an amazing gift!).

The group also brought lots and lots of sports equipment. I'm sure they knew we liked games, but I don't think they knew just how competitive we are! The girls love playing with the volleyball, the handball, and the basketball. They're practicing netball (a local game girls play in school) and even learning some new volleyball techniques. Prossy, our basketball star, has enjoyed teaching the girls her skills, which they are very eager to learn.

Last, but not least, is the badminton net. Though this was new to all the girls, it's quickly become their new favorite game. Our Project Director, Pauline, played this game as a child and was so happy to teach the girls. At first, she was the master and none of the girls were able to beat her. But after a few games, Pauline found out that the saying "the student becomes the master," was all too true. Beatrice and Stella learned quickly and have been battling it out to see which one is the best.

A big thanks to the group and all who contributed for your generosity and love. We are so thankful for all you've done for us and loved getting to know each one of you.

Saying Farewell

2011-06-16T20:57:00.001-05:00

May brought some significant transitions to POH Bwaise: the older girls returned from boarding school, the drop-in center women graduated from their hair dressing course, and “auntie” Katie returned home to California. Having shared life with the girls since September, and seeing them through a number of challenges (a massive bead order before Christmas, bringing on new staff and and new girls, setting up sponsorships so that they could receive a good education at boarding school), it was hard to say goodbye. Until the last day I don’t think the girls could believe that she was actually leaving, but reality set in and they pulled off a smashing goodbye slumber party! Allow me to relay the evening (and dawn) of May 4th, 2011:

* The evening began just before dusk as Katie ducked and entered the POH compound through the small door in the gate. Whoops and hollars resounded as the girls pummeled her and collectively lifted her off her feet and carried her to the front porch.

* As the sun set we attempted to make no-bake peanut butter cookies over the charcoal stove without measuring cups and using the local odii (a paste made of ground nuts and sesame) as a substitute for peanut butter.

* A hysterical “news report” from our two budding house journalists started off the evening’s program, covering the recent political unrest in the city. They had us all laughing at their satire of the mayhem.

* Dancing in the turquoise enclave of the sitting room commmenced, which led into a time of prayer and singing and, of course, the power went out. Undettered, we continued by lantern light.

* Most would agree that the pinnacle of the evening was the “basi ceremony”, used in Laos as a symbolic way of saying goodbye. When someone in the community is leaving, everyone gathers and each person is given a string that they bring to the person and as they tie the string around that person’s wrist they share with them how they’ve touched their life. The person leaving then reciprocates, tying a piece of string around their friend’s wrist. It serves as a physical reminder of the time that was spent together. One can either keep the string on until it falls off, or if the time comes that they feel ready to let go, they can cut it. In our basi ceremony, Katie stood at one end of the sitting room and one by one the girls came forward to exchange their strands of colorful thread and words of love and affirmation. It was a heartfelt and tearful time, and hopefully it served to give each of them the opportunity to express their thoughts, be affirmed and begin to have closure with letting go of someone who has been so dear to them.

* At this point it was likely 10pm -- and if you’re Ugandan -- the preferable time to eat supper, and that we did. A classic meal of matooke, rice, beans and greens.

* I likely have the order of events wrong, but at some point there were some beautiful gifts given to Katie, namely a brilliant pair of beaded sandals

* The day closed with the girls hauling mattresses from all corners of the house into the sitting room to make one big cushy floor where we gathered for a movie with a giant sauce pan of freshly popped and salted popcorn.

* We slept.

* Uncertain if the scheduled ‘walk to work’ protests in town would escalate and trap Katie at the home, the wee morning light found us drinking milk tea and cassava and bidding her a tearful goodbye at the gate, before it got too late. Katie hopped on a boda, exchanging waves with the girls as she rode away. We will (and do) miss you Katie!

-Lindsey Whyte

Saying Farewell

2011-06-16T20:57:00.000-05:00

Auntie Diana

2011-06-06T09:33:00.000-05:00

Meet our lovely and determined role-model and Purse of Hope house mentor, Diana. Diana has been living with the young women and girls for the past six months, serving them as an “auntie”, offering an exemplary picture of where loving support, prayer, hard work and perseverance can take you.

A journey of discovering the capacity of her own heart and potential prepared Diana for her work and life at POH. In 2008, she noticed that she had “developed a heart, a love, to care for the uncared for ones” and looking around her church, noticed a handful of kids. She would meet with them on Saturdays and when she had some extra money from her own sponsorship she sacrificially gave, using it buy them shoes, shirts and pens for school.

During her campus holiday in 2009, she worked with the Cornerstone Home in Gulu as a mentor. Reflecting on that time, she says “I loved being a mentor because I was sharing what I had within me to others...being there showed me that I have the potential to change someone’s life...to be a leader...(the girls and I) were learning from each other.” Inspired by the comprehension of her talents and ability to encourage the same within others, a year later she began volunteering with POH.

Diana loved hanging out with the girls at POH and they loved her; she was invited to live and work as a mentor. At POH she says, “there is a way you develop love...If you can’t love you can’t be a mentor, the love has to be in you. When you are a mentor, however old they (the girls) are, they are like your children.” Her life and presence among them offers them inspiration and strength. “When it comes time for praising and worshipping, (the girls) can say, ‘if Auntie can do it, we can do it’ and we find our life, new life in Christ.” She’s thankful to invest in a place where the girls say they find home, and works earnestly to solve problems that arise, “If someone is battling with something, I can try my level best -- if it means praying or talking to someone” she is always ready.

Describing what keeps her going as a mentor, she says “I feel good to know that someone has grown up in my hands...when that girl is fulfilling all the dreams that she has when I have helped her and put a hand in there so that she can become what she really wanted.” Her responsibility is considerable and she has challenges. She can’t always go out with friends, at times she has difficulty understanding some of the girls under her care, the older ones don’t always listen and sometimes the girls come to her asking, “‘but auntie, what is this?’ and also me” Diana says, “I don’t know. That is a challenge.” Yet she insists that through love and prayers they are overcoming together. She finds that these challenges also help her to grow, “...when you are someone’s mentor, you are showing the character and you have to respect yourself first. If it comes to caring, you have to care, when it comes to talking, you have to talk well, you have to be a role model. Me, I have to move the right way so that that someone can also move the right way. When I am a mentor, it’s like I am serving God. When I praise God with these girls we are serving God together.” Her favorite verse is 1st Corinthians 13, because it demonstrates to her that the whole bible is based on love, that God is love. Even if the child she is working with is “so hard, I say in my heart ‘I will love you no matter what, to see you changing to become the person that everyone admires in the future.’ God loves us like that and that’s the love I would like to show to someone else, however hard she might be.”

Along with her work and life as a mentor, she is a determined student studying telecommunication engineering. Always curious, she chose TE because she wanted to understand technology. She used to wonder about things like transmissions, pondering how radios and televisions operate and how someone could be in the village and hear and see others? Seeing computers, satellites and solar panels she would ask herself how they worked and at home would try to fix the TV. Growing up, the people around her had many challenges and she would think, ‘God, how can our people change?’ In the future she envisions having her own radio or TV station that she’ll use as a platform to solve peoples’ problems and help them to explore their talents, perhaps being an answer to her own question. In six months she’ll graduate from Uganda Institute of Information and Telecommunications and hopes to find a professional job so that she can hone her skills, but will continue the work of her heart, mentoring.

We are profoundly thankful for her and the great mentor she is at POH.

Home for the Holidays

2011-05-23T01:14:00.006-05:00

These days we have a full, lively house at POH Bwaise. Nearly a month ago, seven of our girls finished their first term back in class, attending boarding schools around Kampala, and returned home for their holiday. Extraordinary courage was asked of them when they returned to school in February, seeing that it had been quite awhile since some of them had been in school and there was much catching up to do. Coming home also proved daunting; while they were away, four new sisters joined us and the boarding school girls were coming home to both the familiar and unfamiliar. Same house, new faces and new paint. Change is seldom easy.

Unsure of what to expect, we were grateful when they demonstrated grace and resilence. The new younger ones received their big sisters with warmth and hugs and the big sisters accepted the younger ones and within days of their return everybody had settled. Then one afternoon I stepped out onto the front porch to this scene:

The late afternoon breeze mingling the strains of rustling leaves overhead with the jaunty melody from a passing car, the girls had organized themselves into study groups in the shade of the house, determined to “read” (study) and not lose any ground during the month long break between terms. I couldn’t help but witness this scene with astonishment -- what children do you know prioritize studying during their holiday and take it upon themselves to begin?

