Back home in Gulu

What a great homecoming we received on arrival to St. Monica's on Sunday night! The sisters sang us a beautiful welcome and prepared a beautiful meal. It was so great to see everyone again.

Over the past few days to see the unfolding of the Tree of Wisdom project. On Monday, we had a meeting with the 3 people who are in charge of following the children. They had great reports. The children are for the most part thriving and doing well in school. Mr. Komakec who follows our 61 orphans in Atiak has been meeting with the children every Sunday. How nice to see his initiative! They gather together and talk about different topics and share community and belonging. The basic thing these children lack. Tomorrow we will travel to Atiak to see some of their schools, meet the children and get a general assessment. This Sunday we have planned a great celebration with the children there. We will start with Mass, then have lunch, a gathering and medical assessments. We plan to take balls and other toys that can be left there so when the children gather they can play together. Thanks to the generosity of many, we are able to give each of the children their own toy to take home, toothbrushes and toothpaste. I can't wait to meet these children, hear their stories, give them hugs from everyone back home and see their smiling faces.

During this week at St. Monica's I have had the joy every day of meeting some of Tree of Wisdom children and their guardians each day. Many of the guardians are now employed at St. Monica's so it has become the focal point for them. The children are adorable and so appreciative of having the chance to go to school. Most of them are very small for their ages due to long term malnutrition, but they are now happy and hopeful. Patrick is a boy who we wrote about on the website. He is a 7 year old orphan who was brought to St. Monica from Atiak where he was living with his aunts, working as a child laborer, and basically starving to death. He is now happy and thriving. The nuns are his new family--they love him and he loves them. He has been with them since November and none of his family members have inquired about him. I am amazed at the impact that TOW is having on these children. My gratitude goes out to all who have participated. I feel blessed to get to experience it first hand.

Afoyo matek! (Thank you very much!)

P.S. Sorry about the technical difficulties. Ugandan computers!!!