Thomas meets our sponsored child, Waryoba!

On Wednesday Thomas sent me the below email. We was finally able to meet Waryoba--the child we have been sponsoring and praying for the past 3 years--God is Good!

From Thomas:

Met our guy today, Waryoba.  He lives up near Lake Victoria, the furthest center away from here.  It was a 2 day trip, that included a looooong bus ride and staying in a hotel...2 things he has never done before, so today was pretty overwhelming for him.  He came with the director of his center, Justine...who was amazing!  I had a translator too, his name was Armon, which means peace...exactly what I prayed for that morning.  I was so comfortable with him, he was amazing as well.

Of course I will tell you every detail when I see you, but here are the cliff notes:

the center there has been open since 2009, I am the first sponsor to visit a child from that center!  He presented me with a necklace made by Waryoba and one made by the staff...the first one given to someone who has acomplished great things, the second to some of great honor and respect.  He then gave me a card that Waryoba wrote and had every kid in the center sign it...then he gave me a card made by the staff thanking me and praying for me.  He talked for 5 minutes solid about how much they love me and how much they appreciate me...way too overwhelming for words!

He was a quiet dude.  He is the size of a kindergartener but he will be 10 years old in June.  The swim trunks I got him didn't even come close and I gave my pair to the director and they were like clown pants on him...we found them both shorts though and were good to go.  We played all day!  Wore me out!  There was a huge playground and we did it all.  Then we played soccer forever, several times!  We drew, he labeled my animal cards in KiSwahilli, looked at pictures...he loved them! and knew the names of the girls and you.  We played Uno and another card game I took...Justine and My Peace loved both card games and were a little competitive!  So much fun.  The gifts were perfect, even the little cars which he rolled all over the place.

Also found out some new information on him.  The director brought his medical and writing log.  I found out he has a brother who is 7 and a sister who is 4.  His mother is also 8 months pregnant.  The father left them after getting the mother pregnant.  He is not Masi (which is a tribe that picks a different wife to be with each night) he just "abandoned" the family.  He has picked a new wife and is living with her.  So Waryoba no longer has a father...he left without a care for them.

On a funny note, the second picture we recieved from him wasn't him.

I showed them and asked who the woman was and it turns out it is a different Waryoba in the center.  That would explain why he looks different and has never mentioned the baby the woman is holding.

Oops!  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to recognize him, but when I saw his face I knew right away.  He didn't seem to know how to hug, but I hugged him anyway and told him it was what I did when my heart was happy.

The director is an amazing man.  He played with us all day like a kid and laughed the whole time, the joy of christ in a grown man...I loved him!  I will be writing him seperatly just to encourage him.  He also took a video with the camera they have of the center.  He walked through the whole thing and had kids there to say "Hello Mr Thomas, God Bless You"  so cool.  He also had video of Waryoba's house and mother.  he use to live in a mud one when the father was around, but the village has moved them in with another family since he left them.

He is in a concrete room now, but has nothing on the floor, 1 window that is just and open hole and 1 door that is just an open hole...he kept telling me how unsafe it was and that "it is bad"  bugs, animals, and thieves can come in at anytime.  The videos were so thoughtful and so amazing.  He is going to try to put them on a cd and send them to me, along with an English to kiswahilli book to teach me.  I told him the next time I came back I wanted to speak to him one-on-one.  the director also invited me right up the center next time to see everything for myself.  So...we're coming back.

They really seemed to know Ella.  They knew her pictures and her name.

The director told me how to say her name in Kiswahilli and I asked him to say it on video.  So when I put the camera on him he went into a 2 minute talk saying hello to you and Samantha and Ella and saying how much they love you and pray for you..then told Ella how to say zebra and her name.  My favorite picture or video so far!  He also said that he sees in the pictures I send of her and the way I talk about her that I treat her with great respect.  He saw in the picture of the first day of school where I got down next to her that I got down to her level and didn't stand next to her putting the the adult above and making her look up to speak with me.  He has started doing this now...When he speaks to a child he gets on their level, he thanked me for teaching him through the pictures...I didn't know what to say.

My interaction was not the same as everyone's.  Some had crying goodbyes and constant hugs and others just sat together.  I have been praying to take joy in the way God has made me and the way that I relate to people.

Tomorrow we go to another center to see a group of kids (candy and sticker give away time) and do some service work.  I am hoping to plant another tree.  Love that I planted a tree that will be growing in Africa!  After that I drive to a new hotel to get ready for Safari on Friday, then friday night we drive back to this hotel.  Should be exahausting.  This means, however, that I most likel will not get to write again...I will be traveling.  I will try Friday night after we get back to this hotel, but I have no idea what time that will be.

Safari is 3 hours away. 

On Saturday we go to the local center to see what the weekly learning and activites are and then we drive right to the airport.

Loving You Stronger Each Day,

Thomas