Steveboyy's Dream of Duluth Artwork NOW AVAILABLE on T-Shirts

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG POST IS TO SELL SHIRTS

to raise money for  STEVEBOYYI. 

I first met Steveboyy Makubuya in early 2017. He'd been sponsored by a church in our region to visit on a temporary visa. Despite the inhospitable Northern Minnesota weather, he fell in love with our city. A talented young artist with a wide grin and big heart, he's currently back in Kampala, Uganda, but he dreams of Duluth.

Multiple shirt styles and colors to choose from.

Those who read his story here may recall that he has no knowledge of who his parents were or when his birthday was. He didn't even have a name. He was found on a sidewalk when nine months old, raised for several years in an orphanage until the children's home closed when he was in his teens.

Since returning to Kampala he has been helping occasionally at an orphanage run by Idah Menanghe where he is much loved by the children.

EdNote: IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP FEED ORPHANS whose needs are real, but you don't know who you can trust or where to give, I can tell you how to make a contribution that makes a difference.
EdNote 2: These kids love Steveboyyi. He's also helped paint buildings there and make art with these children.

 One more time:

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG POST 

IS TO SELL SHIRTS

WITH STEVE'S ART ON IT

WITH THE HOLIDAYS COMING, THESE SHIRTS CAN MAKE GOOD GIFTS FOR FRIENDS, FAMILY, CHILDREN OR EVEN GRANDCHILDREN. Or if you get Christmas money from home, you can buy one for yourself. The shirts come in several styles, with the singular artwork by Steveboyyi. Here's the Link at BONFIRE.

If you would rather donate directly to Steveboyyi's Youth Outreach: Read more about this initiative. Follow this link: Go Fund Me: Dream of Duluth

The T-shirt art was designed by Steveboyyi Makubuya. His first love is making art and he has become quite skilled at it.

HERE'S THE BOTTOM LINE
We need to sell 25 shirt in the next 19 days in order for Bonfire to print any. Please share this post with your friends.

Related Links
Local Art Scene: Moira and Steveboyyi
Nobody's Child
Bonfire URL: https://www.bonfire.com/dream-of-duluth-uganda/?fbclid=IwAR27WnrbZeRSyinUPAG6f0OW_nPfw2L5rfJHOWDn8VNQw_A6_F3xwA46M_k

Make a Difference. Buy a Shirt!

Would You Like to Help Paint an Orphanage? Help Feed Children In Uganda?

Idah Mhangye (center) when Santa visited Samaritan's Way last year.

In early 2017 I was introduced to a young man who at the age of nine months was left on a sidewalk so that he never knew his parents. He was raised at an orphanage in Uganda. When the orphanage closed in his teen years, he lived a foraging kind of life near a university. His soccer skills were quite developed so that he received a scholarship there. He had also became skilled at drawing and painting, which drew him to my own attention when he was here in the Northland. Cheerful and gregarious, Steveboyyi won a lot hearts while he was here. Had there been no home to take him in, he would have certainly perished.

Samaritan's Way, 2017. (Click to enlarge)

There is much brokenness in the world, but those who suffer most are often orphans, people with disabilities, vulnerable women and the elderly.

The visit from Santa warmed many hearts. (Click to enlarge)

We in America are often forgetful of how blessed we have been and unaware of how even our smallest gifts can make an enormous impact in a Third World culture. It was through Steveboyyi, who is now back in Kampala, Uganda, that I learned of an orphanage run by the Hon. Idah Mehangye. A Graduate Teacher by profession, Idah has briefly studied at Oxford and in India, and served in the 7th Parliament of Uganda for 5 years (2001-2006), Representing Kamwenge District. She was later appointed Resident District Commissioner (RDC), by the President for 5 years, 2006-2011.

Her passion to help women and children, especially the vulnerable like the orphans, led her to start Samaritans Way Kindergarten four years ago with the help of her family. The support for this orphanage comes from her husband Henry and their six children. "A few friends chip in once in a while," she says, with gratitude.

When I asked Idah for details on the children's home and how they are funded she replied, "We have 45 children between three and six years. We currently have no regular revenue source or specific funding." As indicated, family and friends have helped support the Orphanage.

