My First ‘Outreach’ Day…

I feel like it’s been a big day.

After a few hours of waiting for everyone to be ready, a team of 3 Doctor’s, a PR Coordinator and 2 of us volunteers piled into a Land Cruiser and took off from the NGO center around noon today. We were destined for a community about an hour away, somewhere very close to the Kenyan border. I was told we were going to do outreach in a town called Magale and that there would be around 150 people coming from surrounding communities and villages to a central location where the NGO visits once a month to provide a variety of services for HIV/AIDS clients.

When we arrived there were a few hundred men, women and children of all ages, divided up in very casual but nonetheless organized fashion. Some were sitting on the grass awaiting a meeting with a counselor; others were in shade under a huge tree awaiting their name to be called; a group were sitting on the front steps of a building awaiting their monthly supply of ART’s; there were crowds at the 2 entrances of one building awaiting a visit with a Doctor. In a large open field there were many small groups gathered around brown bags and boxes that were stamped with ‘USA - Not To Be Sold Or Exchanged’ on them. The boxes contained 4 x 4 Ltr jugs of ‘Refined Vegetable Oil – Vitamin A Fortified’ . Every 55 Lb bag, some marked ‘USA Corn Meal’ some ‘USA Soya Meal’ was being opened and blended on site to produce ‘CSB’ (corn soya blend). I realized that I was right in the middle of food distribution to people on ART’s who are presently too weak and sick to provide food for themselves and their families.






While I and the other muzungu volunteer sat watching for a time, children started to gather round us, behind us, looking curious, wanting to say hello, often too shy to hold eye contact for longer than a second. Finally, I turned around and slowly approached a group of boys sitting on the grass. I crouched down, extended my hand a little and said ‘Hello, my name is Catherine’. They immediately burst into big time laughter… and so did I! We tried to communicate, laughing together more than saying any words, but of course, laughing together IS saying lots! I remembered that I had my laminated ‘world map’ with me so I got it out and a whole group of children and I sat on the grass and figured out where Uganda and Canada are! It was great fun!



The day progressed and at one point I was introduced to an employee of the NGO who started to share with me his story. Diagnosed HIV positive several years ago when his weight had fallen to below 40kg and his CD4 count was below 50 ( as I understand it, a CD4 count is obtained from a blood test and shows the amount of a certain white blood cell that is present in ones blood…a healthy CD4 count is 1200 per micro-litre of blood ) he joined the NGO as a client and started ART’s. Year by year since then, he has gradually increased in weight and overall health to be at the point he is at today, fully functioning, strong and healthy, living positively with HIV/AIDS and helping others who are in his former condition.



As he finished his story and I was congratulating him on his very Blessed and wonderful recovery he pointed to someone behind me and said…’Once, I used to look like him’. I turned around to see a man extremely fragile and weak, sitting on the ground. Watching for a few moments I could see he was deeply sunken into himself, his Spirit seemingly very far away from where his body sat on the grass. My new friend and I approached the man, I knelt down and extended my hand to him. By now, he was lying down in a fetal position. He looked up at me and reached his frail hand out toward me. I took it and held it between my two hands said hello and told him my name. He looked directly in my eyes and slowly, carefully he said ‘Thank you for being here, for taking time to be with me’. I’m quite sure I gasped a breath. In that second, he was using his vanishing energy to thank ME…

How do I write what that felt like? Where are the words to describe that moment?

I told him I Loved him, I told him he is so very special and I, We, are praying for him… We are asking for him to have all the Love, help and care that he needs. Again, he thanked me, he said it was encouraging for him. I repeated ‘I Love You’ and then moved away to allow others who were coming to care for him get close. I learned later that this man, 38 years old, weighed in at 28kg today with a CD4 count of 22.

I went back to the truck to sit quietly for a few minutes. Coming towards me I saw a man with a little girl in a pretty white dress who I had taken a picture for earlier in the day. Together they climbed up through the back doors onto the seat where I was, he picked the little one up and put her on his lap. He said to me ‘I have heard that you met my granddaughter today. She is a good girl, I am asking you to take her with you’.




In a heartbeat I felt inspired and said ‘I can see how she Loves you and how you Love her. You are family for each other and she is meant to be with you’. Hugging her closely he said ‘Yes, she does Love me and I do Love her. Thank you’. We took another picture, I showed it to them and we said goodbye.

As we bounced and swerved our way home a little while later, scenes from the day played over in me. I felt once again a sense of weakness that had washed over me a few times during the day and I questioned my fortitude. I remembered an interview I once saw with Bono. I may have the details somewhat wrong but I think he was being asked something about when he knew he would become involved with helping to uplift the people of Africa and he had replied something like…’it was when a man leaned forward out of a crowd holding his child out to me and said please take her, please give her a life’.

Tonight, among other things, I come to terms with the fact that I now understand a little more about what that means…

Yes, a big day… Thank you for keeping our dying friend, an innocent little girl, her grandfather and me in your heart!

With Love, Catherine

PS…After waking from a restful sleep feeling Peace and Joy in my heart today, I post the message above from yesterday.