Another evening while perched on the balcony with one of the aunties, the darkening sky settling the dusty sunset over Bwaise and the city beyond, we spied a moment of sweet camaraderie below. One of the older girls steadied a wooden ladder, branches secured with rope, against the compound wall beside an avocado tree, while a younger one scaled it, reaching for the rock hard fruit that perhaps was too enticing to allow for a few more days of ripening. Realizing they were caught, they giggled and the picker descended from the foliage, arms full of green.

Beach Day Graduation

2011-05-17T07:55:00.001-05:00

Beach Day Graduation from kelsey morgan on Vimeo.

Today was a special day for everyone at Purse of Hope, Bwaise. After 8 long months of classes and training our drop-in girls are finally graduating!

Since most of them have never seen a beach and had no clue what it looked like, we decided to give them a special treat and hold the graduation on the beach of Lake Victoria in Entebbe. We loaded up all the live-in girls as well as the drop-in center girls and headed to the beach.

It was an amazing day and we've never seen the girls so excited!

"The Bird Who Could Not Fly"

2011-05-11T00:52:00.001-05:00

(A creative story written by Beatrice at the Total Impact House)

Once upon a time there was a bird that lived in a farm. That farm is big, full of trees, with a beautiful colour and it is also cool, and quiet. The bird lived in that farm but he could not fly! The name of that bird is Dove. That bird is funny! Its colour is black, the mouth looks short, the legs are big, and the eyes are red. That bird is beautiful.

The bird is friends with other animals from home. One animal that is friends with the bird is a dog. And you know what? That animal is funny. The name of that animal is Moose. Moose always likes being quiet and active. He is big, his colour is beautiful, it is brown, and his eyes look black, and he is young.

And you know what? Moose likes staying with the dove because the dove sings to Moose, and Moose dances. They like staying together and they are friends. And you know what? That bird cannot fly because his wing is broken. He is even sick so he is too weak to fly.

So one day the bird sat down and thought…But I can not fly, where am I going to eat if my friend Moose is not at home? Am I going to sit without eating? If I sit with that broken wing of mine I am going to die. So, it’s better for me to go to what? The hospital. So I can get what? Treatment. So that my wing should get healed so I can go anywhere I want to go.

So that is the end of the story about the bird that could fly.

Hairdressing Graduation

2011-04-29T07:55:00.003-05:00

The countdown begins! The drop-in center girls eagerly await graduation on May 13th! Watch as they share their feelings about their final exam and future aspirations

Joy

2011-04-26T01:16:00.001-05:00

Camp Scholarships

2011-04-26T01:05:00.002-05:00

This Easter weekend, Annet and Winnie (above) were given scholarships to attend a Scripture Union Camp. Scripture Union is a Christian club on most school campuses in Uganda. Our girls are active members of this club and participate in lunch-time prayer and bible studies.

Winnie and Annet were given scholarships because they are distinguished as leaders at school and at the Purse of Hope home. We know that they'll be eager to share the lessons they learn at camp with their other sisters when they return home.

We're so proud of these two girls and believe the lessons and skills they're learning at this camp will encourage their growth into incredible leaders in their community and the even the world. Great job girls!

A beautiful Gift

2011-04-13T07:37:00.002-05:00

Eve, a mentor in the Total Impact Home, has a unquenchable passion for music. Although she's soft-spoken and typically quite mellow, she comes alive when she worships.

Since her arrival to the home in October, we've watched the Purse of Hope choir grow in amazing ways. Our girls are now singing in 3 part harmonies and awing all who visit the home.

We often find the girls spending their free time sitting with Eve under the mango tree, memorizing the lyrics to new songs and practicing together.

Eve has been praying that God would provide a way for her to join a class at church to learn how to play the guitar. Little did she know, that God was sending Danny Lima to Uganda to answer that prayer. In the picture above, Eve is proudly strumming her new guitar, a gift from Danny.

Thank you Danny for this incredible gift! Who knows what could be next for the Purse of Hope Choir...an original piece with guitar accompaniment? We hope so!

Pauline Sheds Light

2011-03-31T00:40:00.002-05:00

Meet Doreen

2011-03-22T12:30:00.000-05:00

Love is patient

2011-03-21T09:11:00.002-05:00

Since the beginning of the school term in January I’ve noticed monumental change in the girls’ study habits and excitement for school. Yesterday I was chatting with them and asked if they could describe what caused the great change.

Juliet shared with me that the reality of hope is responsible for the transformation. She explained that over the course of their first year at the Total Impact House, she and the other girls spent a lot of time thinking about the past and had a difficult time believing that there was any real hope for their future.

Now, she told me, they know that God has a plan for them. They have experienced love and support and encouragement and know that there are people all over the world who believe in them and want them to succeed. They believe that they will have lives full of meaning and won’t ever have to go back to the way life was before.

Juliet and the others are now giving school their all. Some have even been chosen for leadership positions in their classes. To me, this story is a lesson on love. Love must be patient. We can’t expect change to happen over night, but must understand that change takes time, and a great amount of love.

Our First Graduate

2011-03-11T00:48:00.003-06:00

Today was a monumental day in Purse of Hope history. Eva, one of Purse of Hope’s very first girls, received the results of her Senior 6 exams. This exam is taken at the end of a student’s high school year and the results determine whether or not a student will attend University and which area of study they’ll receive.

Though she finished almost 5 months ago, Eva has been waiting anxiously to hear the news that will set the course of her future. The results are in (drum roll please…) And she passed!!!! With tears in her eyes and wild excitement, Eva sobbed that years ago, she had no hope of ever completing Secondary School, and absolutely no clue that she would ever attend University. She never dreamed such a thing could happen to her. Now, her dream has come true and Eva has a bright future ahead of her.

We’re so proud of our first daughter to graduate Senior 6. She is now a role model for the other girls to look up to. Eva shared with us, “Now I can encourage the other girls to work even harder than I did. If I can pass, all of the Purse of Hope girls can. We all have a bright future.”

Congratulations Eva!

Life Skills Training

2011-03-07T10:01:00.002-06:00

Last week Purse of Hope introduced "Life Skills Training" to our list of programs in Bwaise. This awesome new initiative is taught to drop-in center beneficiaries by our trained staff.

The girls are learning valuable life skills that will help them continue to lead healthy lives after graduating from the drop-in center courses.

We're excited to watch this program develop and will keep you updated on all the great things these girls are learning.

Staff Spotlight: Pauline

2011-02-25T03:33:00.004-06:00

We want to introduce you to our beautiful staff - The people who are dedicated to making instrumental change happen here in Uganda. The patience, love, and passion they exhibit are constantly transforming the lives of our girls.

This week we present Pauline Amony, our Project Director in Gulu.

Pauline is confident, independent, and compassionate woman. When it comes to her work, she is a force to be reckoned with. Pauline has a fiery passion for our girls and other girls in the community with similar backgrounds. Though she appears to be small and fragile, she’s tough. She walks into the slums and ghettos with authority and has the ability to soften even the most hardened teens.

This loving woman is the perfect mother figure for our girls in Gulu. She shows love in ways that only a natural mother could and knows more patience than most could dream of. She truly believes in the goals of our project and was even reaching out to this demographic before Purse of Hope came into existence.

Our girls see her as their adoptive mother. Though many were abandoned or orphaned, they’ve found the consistent love they’ve longed for in Pauline.

When asked about her role as a mother to the girls Pauline responded, “I feel blessed to be a mother of so many lovely girls. It’s something I had only ever dreamt of.”

In addition to her long list of skills (which include, administration, managing staff, loving our girls, organizing programs, counseling, etc.), Pauline is a gifted conflict mediator. She has a heart for reconciling the girls back to their families. Though many of the families are the cause of the hardships in the lives of our girls, Pauline is dedicated to helping them change.

This task is not an easy one, but when accomplished, can change their entire course of a girl’s life. The shame, neglect, and abandonment they feel can disappear when a family member asks for forgiveness and admits fault. Though this takes time, Pauline has the patience and perseverance to continue the work and we’ve seen many instances of reconciliation in the past few months.

