A speedy half yearly update from the Mansons

It's been almost 8 months since we landed back into beautiful Uganda. This is a quick update on whats been happening behind the scenes! 

1) The work: On arrival we were thrown straight into the work trying to get Tutapona's trauma counselling program established in the North of Uganda with some of the 60,000 refugees who had recently arrived in December/January from South Sudan. With God's help we were able to get into a partnership with another NGO called LWF who started funding our work up there and Tim had a big part to play in this. Down South, we've been working in Nakivale Refugee Settlement (this camp has been open 60 years) with some of the 70,000 refugees there from Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. In the time we've been here we've been able to double our staff and reach and the response from our beneficiaries has been overwhelmingly positive. We're currently in the middle of some talks for exciting partnership opportunities which could see our work rapidly expand in the second half of this year. Helen has been working alongside the team to help them in their Marketing and Communications. We signed up to do Live Below the Line USA and pulled in $15,000 for Tutapona in a week! With a fresh re-brand complete and a strategic plan almost finished, the second half of the year will see her focusing on fundraising grants. In addition, Helen's been working with her beloved TEAR Fund and Compassion in media, writing and photography. 

2) Our life: Up until the beginning of July we've been living out of our suitcases and moving houses every few weeks. The house we had arranged before we moved here didn't end up coming available until a few weeks ago. We're thrilled to finally be in a stable home (most of the time). Each month still sees us travelling to Kampala and Tim travelling 12 hours North for the Adjumani part of our work. Each day Tim is at the camp (an hour away) while Helen works from home with the house taken care of by our amazing house-helper, Sophie! While the year is going far too quickly, we have found ourselves stretched to our limits a few times due to the unrelenting and overwhelming nature of our work and the long adoption process. Helen's also started a playgroup/bible study for Congolese Mum's in the refugee camp which keeps her busy on Saturdays. We've recently had Helen's family visiting and have Tim's parents coming this Sunday. 

3) Hope: Speaking of Hope, the most exciting news for us this year has been the arrival of our miracle daughter! We wrote a blog about her. The journey to adoption here in Uganda is a long, bureaucratic, emotionally exhausting process that takes every spare ounce of both our energies to undertake. We're committed to seeing it through. 

Please remember to keep us in your prayers and that we love hearing from you.

Love,

Us three!
xox

Some wise words...

"To become neighbours is to bridge the gap between people. As long as there is distance between us and we cannot look in each other's eyes, all sorts of false ideas and images arise. We give them names, make jokes about them, cover them with our prejudices, and avoid direct contact. We think of them as enemies. We forget that they love as we love, care for their children as we care for ours, become sick and die as we do. We forget that they are our brothers and sisters and treat them as objects that can be destroyed at will.

Only when we have the courage to cross the street and look in one another's eyes can we see there that we are children of the same God and members of the same human family." 

Henri Nouwen Society

HOME: Inside a refugee settlement 50 years young

For a refugee or victim of war, home is a loaded word. It's one that carries with it mixed emotions of nostalgia, pain, hope and unspeakable loss.

Yes, there are places here in Uganda where it's all white UNHCR tents, truckload after truckload of bursting buses carrying helpless defeated people into a new country and people stampeeding for their daily food. But long after the dramatic newsworthy images appear and the media roll on out what's left?

People.

Humans just like us starting from the ashes and rebuilding their lives. Filled with hopes and dreams they have little to no idea what the future holds. So what happens after the emergency phase is over? What happens after a year, two years, ten or even fifty? What happens when your country is at war  - all the time. When you're too scared to go home for fear of what or who/what will/wont be there anymore.

For many of the people we work with, the camp becomes home.

Welcome to Nakivale Refugee Settlement in South Western Uganda. It is here we find ourselves working with over 65,000 refugees mainly from the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. It's not rare to find children whose grandparents lived here, parents met here and who were then born and raised here.

In honor of refugee week - come with me on a photo journey into life 50 years on.

With over 65,000 refugees living in Nakivale the spectrum goes from babies born here last week to Grandmas that fled from Rwanda in the 1950s. There are many incredible organisations that work alongside these vulnerable people from Samiratans Purse to LWF to Windle Trust. Together we work with people that have lost everything and have next to nothing.

It is here the organisation we work for, Tutapona ,operates to bring emotional healing. By doing group trauma counselling village by village our local staff are able to start working on the trauma and sheer devastation many of our beneficiaries have gone through. We start with the invisible in hopes that the freedom of being able to sleep through the night, forgive for the first time and not have nightmares moves from the inside out into a hope for the future.

