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Our first His Hands for Africa team trip was took place from May 25 - June 4, 2007. Since this was our first trip to East Africa, just 2 team members made this trip.
Our primary purpose on this trip was to establish a partnership with Shalom Ministries in East Africa, which is led by Pastor Stephen Bamuleke. Our other objective was to begin the His Hands for Africa Child Sponsorship Program by gathering information on the first children to be put into the program.  (left) Pastor Stephen Bamuleke interviewing a student being enrolled in the Child Sponsorship Program.  (right) Pastor Ernest Hategeka, assistant to Pastor Bamuleke, helping to interview children in Ggaba, Uganda. The process of gathering the children's information consists of a personal interview of the child, the child being measured and then a photograph is taken of the child. The following photos show just exactly what is involved.   (above, below and at right) Children being interviewed by Pastor Bamo and Jamie   After the interview is finished, the child moves on to the measuring area. Their height and weight measurements are recorded, their body measurements are taken to determine their clothing size and their feet are measured to determine their shoe size.   (above and below)Philip and Jamie taking the children's measurements      Once the measurements are complete, the child is photographed.    All of this activity usually draws an audience - note the children looking through the windows at their friend who is being photographed! (photo left)  Of course, it takes a while to go through this whole process child by child which means each child spends a long time waiting until it's their turn.   Time spent sitting around or waiting in line....  ...or playing with their friends!  We appreciate the patience of the children and their families while we gather this important information. We pray that each one will find a sponsor! Going to all these different communities requires a lot of traveling around through all sorts of different places!  The crowded, busy streets of Kampala...  ...some small roadside shops in rural Uganda...  ...even past wildlife near the national forests...  ...or in the middle of downtown Ggaba...  ...while trying to adjust our brains to driving on the other side of the road! Along the way we met some wonderful people!   (above) Pastor Bamo, Philip, Jamie and Pastor Bamo's wife, Siriaka (right) Jennifer and Julia - 2 beautiful young girls from Kabale   (above left) A Rwandan police officer who flagged us down looking to hitch a ride! (above right) The family of one of the young boys put into the Sponsorship Program   (above) Beautiful African children! (right) Philip and a young girl named "Miracle" - a name which accurately described this first trip to Africa for us! All this travelling also meant having meetings "on the fly" so to speak - wherever and whenever we could.  Pastor Ernest, Pastor Bamo and Philip in a meeting outside our hotel in Kampala  Pastor John Rudasumbwa, Pastor Samuel Ndahimana, Pastor Bamo and Philip in an impromptu meeting in Kigali We also visited the clinic in Goma, DR Congo which is run by the Shalom Church there.
 Goma is a very difficult place to live due to many different factors, not the least of which is its proximity to an active volcano which erupted in 2002 sending lava through 1/3 of the city. The needy people in this city desperatly need the services of this clinic which the clinic will provide regardless of the patient's ability (or inability) to pay.  (right) The clinic's pharmacy - they do the best they can with their meager resources  (left) The clinic also serves as a birthing center - this room is their delivery room. Notice the latex exam gloves drying on the line behind the nurse. Due to a lack of resources they are obliged to wash and reuse these gloves.  (right) This little one had just been born at the clinic the day we visited.  (left) The clinic also provides some lab services. The nurse is holding their ancient microscope which serves as their only piece of lab equipment. (below) The lab table  The staff of this clinic are doing the best they can to serve the people of Goma with the limited resources they have. This clinic was in existence during the Rwandan genocide and treated untold numbers of Rwandan refugees who fled into Goma during that terrible time. In Rwanda, we visited the Kigali Memorial Centre - a museum which was built to remember those who were killed during the horrors of the Rwandan Genocide - as well as the Mille Collines Hotel made famous by the movie "Hotel Rwanda".
All in all it was an incredibly blessed first trip to Africa and we look forward to the good works God has for us in support of our new partner, Pastor Stephen Bamuleke, in the countries of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We will leave you here with some of our favorite photos from this trip.     
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