Busia - Day 2

We stayed overnight at a hotel on the shores of Lake Victoria. We had breakfast on the lake. In the background, you can see the mountains of Kenya.

The local fishermen were out on the lake.

This is Humphrey. Last summer, he had just buried both of his parents. At 15, he was the man of the house and it was his responsibility to care for his 5 brothers and 1 sister. Ben and Melody promised that they would find him a sponsor. Since the sponsorship, all the brothers and the sister are in school (except for the youngest) and they eat two meals a day instead of one. We were privileged to be a part of the return visit. I had met Humphrey yesterday at the GFR office. What struck me about him then was how serious he was and the lack of smile he had. Using an interpreter, Melody interviewed Humphrey. This interview will be posted in the next few weeks. I would encourage you to watch it. While we were at the compound, the brothers started playing football (soccer to Americans) with an old taped up ball. We returned to the bus and retrieved one of the balls we had with us and the game was on. Even Humphrey joined in. It was good to see him laughing and smiling. For just a few moments, he could forget about his responsibility and be a kid.

This is JJ holding Humphrey’s youngest brother. He is sick and it is suspected that he was born with HIV. Both the parents died of HIV.


All the monkeys aren’t in the zoo, every day you see quite a few. Luke and one of the brothers climbing a tree.

This is a daily reminder about the harsh life in Uganda. This is the grave of Humphrey’s father. His mother is buried next to him. The graves are part of the family compound.

Two more of the brothers giving Luke and Mike a ride.

Another one of my highlights - Debbie, Taylor and I received our African names and clan. This is Julius Onyango. He is the local pastor for this area. He bestowed our names upon us. My name is Egesa which means Harvest or bringer of the Harvest. My clan is the Omukomolo. Julis is of the same clan and since I am older, this makes him my son. Mom – now you have the preacher in the family you always wanted.

Debbie’s name is Buheeri which means Beloved. She is of the clan Natabona. This is the ruling clan of the area so she is now a princess. Katherine (our local representative) is also of the same clan so she and Debbie are sisters. Taylor’s name is Erumbi which means Season after the Harvest or the Season of Celebration. I wasn’t sure about her clan so I will have to post that later.

Our last stop of the day was to meet two extremely needy families that do not yet have a sponsor. This family had just recently had their house burn down. Their situation is one of desperation.

This family is also in distress. Both parents have died. The Grandfather and Grandmother are trying to care for the children ranging from age 20 to less than one (see next picture). This family needs two sponsorships because it is so large.

We took up a collection to try and meet the immediate need and give them hope until sponsors could be found. We gave 50,000 schillings to the first family and 90,000 schillings to the second family. We prayed with the mother and the grandparents. Both families praised God and gave glory to Him. We told them that this money was from us because God provided for us and He commands us to care for the poor and needy. As Christ loves us, so we love them. It was both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. It was a fitting end to our first village trip.

We started the long bus ride home. As I started reflecting on the events of the last two days, I had mixed emotions. I was so glad I came but saddened by the thought that no matter what we do, there is always more that can be done. I thought of Humphrey and his brothers and sister. I started thinking about what it cost to send them to school. I asked Katherine about the costs and she told me it costs about $80/year for primary school and $200/year for secondary school ($300/year if you cannot commute daily). You have to buy a uniform, books, paper and pencils. You also get a lunch with the fee. When you consider that a monthly sponsorship is $768/yr that does not leave much for food and medicine. Four are in primary and one in secondary. That is $520/year or almost two thirds of the sponsorship for school.

So much need – can you help? If you can – please contact Global Family Rescue (info@globalfamilyrescue.org) or http://www.globalfamilyrescue.org/ and go to CONTACT.