Pauline hopes to see the girls become educated, responsible women of their nation. And we’ve already seen this dream coming true. Purse of Hope is beyond blessed to work with this incredible woman whose love knows no end.

A Brighter Future

2011-02-17T01:15:00.003-06:00

This week Juliet and Beatrice started Secondary School (High School).

Beatrice spent the last year repeating Primary 7. She was faced with adversity each day as a 17-year-old in Jr. High. But thanks to the encouragement of our amazing Project Director, Pauline, and her Purse of Hope sisters, Beatrice found the courage to study hard to have another chance at passing her exams. The weeks leading up to the release of the exam scores was filled with nerves. Both Juliet and Beatrice were totally freaking out. This news could make or break the future of their education.

Upon receiving the news that they passed, they both broke down in tears. Before coming to Purse of Hope, they never thought they would set foot in a Secondary School. Their hopes had been shattered by war, abuse, and abandonment. But on this day the hopelessness of the past was broken. Juliet and Beatrice have a second chance at life with Purse of Hope. They have the chance to be kids, to be students, and to be loved.

Thank you for supporting these girls and cheering them on as they walk bravely into a brighter future.

Healing Transformation

2011-01-12T00:18:00.003-06:00

An important part of the healing process for the Purse of Hope girls is moving from feeling victim to circumstances to feeling empowered as an agent of change in their community. After a year of growth, transformation, and healing, the Purse of Hope girls are truly becoming empowered young women.

A few months ago they began asking us if they could begin ministering to people in their community. Now, they have not only participated in community outreach activities such as cleaning wells and bringing food to poor families, but they have also chosen to volunteer at St. Jude's, an orphanage in Gulu town.

In addition to these activities, they have also started leading activities for their sisters in the home. The Purse of Hope mentors, or "aunties," challenged the girls to begin leading bible studies and devotions in the home. The girls have stepped up to this challenge and excelled! This week, Annet (pictured above), asked the aunties to teach her a worship song so that she could teach her sisters. It was a beautiful lesson to observe.

The girls sat attentively under the mango tree while Annet fearlessly taught "Hosana" to her sisters line-by-line. The beautiful voices of the girls soared over the compound wall and into the neighborhood. Before they knew it, children were climbing the trees and fences to catch a glimpse of their lesson, shouting "sing it again!"

It is these moments that take hold of my heart and reveal that these girls will bring hope to a land that has been plagued by war, violence, crime, and poverty. They will be agents of change that will forever change a generation.

Not Your Typical Teenage Girls

2010-12-15T12:56:00.002-06:00

What comes to mind when you think of your average teenage girl? Maybe a girl consumed by her social media devices: texting, facebooking, etc. In fact, the average teenage American girl sends 1,500 texts per month! Or maybe it’s a girl busy with after school activities, shopping, and watching Gossip Girl in the evening. However, the American perceptions of teenage girls do not hold up with the girls at Purse of Hope: these are not your typical teenage girls!

The Purse of Hope girls in Bwaise are out of school on break until their next term starts in February. Of course, many would think, a house of 11 teenage girls on break from school would mean: sleeping, eating, maybe arguing with each other, and lounging around. This is not the case!

The girls have been spending each day with purpose and discipline. They wake up early in the morning for devotion time with each other and then spend several hours cooking, cleaning, and accomplishing their daily chores. During the day, they are focused on learning new skills such as: bead making, hairdressing, and improving in their studies to prepare for their next term. The girls also decided to have a daily-designated time to pray and worship together. This devotion time was entirely the initiative of the girls! Everyday, faithfully at noon, they gather on the roof to pray and sing and thank God for His provision in their lives. It’s incredible to see how faithful these girls are with the opportunity they have been given, and how incredibly disciplined they are in working towards their future dreams and goals.

In the midst of their hard work and time-off they are finding time to be girls: to play, to sing, to dance, and laugh together. Purse of Hope’s mission is: "To give children the chance to be children.” We are seeing that happen daily. We are seeing a youthfulness, a child-like awe, we are seeing them dream, and love and trust. We are seeing these girls thrive in an environment that is safe, structured, and loving.

-Kati Martin (Purse of Hope Volunteer)

Purse of Hope Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T10:54:00.001-06:00

As families in America joined together and celebrated Thanksgiving, so did the Purse of Hope family in Gulu. However, our version of Thanksgiving was a slight bit different than what those in America experienced…

The Turkey Hunt. Instead of driving to the nearest grocery store and picking up a nice frozen turkey, our girls went on a “Turkey Hunt.” They walked to town to find out if anyone was raising turkeys. Once they found a nice big one, they negotiated a price, paid the owner, tied it up, and brought it home. Here it roamed around the compound and was fed some last minute food to fatten it up. Early the next morning, Joyce, our catering expert, killed the turkey, gutted it, seasoned it, and began cooking it over a charcoal stove.

The Décor. Juliet and Scoiva were determined to find a Christmas tree to decorate the house. Using their creativity, they bound together branches of pine trees and decorated the tree with flowers from the garden and toilet paper to look like snow! Autnie Susan played DJ and kept the house bumping with Christmas tunes.

The “Aunties” and “Uncles” of Purse of Hope joined the celebrations in the early afternoon. Uncle Sean taught the girls how to cook garlic mash potatoes and it was a huge hit! Other guests brought stuffing, fruit salad, sweet potato casserole, and delicious desserts.

The night ended with LOTS of singing, dancing, and tons of appreciation. Personally, I’ve never experienced a better Thanksgiving or a group of teenage girls who are more thankful than the Purse of Hope girls.

Journalist Elizabeth Reports

2010-12-01T10:24:00.002-06:00

Out of the Compound

2010-11-08T09:16:00.000-06:00

Favor's Song

2010-10-21T00:31:00.002-05:00

Meet Favor, one of our girls living in the Bwaise Center. She's a bubbly, fun-loving, and talented, young lady. Though she's new to the home, she already been chosen to lead the group in choir practice and dance classes. She's showing some great leadership potential.

This week she shared a song she recently composed. Her voice is beautiful and the lyrics are amazing. She wrote the original lyrics in Luganda, her native language, but translated the song into English so we could share it with you. Life has not been easy for 14-year-old Favor, but the worship and joy that she exhibits are such a testament to the transformation we're seeing in her life.

Favor's Song:

Jesus you’re prefect
You’re what the earth yearns for
Flowers and animals praise you
Who am I not to praise you?
Because you’re the one I’m yearning for
When I’m tired and where I’m going is hopeless
I will call your name
Which is better than all names
And it gives me way

Bwaise Talent Show

2010-10-11T08:03:00.002-05:00

Diana, one of the amazing mentors at the Bwaise home, had an incredible idea to host a talent show to showcase the girls' talents and build confidence. We believe that God has gifted each of these girls in unique ways and want the girls to be proud of who they are. A volunteer in Bwaise, Katie, put together this video to share the day with you. We're SO proud of these girls and are excited to share their talents with you.

Our 5k!

2010-10-04T10:31:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all of you who participated, sponsored, volunteered, and cheered! It was a fantastic event!

Beth

2010-09-28T09:12:00.002-05:00

Katie Martin, Purse of Hope's awesome new volunteer, has been in Uganda for almost 2 weeks now. We're excited to share with you a glimpse of her life here... 

“I'm bubbling over with all of the incredible things that have gone on in just 10 days of life in Uganda, and yet so little time to stop and share about it. 10 days has felt like 2 months. I am honestly incredibly humbled to be here doing this work. It's hard to articulate the sense of OVERWHELMING joy that I have when I'm at the house with the girls. There is no other place I want to be when I'm there with them.   

I must share a story about Beth....  I went over to visit the girls this evening (today is Sunday), and it was yet ANOTHER adventure on the Boda ride there, today was my first Boda ride post rain storm. Bwaise had a rain storm today, which means the dirt roads are muddy and puddle filled. So, that translated to my sandal wearing feet getting splattered with mud....which is honestly NBD (no big deal)...I was more concerned about the huge man holes of murky water we were navigating our way through in the midst of INSANE traffic.

I arrived (safely...phew) at the Purse of Hope house to the usual incredible greeting from the girls, they were standing at the gate ready to hug and greet me. I showed them my muddy feet and they all felt so sorry that I had gotten muddy....one of them said, "Auntie Katie (they call me Auntie :)), it is a huge sign of love that you would make the journey in the rain." That melted my heart. I stopped and just felt blown away at the continual thankfulness and gratefulness these girls show.