"Others are very welcome to contribute by supporting with regular funding for food and general upkeep; and by supporting or sponsoring individual children," she said, adding, "We also would appreciate regular Prayers for the Orphanage."

Samaritan's Way is not affiliated with a larger bureaucracy so that whatever money is sent will go directly to the children and Samaritan's Way, minus cost of sending.

When I sent a note to Idah that I was writing this blog post she thought some additional info might be helpful.

Two things you may want to know. One is what inspired me to start an Orphanage. My sister Margaret's husband died of HIV/AIDS. Margaret died six months later. They left two young girls. Henry and I took them on. I realized that there are many such helpless orphans who need help, especially education to enable them live to their full potential. Thus we started the home.

The second thing is our biggest challenges are food for the kids, plus rent and general upkeep of the kids including health care. This does not include stationery, utilities, overhead costs or staff emoluments.

PAINTING PROJECT
What triggered me to want to create this blog post was a desire to raise funds for a painting project. There is a need to paint some areas of the children's home. Steveboyyi has volunteered to do the work, so all we need is $200 for paint. But to be quite frank, I would not want to see the buildings look nice and have the children hungry, and you probably feel the same, so I don't know what to say here. If you wish to designate funds for food or medical needs, great!

Essentially I am pointing out a need. These kinds of needs are everywhere. Maybe some of you reading this have wanted to give in a manner that you know makes a difference, but aren't sure how. As I've gotten to know Idah and Steveboyyi, I can tell you the needs are real and none of the money will go to accountants and organizations with staff folk driving fancy cars.

SEED THOUGHT
If you are a member of a church, you may wish to bring Samaritan's Way to the attention of your Mission Board. A small contribution goes a long ways.  (Am hoping this seed will find some good soil!)

If you want to get connected, send me a note: ennyman3 AT gmail DOT com
or you may also contact Idah directly to Idah Mehangye idah.mehangye AT gmail DOT com

Thanks for reading, and sharing this post with your friends.

Horror Story, continued

Continued from previous post.

To see what is really happening in any situation requires going beyond the surface of things. The orphanage management maintained a front that allowed outsiders the opportunity to paint their own picture. The smiling faces of the children were your first encounter, but the bright eyes and happy faces concealed much of their real stories. Visitors did not readily notice the unsafe bare electrical wires in many places where kids would get shocks... or the nightmares, or Lolita the mongoloid child lying in her own filth covered with flies, or the trash, frogs and children’s toys in the well.

But Dr. John became concerned and later alarmed by what we could not see, and in an effort to learn the true health status of the children he brought another contingent of student doctors to the clinic to examine the children, including the Bible school students this time. I’ve already mentioned we had near 120 children and 25-30 Bible school students. Here were the results from the 157 tests that they performed.

123 cases of amoebas
13 instances of tapeworm
7 instances of protozoa, giardia lambia
5 cases of whipworm
6 cases of roundworm
3 incidents of pinworm

These results are not the horror story.

Dr. John outlined for me a course of treatment for these manifold internal maladies. He said that all the medicines would be provided free, but we would have to administer them ourselves.

That afternoon, I brought his notes to Wyman, the head of the orphanage and presented the results of the tests, noting that the medical follow up required would take about two months of giving shots three times a week.

Wyman’s eyes glazed over as he slid into a far off expression staring into the distance. Without looking at me directly, he replied, “I’ve always thought we needed more dorm space. Maybe we should get rid of that clinic and put more kids in there.” This statement, this revelation of what was inside the director of the orphanage, is our horror story.

There were three couples from the U.S. serving/assisting at the orphanage at that time, along with a half dozen Mexican staff employed as dorm parents, plus Juan and his wife, who did the cooking. Susie and I met with the other Americans to determine a course of action. After a time of prayer, I returned to Wyman to present the case a second time, stating that we ourselves would give all the shots and he would have no responsibility. A second time, he denied that there was a problem.

By day’s end I made a third appeal. Finally, he conceded that it would be good to administer medicine to the children. We had permission to proceed.

In short order, we began treatment. My parents visited during that summer and even my mom gave a slew of shots for a few days. I was the guy who handled the “tough cases.” About eight of the kids, including a couple of the Bible school students, required special handling… they did not like getting poked with a needle. I was the “point man” in these cases, making sure they got the point (of the needle).