A thrill of Hope

In early February this year God dropped a miracle into our arms in the form of our first born child. Originally named ‘Precious’ she was and continues to be just that. It is our great honour and privilege to officially introduce you to her today.  We figured the easiest way to answer the questions you may have would be here on our blog.

What does her name mean?

Hope means "to want something to happen or be true and think that it could happen or be true, a feeling of cherished expecation and desire for a certain thing to happen". This sums up how we feel about her! We've also named her after our Ugandan sponsor daughter.

Selah means "to pause and calmfly reflect on these things." This word is found in the Bible a lot. We feel it is important for us (and her) to reflect on the goodness of God in getting us this far.

Kyomuwendo is the Ugandan name she came to us with. It means something precious, valuable, of great worth.  

What’s her story?
Her story is just that. Hers. And until the day she’s old enough to decide if she wants to share it, that’s where it will stay. Suffice to say that she has a beautiful story with God’s fingerprint all over it.

Did you move to Uganda knowing about her?

No. We had nine minutes to prepare for something most people have 9 months for! Thankfully our friends here in Uganda have been a HUGE support and our family and friends in New Zealand are second to none. We would not be here without their prayers and encouragement. On the other hand, the concept of adoption was not a spur of the moment decision but rather one that we have been praying about for 10 years as a couple.

How old was she when you started taking care of her?

Hope was approximately six days old when we started taking care of her. Today she is 4.5 months old and she is a vivacious, spirited, delightful little girl who thrills our heart every day.

Why are you only introducing her to us now?

In Uganda there needs to be a full investigation into the background of any child up for adoption. We wanted to respect this process. In addition, the journey has been an exhausting one. Becoming parents at such short notice has been exciting, stressful, overwhelming and the best thing ever all at once. One of the more difficult things we’ve had to face so far is the uncertainty. We still walk that fine line and will do all the way to full adoption.

Are you still working for Tutapona full time?

Yes, we are both still working for Tutapona full time. Helen is the Communications Manager and Tim is the Programmes Coordinator. We are lucky to have a house helper for the day to day running of the house that then enables Helen to work and take care of Hope.

Will you be posting about your journey to adoption on this blog?

Not really. There are lots of blogs out there that deal with that sort of thing but that’s not for us right now. We will share cute snaps from time to time just like any Mama and Papa.

Why do you keep mentioning God?

We feel really strongly that without God helping us this absolutely wouldn’t have been possible and without his continued help it won’t be either.  The bureaucracy and corruption here is overwhelming and keeping our head above water is something we are committed to. We’ve seen God do the impossible and we owe it all to him!  "Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with youl were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare!" Psalm 40:5 

What's next?

Right now we’re at the beginning of a long and complicated process to adopt her and we plan on following all of the Ugandan laws to do so. If you think of us, we would so appreciate your prayers for our journey. 

Isaiah 55:13 “…This will be for the Lord’s renown…”

With love,
Us three xox

Love is on the Way

Last week I was asked to photograph the Daughters of Destiny event at Watoto Church Central with guest speaker Bobbie Houston. Here's the story and some images from the event.

 

Hot on the heels of last night’s electric Big Party here in Uganda, the women of the city gathered together for a special edition Daughters of Destiny event this afternoon at Watoto Church Central. Heralding all the way from Sydney, Australia, Pastor Bobbie Houston is the Senior Pastor of popular Hillsong Church and a long-time friend of Watoto Ministries.

A tangible sense of excitement steadily built as the venue packed out with thousands of African women ready to sing God’s praises and hear his word. Women of all ages, tribes and tongues crowded the venue in such huge numbers there were hundreds standing around the edges and filling the choir seats on the stage!

Starting with incredible praise and worship led by the Watoto Church team, Marilyn then got down on her knees as a sign of respect to the woman “without whom we would not be here today”. Introducing Bobbie Houston brought the congregation to their feet before she began to share her sermon, Love is on the Way. Bobbie shared with the thousands of women in attendance about the importance of grace in our everyday lives. In trusting a God who is always for us. In speaking grace to the tough situations we face in our lives. “God is in our Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. He’s in our March, April and December too”. Event attendee and Watoto babies home volunteer, Annette Carey, said; “What an afternoon. I feel encouraged, uplifted and inspired”.  All the women left with a spring in their step into the warm dry breeze covering the city.
We hope you can join us next time!

 

 

This Single Minute Of Jim Carrey’s Speech May Change Your Life....

Jim Carrey delivered a very inspiring commencement speech to Maharishi University of Management’s class of 2014. He reveals how his late father inspired him to follow his dreams.