Then......Beth. As soon as Beth saw my muddy feet she grabbed my hand and walked me straight to the bathroom. She insisted on cleaning my feet for me. I tried to help and SHE WOULD NOT LET ME, so I surrendered, and sat there in total awe at this beautiful beautiful girl tending to me, cleaning and washing my feet, and just had to let myself receive the love she was lavishing upon me. It was such a beautiful moment, but also a moment of feeling helpless in letting her tend to me. I wanted to be the one washing HER feet. It is my heart to be the one serving these girls and loving them. And yet in that moment I felt humbled....and knew....as I've been seeing in these past 10 days, God is using these girls in my life far more than I will be used in theirs. They are teaching me how to love, how to trust, how to have incredible faith, how to be free.

I've heard a lot of people say, "I need Africa more than Africa needs me" and tonight that rang true more than ever. These girls are among some of the most courageous I have ever met. They are embracing their second chance at childhood with all that they have. They are dreaming and they are taking that scary step of letting themselves love and be loved. These courageous and beautiful girls have the fingerprint of God smudged all over them :).”  

-Katie Martin

Tutoring Program

2010-09-28T09:03:00.001-05:00

The Tutoring Program at the Total Impact House is in full swing!! After assessing the girls needs, we decided to dedicate August as Grammar Month and really focused on learning all of the different components of Sentence Structure. For a fun activity, the girls made Grammar Books, which they are able to keep and use as a study aid for school.

The girls are incredibly bright and we are already able to see visible improvements during each tutoring session, as they gain more confidence and increase their depth of knowledge! In this video, you are able to see just how hard our girls have been working!

Thank you Stefanie Bammer for facilitating the tutoring program and making this cute video!

Tailoring Program

2010-09-23T07:37:00.000-05:00

Purse of Hope's tailoring program has been going steady for over one month. The girls are super excited about this new opportunity and are dreaming big about the future. In this video, Barbara shares her thoughts on tailoring as well as her beautiful dream of helping other girls.

This week I was able to see the girls' work. They're already making duvet covers and pillow cases. Their work is amazing!

-Kelsey

New Jobs

2010-09-23T02:43:00.002-05:00

Two of our bright and talented ladies are now employed! Joyce and Allen interviewed with an incredible organization, Sseko Designs, and got the job! We’re so proud of them. Sseko employs women to make beautiful and unique sandals that are sold in the US. Our girls are 2 of 14 women working at Sseko making these awesome shoes.

Allen and Joyce now have a steady income and are able to support themselves and their children. Julie and Cameron, the two amazing women working with Sseko in Kampala, shared that they are incredibly impressed with our girls. Allen and Joyce are producing more sandals a week than expected and are even showing leadership potential! They arrive early and are two of the hardest workers. Thanks to our tailoring program, Allen and Joyce came prepared with the skills needed to sew the sandal straps. They’ve also worked hard to learn the other skills that are needed to make the shoes.

When I visited their center, I found the girls with huge smiles on their faces. They even spoke confidently in English (which was a weakness before they began working at Sseko).

Confident, empowered, and employed, Joyce and Allen are now an inspiration and encouragement to the other girls at the Bwaise drop-in center. They still come to the center each day, participate in activities, and share what they’re learning. Robinah, our Project Director, is helping the girls set up bank accounts so they can save and budget their money.

If you want to learn more about Sseko, you can visit their website at http://www.ssekodesigns.com/ Here you can also purchase shoes that will support Joyce, Allen, and the 12 other beautiful women working at Sseko.

Kristen and Robinah

2010-09-20T18:43:00.003-05:00

Sorry about the ridiculous amount of background noise. If there's a quiet place in Kampala, we've clearly yet to find it! I reference the Skype call in this video. If you haven't seen it, I encourage you to scroll down and watch it. I promise it will make you smile.

-Kristen

A Day at the Salon

2010-09-20T18:33:00.002-05:00

Welcome Katie Martin

2010-09-16T05:12:00.001-05:00

Welcomes Katie Martin to the team tomorrow! Katie, compelled by compassion, has selflessly left her comfortable life in San Fransico to volunteer for Purse of Hope for the next 9 months.

To begin, she'll be volunteering in Bwaise facilitating English classes, strengthening and expanding the bead-making program, and working one-on-one with the girls. She'll also play a key role in sharing the stories of the beautiful things happening in Bwaise with all of Purse of Hope's friends and supporters.

Katie has a big heart and is excited to love, listen, and learn. After a few months, we hope to bring her to Gulu to share her gifts and talents with the girls in the Total Impact Home.

Thank you Katie!

-Kelsey Morgan
Country Director

Baptisms

2010-09-07T08:39:00.003-05:00

This week 6 of the girls in the Total Impact House (along with their mentor, Auntie Susan) asked us if they could get baptized on Saturday. Our answer, of course, was YES!

The last 2 months have been an extremely beautiful time of spiritual and personal growth in the lives of these girls. They are hungry for the word of God, eager to prayer, and constantly singing songs of worship. They wake up at 5am every morning to pray and worship. They sing songs proclaiming, "When I remember what the Lord has done I will never go back anymore." They pray for one another and gather around their bibles after school.

This week I asked Beatrice how she was doing. She told me with a huge smile on her face, "My life has been difficult, I've gone through many struggles, but I know that God brought me to Purse of Hope because he has a good plan for me."

Just a few months ago Beatrice wanted to give up. She was feeling discouraged because at age 17, she is only in 7th grade. A few weeks ago things began to change. She began studying diligently and made a deal with the mentors to speak only in English so she could improve. She then began sharing her dream of becoming a nurse and volunteered to be the “House Nurse,” taking care of all her sisters in the house when they fell ill. She’s now dreaming even bigger. Instead of a nurse, she now dreams of becoming a doctor.

It’s amazing what God is doing in the lives of these girls and it’s a testimony to all involved that God really does work miracles.

Lawyer Pauline

2010-09-06T07:50:00.002-05:00

Pauline, one of our stellar girls in Bwaise, was recently elected educational prefect at her school. It's Pauline's dream to become a lawyer. She even introduces herself as "Lawyer Pauline." She is brilliant, hardworking, and truly cares about others.

We met her English teacher and were able to find out more about her new and highly esteemed position as well as how he views her as a student. As educational prefect, Pauline is the class leader for education for her entire grade level. This means that she organizes debates and special programs, is responsible for all the classroom materials, helps students who are struggling, sets an example for others, arrives early to school, and even reminds teachers to be in class on time.

Her teacher shares in this video that Pauline is a student who truly cares about others is motivated to excel in school. Even before she was elected, he states that she was performing all the roles of the educational prefect without having the title. He admires that Pauline enjoys challenges, loves having big responsibilities, and is willing to take the time to help classmates who are struggling. With such a brilliant mind and amazing character, we believe that Pauline will succeed and one day become a lawyer!

Annet's Story - Installment 3

2010-09-03T14:30:00.004-05:00

"Yeah, of course you love me!" -Annet

As you've probably gathered from Annet's interview and other POH posts, there's a tremendous emphasis on education in Uganda. Without it, quite simply, children are doomed to a life of abject poverty, and in many cases, prostitution. Though I certainly believe that educating young women is paramount to their future success, it pales in comparison to them feeling truly loved and cared for.

What's beautiful is that they are feeling loved because we're sending them to school. To care about them is to care about their futures. Our girls are awed by such a generous outpouring of love and as we've stated many times before, they are now pouring that into others.

Annet wants to be a lawyer. I have no doubt that she will be a great one - not just because her school fees are currently being covered, but because she knows we’re rooting for her and hundreds of people want to see her succeed. With that kind of love and support she can conquer the world!

Personally, there is nothing that motivates me more than this. I hear many stories of insidious abuse and incomprehensible circumstances that would leave even the most stoic person burning for justice, and yes, each one makes me want to fight harder, yell louder and rally whomever will listen. But the true driving force that propels me to keep doing this is when I ask one of the girls, like Annet, "Do you know you are loved?" and I hear that emphatic YES! Love is what removed them from the insidious abuse and incomprehensible circumstances in the first place, and it is love, married with action, that will enable them to grow and heal.

