Don't miss the Beauty of Africa for the poverty of Africa...

Today our team went to Masese.  Those of you that have read the book Kisses from Katie are familiar with the village of Masese.  For those of you that are not familiar I will give you a little background.  The village of Masese is home to the Karimojong tribe, they are from northern Uganda and have been relocated to 15 minutes outside of Jinga on the side of a hill.  Despite the breathtakingly beautiful view from the village unimaginable poverty, illness, and disease are rampant in this village.  The land that these people live on is owned by the government and they are not allowed to farm to feed their family, which only adds to the problems faced by these people.  It is estimated that 250 out of every 1,000 Karimojong babies die before their 5th birthday.  82% of the population lives below the poverty line.  To say that these people are poor, is an understatement. 

As we drove into Masese the first thing that struck me, as with most other villages in Uganda, is the overwhelming amount of children.  These children are, for the most part, ecstatic to see a van full of "muzungu" (white people). 

They come in droves to greet us, small children carrying smaller children on their backs.  With nothing but their arms.  Hundreds of smiling faces, all screaming muzungu, and fighting to touch us and hold our hands.

We were given a tour of the village by one of Sera's boys, Pascal.  Pascal is from Masese and still has some family that lives there.  As we walked the streets of Masese we continued to be surrounded by children and showered with kisses and hugs.

Below, Leon walks hand in hand with some of the village children.  

As with most Ugandan children, they love to have their picture taken and to be shown their picture.

  

 For some of them, it may be the first time they have ever seen their own reflection.

Many of these children have various diseases, sores, or ailments.  This girl wanted to see us so badly she was walking through the trash filled streets limping because of a sore on her foot.  When I picked her up she buried her face in my sleeve and cried.  

Children always love JaJa (grandma) Jodi. 

Auntie Ashlee sitting with a group of kids, they love to touch our white skin

Don being greeted by an elderly village woman

A picture of the streets of Masese

Gary and his friends that he made during our trip

Debbie meeting an elderly villager and several children

Melvena walking with some of the children

The kids loved JaJa Leon

Superman Gary giving the kids rides on his arms

Team members touring the village

JaJa Don (aka Captain D) holding hands with the a child

As we got ready to leave the children flocked to us to get one last glimpse of the muzungus 

We ended the day with some fellowship with our friends Robert and Sarah.  They are the founders of Fountain of Hope School.  

The men went to a men's fellowship breakfast at their house Wednesday morning and noticed that their toilet seat was broken.  There was also a slight accident resulting in a few broken glasses while they were there.  We surprised them by replacing those items!  They were very grateful!

Below is a picture of Jeff, a team member of Next Generation Ministries, and his wife Lyzette.  Lyzette is 7 months pregnant with their 3rd child and has recently developed some serious complications and has been admitted into the hospital.  We would like you all to pray for strength for Lyzette, baby Hunter, and Jeff.  Also for wisdom for the doctors who are treating her.