Despite small successes in getting the meds administered, septic systems fixed, electrical system re-wired, screens on the cafeteria windows, church building re-roofed and buildings painted, the reality was that nothing had changed in the management. Promises made were quickly broken, and we were too young to see the craziness of it all with much clarity. Everything is easy in retrospect, of course. But the process of sorting which occurred when we returned to the States did give us a deeper understanding of ourselves, the structurally impaired belief systems we’d embraced, and the motivation to get a better handle on who we were and what we were about.

Our hearts go out to the needy children of this world… There is much brokenness, disease and despair out there, due to a host of cultural complexities. It’s not enough to just send money though, not when human hearts are hurting.

As always, much more can be said about that. I was just trying to give you a glimpse of an incident that might reveal one of the formative experiences in my life, that year in Mexico. And maybe sometime when we have a little time, you can ask me for details. Next time, I’ll begin with the rat story.

Horror Story

In 1980-81 Susie and I worked at an orphanage in Mexico called Casa de Ninos, which means House of Children. The children’s home housed approximately 120 kids ages three to fifteen, and a small Bible school of thirty or so muchachos y muchachas. The experience put our zealous youthful ideals to the test.

Mexico, being a Socialist country, provides health care to the rural poor by means of clinics staffed by student doctors. There was a clinic on the grounds of the orphanage which by good fortune was staffed by an English speaking, compassionate man from Pennsylvania. Unlike many of his predecessors, he remained faithful to the needs of the community and our orphans for the duration of his term.

To Dr. John, there were clearly health concerns present here at the children’s home. He soon became aware of a full assortment of external signs of dismal hygiene, much of which we had taken for granted being in the midst of it. We were fully aware of the shockingly bad conditions for the kids, many of whom lacked shoes (“They’ll just lose them”) despite the inoperable septic systems with raw sewage spewing on the ground in a stream that ran past a cafeteria with no screens.

One day the good student doctor brought a team of fellow students to evaluate the children. Dressed in white lab coats, they examined 117 children. According to my notes, on June 15, 1981 there were:
87 children with BCG
Pediculosis capitas, 66
Pina de cabeza, 29
Tina de los pies, 27
Pitriosis alba, 26
Onicomicosis, 9
Dermatitis seborreica, 8
Piodermitis, 7
Verrugas vulgares, 7
Tina de cuerpo, 6
and another 20 conditions with various names on individual children or pairs, along with seven instances of a positive reaction to TB tests.

But this was not the dark day. The darkest day was yet to come.

Much To Be Grateful For

We take so much for granted. Hence there is value each year on Thanksgiving day to reflect on how much we have to be thankful for. Friends, family, loved ones, a home, a job. It is a good tradition to make a list, to write it down. Writing forces you to clarify even further, and this process makes you even more appreciative.

But if you are an American, when you have finished your list you will have still not recorded some things that are so basic, so part of our lives, yet we take them for granted. One way to deepen your appreciation for how good you have it is to visit an impoverished Third World nation.

We did not do such a thing this week, but we did go there in pictures when the son of a friend of ours shared photos from his recent nine day trip to a slum called Cite Soleil outside Port au Prince. Having lived in Puerto Rico and Mexico, I have seen slums. But I'd not seen anything that closely compared to this (except perhaps some very poor sections of Mexico City.)

The shanty towns stretched far as your eye could see. No yards, no electricity, no running water, disease infested stenchwater and muck all through the streets, makeshift homes of corrugated steel and miscellaneous scrap materials, and death. One in four children never see their fifth birthday. Reality is grim, and hope is difficult to imagine.

Haiti is the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere. For a bed, many people sleep on cardboard. AIDS is rampant. Food is lacking. And for most, even if you want to work there are no jobs. What is there to look forward to?

Without electricity, if you had as cell phone, there would be no way to re-charge the battery. No microwave ovens. No way to read this blog post because you would not have internet access, or a computer. Was that a mosquito bite or a malaria infection you just received?

The mission of The Haiti Orphans Project is to improve the lives of orphaned children in Haiti by providing medical care, access to education and equal access to basic services. If you wish to do more than "give thanks" you can visit their website and see what a few handfuls of good people are doing out on the front lines where poverty reigns.

http://www.haitiorphansproject.org/haiti/english/home88.html