I encourage you to please share Annet's story with others. It's giving her a voice and the power affect change.

- Kristen

Annet's Story - Installment 2

2010-09-03T14:10:00.003-05:00

Annet's Story - Installment 1

2010-09-02T19:09:00.004-05:00

Annet was born in Northern Uganda in 1993, six years after Joseph Kony formed The Lord’s Resistance Army to incite an armed rebellion against the Ugandan government. For well over twenty years the LRA has been responsible for pandemic devastation including murder, rape, abduction, mutilation, forcing children to participate in hostilities, and the sexual enslavement of women and children.

For us, it’s a sobering history lesson. For Annet, it’s been a living hell.

When she was young, her father was abducted from their home, leaving her mother and seven siblings to fend for themselves. Two other relatives were told they’d be spared if they killed others in the village. They did and were not. Her best friend was abducted at the age of nine. “One day we were playing,” Annett explained, “and the next day she was gone.” Annet tried to continue with her studies, but it was impossible when constantly having to flee from militant rebels. Her mother eventually sent her to a school many miles away, but shortly thereafter failed to pay the school fees. Annet was left to take care of herself. She fell prey to a life of prostitution at the age of 13.

Annet’s interview is divided into three short segments. In this, the first video, she describes how she and her family were affected by the LRA. In the second video, Annet unravels how she came to live on the streets. And in the final installment, she talks about life in the Total Impact House.

There are, among the POH girls, seemingly countless new achievements, and we want to share and celebrate them all. What we can’t do, however, as we continually move forward, is forget where it is they came from, what they have survived and what each of their harrowing stories can teach us. I am grateful for Annet’s willingness to grant us a glimpse of the incomprehensible.

She represents many. It is nearly impossible to find a Northern Ugandan not scarred, either physically or psychologically, by the war. The statistics vary, of course, but it’s been estimated that nearly one million Northern Ugandans have been driven from their homes because of the LRA. Over a quarter of a million have been murdered, and most sickeningly, thousands of the country’s most vulnerable, the children, have been turned into orphans, sex slaves, prostitutes, or killing machines.

POH’s mission is to provide aftercare to girls who have been trafficked and/or forced into the commercial sex industry. Part of that care includes giving the girls a voice and empowering them through their testimony. It’s my prayer that as Annet speaks, we will listen. Really listen.

Then act.

Story of Hope

2010-08-31T01:37:00.000-05:00

The drop-in center in Bwaise is filled with strong, brave, and brilliant, young women who have been exploited time and time again. Each day they come to the center filled with hope and ready to work hard to learn the skills needed to rise above their situations.

Rita is one of these hopeful young women who recently graduated from the Purse of Hope hairdressing academy. Last week she went for an interview at a salon and got the job! She’s now able to make enough money to support herself and is working at a job that she absolutely loves. This beautiful story gives hope to the other girls still finishing their training that they too can graduate and find a job. Though she’s graduated, Rita is still a big part of the Purse of Hope family. She still visits the drop-in center to be with her sisters and is now able encourage them in their pursuit to find work.

Rita’s story can be an inspiration to us all. What these women desire is the opportunity to work and support themselves with dignity. We are blessed to have a chance to walk alongside them and support them as they gain the tools and skills needed to go out and pursue their dreams.

Holiday Internships

2010-08-17T03:19:00.004-05:00

During this holiday, the girls in the Total Impact Home are participating in internships with two amazing organizations in Gulu, Krochet kids (krochetkids.org) and 31 Bits (31bits.com).

These great, local organizations have been super supportive and offered internships for our girls while they have a few weeks off school. Here they will be learning useful skills such as crocheting and bead making, which our girls have been so excited about!

This is a great opportunity for the girls to get to know women who are empowered and making a living to support themselves and their families.

Thus far, we've been hearing amazing stories from the girls. They are so excited and encouraged! Not only have they learned how to make hats and beads, but they've also learned valuable life lessons from the awesome ladies at Krochet Kids and 31 Bits. The women have taught them the value of working hard, saving money, supporting their families, and going to school. Our girls are now asking us to help them find ways that they can earn money so they can save for University. How cool is that!?

It's a beautiful thing to see our girls interacting with the women of these two organizations. They have grown up in the same town, lived through the same war, and have faced many of the same trials. Our girls have now seen, first-hand, that's it's possible to rise above their past circumstances and become powerful agents of change in their community. The smiles on their faces, their growing love for one another, the worship that fills their home, and the stories from the these internships reveal that with each day, each program, and each prayer, the hope for the future our girls have is growing like wildfire.

Where Angels Sleep

2010-08-11T15:32:00.004-05:00

In sharp contrast to what beds represented a year ago, these beds symbolize safety, love, and a space of the girls' own. Thank you, supporters, for helping us continually meet such fundamental yet momentous milestones.

Tutoring Program Update

2010-08-10T14:44:00.005-05:00

The Tutoring Program at the Total Impact House is in full swing!! This month we are learning all about Grammar and really focusing on: Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, Verb Tenses, Adjectives, Adverbs, Conjunctions, and Sentence Structure. For a fun activity, all of the girls are making Grammar Books, which they will be able to keep and use as a study aid for school. The girls are incredibly bright and we are already able to see visible improvements during each tutoring session, as they gain more confidence and increase their depth of knowledge. The girls at the Total Impact House are well on their way to becoming the world's next teachers, journalists, and lawyers!

New Beds!

2010-08-09T09:05:00.000-05:00

The girls in Bwaise send their thanks for the 12 new beds we were able to purchase!!! I've never seen anyone so excited and thankful for anything in my life. The girls danced and worshipped for hours! Thanks to all who made this purchase possible! The girls are no longer sleeping on the floor, but in beautiful turquoise triple bunk beds. They're so happy : )

Bwaise Clean-Up

2010-08-09T08:35:00.000-05:00

Pauline and Maureen share their excitement and explain how they are going to give back to their community by cleaning it. The Purse of Hope girls in Bwaise asked for matching shirts and cleaning supplies so that they could hold a community service event. This is an incredible request considering that the women who come into our drop-in center lack money for even the most basic necessities.

Words can't express how beautiful it was watching 50 girls cleaning the very same slum that exploited them for years. The youngest girls led the group in worship as we moved around the foul smelling streets, sewers, and drainages, picking up bags after bags after bags of trash. Many people in the community joined in or approached the girls with words of thanks and encouragement. This was something this slum has never seen before!! Our girls responded to their thanks by explaining that they were serving in order to show love to their neighbors. Isn't that incredible!

We finished the day dancing, singing, and worshipping together. It was amazing that they girls still had energy after long, hard hours of cleaning in the hot Ugandan heat.

Their actions had such a huge affect on the community that the next day, government officials in the area approached the center offering to donate a truck for hauling away trash to our next clean-up day. We can't wait to see how these girls continue to shape their community and bring positive change into one of the most broken places in the world.

Bwaise Clean-Up Project 2

2010-08-03T17:36:00.003-05:00

The Bwaise Clean-Up Project is slated to commence tomorrow. This video is a portion of an interview I conducted with Robinah in June. Here, she speaks of how she's believing for the project to happen and what it will one day look like.

Tomorrow is that day!

The Bwaise Clean-Up Project

2010-07-29T17:43:00.001-05:00

Amidst rows of crudely build shacks and brothels, heaping piles of smoldering garbage, and a populace seemingly resigned to prosperity’s perpetual no-show, is Purse of Hope’s well-kept compound shaded by towering mango trees. It’s a place of order and sanctuary for local girls fleeing from prostitution. The contrast between the compound and the neighborhood it inhabits is stark and now begs the question, why would teenage girls forfeit their only comfort to invest in a community that exploited them for years?

I could hardly believe it when Robinah, on behalf of the girls, asked if she could allocate some of the Center’s funds for industrial cleaning supplies. “And shirts! We’ll have to have matching Purse of Hope shirts so everyone knows who we are!” This was the girls’ nonnegotiable, Robinah told me smiling, once they’d determined to go outside of their own tidy facility and start cleaning up the surrounding area. Knowing our budget allows very little wiggle room, the girls petitioned for wheel barrows and rubber gloves over new furniture and other necessities for the center.

How is such selflessness possible? The girls are becoming proud of who they are. They are eager to clean their streets because they no longer regard themselves as garbage.

My friend Nancy and her two grown daughters are flying to Uganda next week to spend seven days with the POH girls. We recently met to finalize a few of their travel plans. She asked if there was anything in particular the girls might need or want. So amazed was I by the girls’ request for cleaning supplies, I shared it with Nancy--knowing that seventy-five matching shirts, rubber gloves, and wheel barrows were probably not what she had in mind.

Nancy loved the idea and was as touched by it as I was. She and her daughters, five days before departure, held an impromptu charity dinner at a local pizza place. Donning their “mandatory” uniforms, Nancy, Sara and Jessie told family and friends they’d be working side-by-side the Purse of Hope girls to start cleaning up what’s arguably one of the most squalid, depressed slums in all of East Africa.

They invited their guests to help and ended up raising nearly three thousand dollars!

Three thousand dollars will purchase considerably more than cleaning supplies. The POH Center will also be receiving new beds, mattresses, linens, comfortable seating, finer beading supplies and more teaching materials. We are also pricing a new dining room table and chairs for the Total Impact House in Gulu.

Perhaps this doesn’t exactly parallel the Old Testament story of God appearing to King Solomon in a dream and offering, “Ask, and I will give it to you,” but I believe the principle is the same. He could ask for anything, Solomon, and what did he ask for? Glory? Riches? Longevity? Fame? No, he asked for wisdom so that he may better serve his people. Because his request was made out of humility and service, God did grant him wisdom--as well as wealth, honor, and victory over his enemies. The Purse of Hope girls also chose to forfeit “riches” in order to serve others. In doing so, they captured the hearts of a few fine folks in Illinois. They’ll soon be serving their community in addition to the added bonus of receiving several wonderful amenities for the Center.

Nancy, Sara and Jessie will be embarking on their adventure this Sunday, August 1st. They’ve agreed to document their trip entitled, “We 3 See Bwaise” so we may all celebrate the Purse of Hope milestones together--milestones that could not have happened without them!

Thank you, Ladies! We look forward to your reports.

Annet's artwork

2010-07-29T08:31:00.000-05:00

This is Annet. She's an amazing artist! This piece is a textile she created. In this video she explains the many steps it took to finish it. We're so proud of her and hope to keep you updated with her newest creations.

Gulu University Field Trip

2010-07-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday we took the girls in Gulu on a trip to Gulu University. Our tour guide, Nelson, gave us a wonderful tour of the campus and told the girls about all the different areas of study offered at the school. We had an amazing time and ended the day drinking a soda and discussing our dreams for the future.

Every Child Has A Right to Play

2010-07-16T02:25:00.000-05:00

Hi friends, My name is Stefanie Bammer and I am going to be interning in Gulu for Purse of Hope over the next 5 months. I am so excited and blessed for this amazing opportunity! While I will be taking part in various projects, my main focus will be on implementing a Play and Dance Therapy Program for the girls. After studying different forms of fine arts, we have found this type of therapy can be used as a healing tool to build self-esteem.

Play and Dance Therapy will allow the girls to creatively express themselves, through symbolism in a safe place in order to confront painful memories. Our heart behind this program is to create a place where the girls will have the ability to play, have fun, and just be a kid again. By incorporating elements of visual arts, photography, videoography, music, dance, drama, and sports this program will help promote social change and responsibility. The girls are so amazingly talented and I can’t wait to see this program unfolds!

When you Educate a Girl you Educate a Nation: Tutoring Program at Total Impact House

2010-07-14T15:04:00.000-05:00

Hello friends of Purse of Hope! My name is Jordan Pappas and I’ve been volunteering in Gulu with the girls at the Total Impact House. In the last couple if weeks, we’ve talked about the importance of a girl’s education; we even had a debate to further explore the issue, and as one girl said, “When you educate a girl, you educate a nation!” Collectively, we decided to hold study sessions three times a week. We’ve been focusing on spelling, tenses, and correcting our common sentence mistakes. Today we are going to play a verbal game of charades to expand our ability to describe words with our burgeoning vocabulary. The girls are so amazingly motivated and hard working. World, get ready for your next lawyers, journalists, nurses and teachers!

Thanks, Blake! Welcome, Kelsey!

2010-07-08T15:13:00.000-05:00

Thank you, Blake, for your dedication and unyielding hard work this past year as our Country Coordinator. Purse of Hope would not be where it is today without your commitment to quality programs and your heart for the girls we serve in Uganda. It takes a special person willing to give up the comforts we are so accustomed to in America and live in an underdeveloped country—and to do so without complaint and entirely unselfishly. Thanks for sweating it out, literally, and helping to build the foundation for which these girls can stand upon.

Kelsey, we welcome you and look forward to the new energy and creativity you bring to Purse of Hope. I have every confidence that you will not only continue the work that has been started, but will begin to develop, in new and exciting ways, programs and projects that will further edify our girls. I thank you too for being willing to sacrifice air-conditioning in exchange for heart-conditioning. It is my hope that you’re not only empowered by the fruits of your labor, but are encouraged by all of us here—friends, family, Facebook fans, Twitter followers etc. You are an amazing woman and we look forward to sharing some of your experiences.

A sincere thank you to both of you.

Violet

2010-07-07T09:46:00.000-05:00

Violet is 18 years old. She has one child and is expecting her second. Enrolled in the Purse of Hope hairdressing program, Violet hopes to one day support her children by owning a large hair salon.

A Day at the Hospital

2010-06-10T20:39:00.000-05:00

Stella washing her clothes!

2010-05-27T04:02:00.000-05:00

Stella washes her clothes to prepare for school. Everything here takes so much time, especially washing all of your clothes by hand. She couldn't believe that in the U.S. we have a machine that not only washes, but also dries clothes!

Picking Mangos

2010-05-25T09:44:00.000-05:00

Take a look at this video! Girls from the Total Impact house show us how they pick mangos right from the front yard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuvcoNn0oeA

Juliet Flosses for the First Time

2010-05-20T06:49:00.000-05:00

Below is a photo of Juliet from the Total Impact house flossing for the first time! I don't really consider myself a high-maintenance person, but showing the girls at the Total Impact house everything I do to get ready for bed at night including flossing, washing my face, and taking out my contact lenses makes me realize that not everyone in the world is aware of or shares these luxuries. It was so funny seeing their reactions when I showed them how I take out my contact lenses. They had never seen anything like and couldn't believe that such a technology existed. They also were so surprised that I was able to put my finger in my eyes. They kept asking if it hurt and didn't believe me when I insisted that it didn't!

Pauline from Bwaise

2010-05-13T03:05:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to share with you a post written by 16-year-old Pauline, one of the girls in the Purse of Hope house in Bwaise. The girls were given journals to take notes on everything new that they saw on their trip to Kampala. Each one of them meticulously wrote everything new they saw at the super market, at the zoo...this is what Pauline wrote:

A Wonderful Tour Which I Had Never Had:

It was on the 6th of May our sisters from Gulu visited us. We were so happy on that day. We had never seen them with our eyes.

The next day we had a wonderful tour which enabled us to see great things. We visited Garden City, Nakumati super market - which was so big that we couldn't manage to walk around the whole super market. We also visited Uchumi super market where I saw orange fish which I had never seen and never knew existed. I also managed to see the tallest building in Kampala! I was so happy because I had never seen it before.

We also managed to visit the zoo in that we saw many animals, snakes, and birds, including crocodiles, zebra, a lion and lioness, big monkeys, hippos, and I also saw big snakes and birds - like crested crane, ostrich, and many others.

2010-05-11T02:05:00.001-05:00

What an amazing weekend in Kampala! We arrived on Friday with eight of the girls from Gulu. At first girls were a bit shy, but quickly warmed up to each through dancing - a huge part of African culture - and get-to-know you games led by Robinah. On Saturday, we took the girls to a shopping mall, to the zoo and to see Lake Victoria. For most of these girls it was their first time doing any of these things. It was incredible experiencing it through their eyes. The most hilarious part was watching some of them get on an escalator for the first time. I remember as a kid being so scared stepping on an escalator. I didn't even realize until some of them stepped on and clutched onto the railing that it was their very first time!

I love how these ladies are so grateful for little things - like going to a nice restaurant, trying ice cream, or riding an escalator. We so easily take things like this for granted.

Check out the You Tube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=corHkuf5Xlk

Never Go Back

2010-04-29T11:32:00.000-05:00

2010-04-22T14:39:00.000-05:00

2010-04-19T14:20:00.000-05:00

Video Postcard From Gulu

2010-04-19T14:14:00.000-05:00

Buying Shoes

2010-03-24T15:13:00.001-05:00

2010-02-23T11:11:00.000-06:00

Just last week dozens of girls in Uganda were justifiably proud to receive their honored guests. Ed, CEO of Total Attorneys Inc. and his wife Ashley arrived in Kampala on the 17th. They spent the afternoon and evening with Blake, Robinah, and the POH girls at our vocational school located in Bwaise, a large slum on the north side of Kampala.

Ed and Ashley were welcomed with singing, dancing, big smiles and open arms. I was told, though the girls in Bwaise weren’t familiar with Total Attorneys, they esteemed Ed and Ashley like family knowing they had hearts for girls in Uganda.

On the morning of the 18th, Ed and Ashley chartered a small plane to Gulu. In order to meet them there, Robinah took five of the Bwaise girls by bus the night before. This is what Robinah emailed me along with the pictures:

“In life we all have dreams we want to achieve, girls in Bwaise, their dreams were to travel in a bus and see a plane. Today their dreams came true when they went to Gulu Airstrip to send off Ed and Ashley as they were taking a plane. And in the same afternoon, they’ve traveled in a bus from Gulu to Bwaise. What were their dreams yesterday, are their realities today. It takes just a few minutes to change a life. Thank you Purse of Hope for making our dreams come true.” -Robinah

For the sake of perspective, the bus ride between cities is approximately six hours. The girls enthusiastically sat on a hot bus for twelve hours to realize their personal dreams of travel and to participate in Ed and Ashley’s farewell celebration.

To the girls in Bwaise, Gulu was a far away land still being ravaged by violence and atrocity. They were able to see for themselves how the North has experienced peace and is rebuilding after the twenty plus years of civil unrest. They also witnessed how their sisters at the Total Impact house are rebuilding their lives thanks to people like Ed, Ashley, and all of you supporting our mission.

During their stay in Gulu, Ed and Ashley toured several schools, the large market, local businesses and neighboring projects. We have comprehensive footage of both days activities which Blake will be sending back with a group next week.

You can be sure there will be plenty to follow!

Bwaise Brothels

2010-01-26T10:39:00.000-06:00

Christmas Greetings From Uganda

2009-12-23T21:52:00.001-06:00

Our New Girls!

2009-12-15T11:45:00.000-06:00

We now officially have eleven girls residing in the Total Impact House! (One of the girls is absent from the picture. She was not feeling well.) The last month has been an arduous one for Blake and Pauline as they traversed a seemingly endless mountain of legal and social impediments. Persistence prevailed, however, and six more girls are free from a life of prostitution.

One of the biggest problems we face is the potential beneficiary’s loss of income. The money they’re making via prostitution is often the primary source of income for an entire family. If the girls don’t already have children, they have younger siblings, unemployed parents, or even extended family members to support. Sadly, seizing the opportunity to flee from a life of sexual exploitation is considerably more complex than it should be.

For example, one of the girls in the POH outreach program, regrettably, declined Pauline’s invitation to stay at the house. She is fifteen and cares for her twelve year old sister and ailing grandmother. If she entered the program, she explained, her grandmother would then force her younger sister to start selling herself. Sacrificing her own body in order to save her sister from selling hers, she chose to turn down the offer of safety, healing, and an education. Thankfully, she continues to meet with Pauline for counseling and participates in the outreach program’s activities.

While her story represents the majority, there are girls able to break free. We are grateful for our six new sisters—grateful their circumstances were not insurmountable and they can make the most of this new opportunity.

Welcome home girls!

A Firm Foundation

2009-11-30T09:58:00.000-06:00

Several months ago, I was contacted by the President of a company responsible for installing the foundation work for some of the largest buildings, bridges, and utility structures in North America. The name of this company is Case Foundation and their philanthropic objective is identical to their professional one—to lay the groundwork upon which something amazing is to be built.

President Bob Schock inquired of our needs. I told him about the girls in Kampala and how they've been meeting and studying in a makeshift classroom next to the brothel where they work. Our hope has been to procure a building of our own in order to offer more courses and to accommodate the ever increasing class sizes. On behalf of Case, he agreed to help. Thus the new school/drop-in center was initiated.

Much has been accomplished in the last few weeks. Swift actions have resulted from both necessity and enthusiasm. In early October, we hired a broker to locate several buildings for us. When I was there later that month, he showed Robinah, our project director, and me what he had found. One was entirely too far away and double our budget. Another was exclusively zoned for residential use and still another seemed to have vanished completely as we drove for almost an hour looking for it. We elected to find a new broker.

The next morning I was scheduled to leave for Gulu. Robinah phoned the girls to tell them the disappointing news. Before reaching the brothel to teach class, she'd already received her first animated phone call. "We found one! We found one! Come meet us!" The second call came shortly after. "Robinah, we see a space for rent, come tell us if it's ok?"

The girls took it upon themselves to divide into groups and find their school. They'd spent the entire day looking at a number of locations in the area and then later voted on the best one. That evening, I answered Robinah's call and listened as the girls bubbled with excitement and proudly took ownership of their real estate venture and the future success of the school. The broker fiasco ended up being the best thing that could have happened. This vocational school was no doubt theirs. They are the ones that found it and have been faithfully attending nearly every day since.

A large construction company—one that operates massive equipment and drills through the earth's toughest strata, volunteered to help tackle another extremely arduous project—restoring the vulnerable lives and fragile psyches of girls on the other side of the globe. Once again, Case has set the foundation and our students now have something upon which they too can build.

Thank you Case.

Performance

2009-11-29T16:43:00.000-06:00

Juliet

2009-11-11T18:54:00.000-06:00

Situational Ethics

2009-11-06T10:26:00.000-06:00

Mary represents a short-lived demographic. Girls that resort to prostitution in the desperate attempt to pay their school fees rarely make it to graduation day. One world consumes the other and learning to cope with physical and emotional trauma leaves little energy and eventually concern for essays and math tests. It’s supposed to be a sacrifice for a better life—a means to an end, but too often it just means the end of hope and continues to feed the insidious cycle of AIDS, abuse, and abject poverty. Mary doesn’t know the statistics. She does, however, feel the weight of their truth and wants more than anything to crawl out from under it.

I don’t yet know the specifics of her situation. I don’t know if her mother encouraged her to sell herself or if Mary chose to do it out of love and a loyalty to help her mother financially. Either way, their very real lives have been besieged by the complexities and consequences of having to choose survival over rather obvious moral principles. I can’t help but think back to the situational ethics stances I so fervently debated years ago in college. They are now beyond embarrassing.

The more I do this work, the more I realize my opinions don’t matter much. Mary doesn’t need my opinion. She needs my love and compassion. She doesn’t need someone telling her that prostitution is harmful. She needs a way out of it. She doesn’t need to be told that her mother, whom she loves, is a terrible person for imposing or condoning the only way she knows how to pay for her education. She needs to be told there is a better way and we are the ones that can help her.

It’s not about guilt. Showing you Mary’s tears is not geared to shame you out of your Starbucks. It’s merely to present the perspective that’s as neglected as the fourteen-year-old who owns it. Saving her life doesn’t require hundreds of thousands of dollars. It doesn’t require years of medical research or depend on the passing of heady legislation in order to act on her behalf. So who can we blame? We have the reactions that we do, guilt or otherwise, because her story is raw, candid, and unbiased, but mostly—we’re torn because it’s so punishingly avoidable. Two dollars a day puts the ball back in our court and demands an answer from each of us. Are we really going to let this continue?

Total Attorneys has answered no to that question repeatedly. You’ve answered by way of time, talent, resources, costumes, and facial hair. On the day of that interview, Mary got to see the result of all that for the first time. It was in the form of a beautiful building; one that was home to vulnerable girls just like her. My prayer is that we’ll soon hear the story of how the Total Impact House and its programs therein changed Mary’s life as well, and the only “situational ethics” dilemma she faces is in the form of debate at the university she one day attends.

Meet Florence

2009-10-11T14:10:00.000-05:00

Searching for the right tailors was more challenging than I’d expected. We spent an entire day popping in and out of the shops that made up the marketplace labyrinth. Row after row, kids played and women chatted over the tickering hum of their sewing machines. I appointed myself the official headhunter and quality control inspector. The objective: to commission five tailors and then pick one or two based on their final products—a one-size-fits-all wrap skirt and a small, simple handbag.

I’ve hired quite a few people over the years, but strangely this felt more like interviewing a babysitter rather than an employee. I mean that in the best of ways. Finished seams, button holes, and zipper pockets became secondary to discerning whom I’d entrust to teach our precious girls. I was unexpectedly protective, even a bit concerned; that is, until I met Florence. Her gentle disposition eliminated my worries. I thought her sweet temperament would be a perfect asset and I could easily picture her working with the girls at the house.

I asked Florence to make me three wrap skirts, each with a slightly different design. She did a super job. After explaining the POH/TI project, she also agreed to teach our girls the basics of tailoring with the wrap skirts being one of their first real design projects. This is set to commence in the next month or two. Whether Florence will stay on indefinitely or works with the girls just long enough to teach the basics, I don’t know. We’ll have to see what works best for everyone. Regardless, I’m happy that we found her and I’m eager to work alongside her in just a few short weeks.

If you are interested in supporting the girl’s training as well as Florence’s small business, you can order one of her skirts for $35.00.

Sarah's Story

2009-10-03T22:54:00.000-05:00

Sarah’s Story

*Sarah was abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda while collecting firewood for her family. At the age of 13, she was forced to be a sex slave, or as the LRA euphemistically calls it—a "bride". As Sarah recounted her story, she told me how grieved she was to learn that the soldier she was given to had two other wives. This meant she was guilty of polygamy. She explained how prior to her abduction; she was a virgin and "inexperienced in such wifely duties". The soldier would severely beat her after sex for not pleasing him properly. He once beat her so badly that two other soldiers came to her aid. They told him to be patient and show her what to do rather than beating her. "For this," she said, I was very grateful."

One night, opposing forces opened fire on their camp. During the ensuing chaos Sarah managed to escape and fled into the bush. She was met by another abductee and together they cautiously trekked across Northern Uganda back to Sarah’s home village.

Upon reaching her hut, she discovered her entire family was dead save for the “auntie” that refused to take her back. Sarah was told she was now "ruined" and would bring shame to the family name and community. Looking for a place to sleep, she went into town where a group of teenage girls took her in and fed her for a few days before insisting she start earning her keep.

Starving, rejected, and already “ruined”, Sarah believed her only choice was to sell her body if she wanted to live. After several months of prostitution, she no longer cared to. She swallowed some batteries and a handful of aspirin hoping the amount of acid would be fatal. Thankfully it wasn't.

Sarah met Pauline, a POH counselor, last year and was recently selected to move into The Total Impact House. Every day for the past year she would think, “Unless Pauline tells me it’s all a lie and no one cares about helping us…until then, I will choose to believe someone really is building this home and there’ll be a place for me to go.” When Sarah and I met this past September, I got the chance to tell her how much people do care and how proud I was of her for holding out hope. She is an amazing example of triumph over tragedy and she ended our exchange by saying, "I now see why I wasn't allowed to die."

*Her name has been changed to protect her identity.

A Better Understanding

2009-09-21T11:25:00.000-05:00

This is the brothel...not exactly glamorous.

Under what circumstances do 11, 12, 13 year old girls ask someone to pray that they get more clients? How is that even possible? Unlike the red-light districts where girls are often locked in cages, or the children that are abducted and smuggled across international borders at gunpoint, the girls in this Kampala slum sat in front of their brothel rooms seemingly voluntarily. It begs the question, why wouldn’t they do whatever it takes to escape this life-style? They have witnessed the demise of their peers—peers whose small frames encased the internal organs fatally destroyed by clients demanding their money’s worth. To put it plainly, they were literally raped to death. The stories are graphic, sickening and real and the question is only answered with more questions. “Where are we to go? What else are we to do?” They ask. Most of them have been forced out by a guardian and are not allowed to return home unless they have money to contribute to the household. So, how can we, as individuals and a collective body, wrap our western, middle-class brains around this global enigma, and more importantly, what can we do about it?

Because there’s an ever-increasing demand for younger and younger girls, there is a supply, and the recompense for supplying the demand is often living one more day. This is something I attempt to grasp, but simply cannot fully. What I was able to see, even through their sadness and dejection, were girls like my own daughters who possess great ideas, creativity, gifts and talents, hopes and dreams—only these girls just don’t happen to know it yet. I saw glimpses of this as they rolled strips of paper into beads then proudly showed me their designs. It is all they have right now, but it’s a start. I mean that literally. Many of them have never even left the slums. They have no comprehension of a life outside of what they see, know and do. There are no words for how humbling it was to sit with a group of girls and women that devoured the opportunity to learn such a basic skill—one that most of us would complain about doing after a good five minutes or so. They sit for hours talking, honing their new craft, gratefully eating the meal provided for them before getting up to sit in front of their room waiting for the evening’s clients.

It’s so fundamental that it’s easy to dismiss - it's just paper necklaces. Yeah, they are cool, but will buying a few alter the course of your life? No, it won’t, but it can someone else’s. These girls don’t require multi-million dollar programs, just a chance to earn some money, get medical treatment and go back to school. As I was writing this, I heard my phone ding notifying me of an email. I just checked it and it’s from Robinah. She writes: “Your visit to Uganda touched our hearts and the girls were so blessed to have you visit them in the slum and the time you spent with us really touched many other lives.” Clearly, my presence represented all of our efforts. I just happened to be the one that was there physically. What we do has profound affects on their vulnerable lives. It’s really rather overwhelming. I promise you - it all matters, what we contribute, and on behalf of POH and the girls we serve...an incredibly sincere thank you!

Celebration Day!

2009-09-16T14:38:00.000-05:00

POH's Total Impact House

2009-09-14T11:59:00.000-05:00

Jewelry Like No Other...

2009-08-09T09:48:00.000-05:00

Jewelry making is one of the income generating skills we’ll be offering the girls at the Total Impact Home. A group of girls we support in Kampala began making beaded necklaces just this summer. Prior to that, POH has been purchasing these hand-made, beaded necklaces from Janet, a dear woman living in Gulu.

One of our goals is to help the girls earn a professional wage and eventually start their own legal cooperative to manage their jewelry business. It will provide training on how to control their personal finances for long-term success; including budgeting, savings, entrepreneurship, and microfinance. Helping them market their jewelry is just one more way we can promote their success.

Here’s how they are made…

Helping Us Be That Change

2009-07-20T20:53:00.000-05:00

An Eye-Opening Contrast

2009-07-13T22:42:00.000-05:00

Greetings,

My name is Jackline. I am a girl of 15 years and am in Senior 2. I am an orphan. Both of my parents were killed and I have brothers and sisters still at home I take care of. They are not in school and have no one to pay school fees for them. They need an education, clothes, care and so many things because when someone is not educated he/she starts doing bad things like prostitution, stealing, becoming mothers when very young and this is not good for them and lost parents is causing all of these.

What I will do after my studies, I will like to help people because I know how painful it is to not go to school, lose parents and relatives like me who passed through this. I will maybe like to be a teacher or a nurse. My friend, I know I have to not tell you anymore because I know you understand. I pray that God blesses you and adds to you more and more and we are so grateful for you.

Yours faithful,
Jackline, age 15
Gulu, Uganda

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Hello,

My name is Savannah. I'm going to be a freshman at Kaneland High School. During the school year, I will be in cheer and track. For track, I run the eight hundred. It's a pretty hard race, but that's okay because I love running. It's one of my favorite things to do aside from being with my friends and family.

I live in Maple Park with my family. My family consists of two sisters, a brother, and my mom and dad. They are all very crazy and very loving. They teach me everything I need to know about life and have inspired me to be my very best. My goal is to succeed at whatever I do in life and they will help me reach my goals.

When I grow up, I am hoping to be a surgical nurse. I love helping people and I'd love to be in the medical field. I know it's a very big dream and will be hard to reach, but I will try my best and know I can do whatever I want to do.

-Savannah, age 14
Maple Park, Illinois

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The assignment was simple...write a few paragraghs describing yourself. The results...telling. The goal...to give girls like Jakeline some of the same opportunities and hope as girls like Savannah.