Everything being in Perfect and Divine Order I seem to understand more clearly this morning how in life we can all be seen as glorious reflections for each other of ‘great weakness’ and ‘great strength’ or simply ‘great-ness’…



Many Blessings and Love Love Love,
Cath xoxo

Yesterday’s day trip…

I have just returned from an exciting day-long adventure over a remarkably bumpy, deeply rutted dirt road that took me, along with a group of visitors, to a district outside of Mbale. With the beautiful backdrop of the foothills and mountains that surround Mt. Elgon ( the 2’nd highest mountain on the continent?…‘the highest peak being 4321m… and said to have one of the largest surface areas of any extinct volcano in the world’ ) we drove by lowlands where rice is grown, glimpsing men and many women working with picks and hoes, some with babies wrapped to their backs, and through a few small towns where I could see numerous large rectangular ‘tarps’ layed out on the ground with rice drying on them in the hot sun.


After an hour or so, we pulled into a friend’s father’s compound where we were welcomed most warmly. We were quickly whipped back into the vehicle and began a tour of the local community with an emphasis on seeing the schools in the area.

Much like the system in Canada, I understand children start school here around the age of 5. There are 7 primary grades, followed by 6 high school grades. All schools seem to require the children to wear uniforms. Students from different schools in an area are easily identified by the color of tunic style dress the girls wear and shirt that the boys wear. As noted previously, girls are most often required to shave their heads to ‘minimize distraction’. The colors of the primary uniforms are particularly noteworthy, usually very bright, deep colors. I have found it a visually stunning sight to drive by a field and see hundreds of children running and playing, all wearing, say, vibrant purple!

The first school we visited was a high school. Upon arrival we met some of the instructors who teach various subjects including ‘english, math, agriculture, science and geography’. They appeared to be in a meeting or perhaps were on a break…when we found them they were sitting together outdoors in the shade of a large tree. Very gracious and welcoming, the principal toured us briefly around the school, past the science building that houses 3 rooms marked ‘biology’, ‘chemistry’ and ‘physics’ to a classroom that has ‘S3’ handwritten in chalk on the molding at the top of the door. I’m thinking this may mean ‘Secondary 3’ and likely is equivalent to ‘Grade 10’ in Canada.





Typical of most of the classrooms I saw today, this one is a room in a long, narrow, single storey building that houses maybe 4 or 5 classrooms, has barred windows without glass, some with shutters that can be closed, no electricity, shared benches and writing surfaces for the students, and a blackboard at the front. The floor is concrete, the unadorned walls: clay/soil bricks with mortar, the ceiling: wooden trusses with metal roofing.




When we entered, the students stood and welcomed us, seemingly quite shy and self-conscious, some a little bolder than others, making eye contact, smiling, waving little waves discreetly! A member of the teaching staff told me that the children were very happy to see us and said they wished they could have teachers that look like us!





We carried on to a primary school a short drive away. As we pulled into the large compound little blue and white signs, quite low to the short clipped green grass, caught my eye. Placed along pathways leading to the various one level buildings that contain the classrooms, each sign has a different message on it pertaining to HIV/AIDS.


‘Delay sex until adulthood’… ‘Stay a virgin’… ‘HIV/AIDS has no cure’… ‘Say no to gifts for sex’…Quite striking to see, one can hope that the signs are serving to protect and bring awareness to the young ones exposed to them daily.





Soon after parking and reading a few of the signs, my attention was drawn to the dark doorway of one of the classrooms where a few children were peeking their heads out to see, no doubt, who had just driven in. We were greeted by the principal and guided over to the classroom. Upon entering and taking a second for my eyes to adjust, I was completely amazed and very delighted to see a vast number of little children, all dressed in bright pink, sitting on the dirt ( not concrete ) floor, receiving a lesson from the teacher in the front of the room. The children, so gorgeous, were full of brightness, some beaming big smiles, some quite mesmerized with jaws dropped and mouths wide open! It was SO much fun to be there!



We toured around the grounds and visited a few different classes. At one point I was standing out side one of the windows looking in while others in our group stood in front of the class. As the others departed, several of the children looked over and began interacting with me at the window. We had smiles and waves and after some time I made an expression that said…’oh, I’d better get going and keep up with the group…’ which caused a huge uproar of joyous laughter from the children! At that exact moment, I distinctly felt the strong presence of my Mom…she loved, taught music and brought joy to thousands of children during her life!

What a wonderful moment to sense you Mom! How Blessed I am to feel you and Dad here with me, along with all the family and friends accompanying me in Spirit! Thank you!

Many Blessings to you All,
Catherine xoxo

Ps…Fortunate I was to meet a few locals in the community we visited yesterday who I asked specifically about orphans and child headed households in the area. I was told that there are many and have been invited to come back to the community soon to meet with some of the children and learn more about the circumstances of their lives … Heartfelt thanks for keeping us all in your uplifting thoughts and prayers … xoxo C

Further to my new surroundings…

I feel as though I blinked and was magically transported to a polar opposite reality from where I’ve been since my arrival here in Uganda! From the quiet, rustic, community and earth based life in the village where daily activities revolve around cleaning, laundry, cooking, eating and watching over the children, I have traveled a stretch of road and ended up in a tile floored home of about 2000 sq ft. with a fridge, stove, lace covered dining room table that seats 6, a flush toilet across from my bedroom beside another room with a hot shower in it! Here I will be staying while I volunteer at the NGO center in this community.





Aesthetics and mod-cons aside, requiring the most adjustment from me has been the change in my companions / roommates… from the true comfort of ‘my’ warm, affectionate and loving family of Ugandans I have arrived in the presence a group of rather ‘serious’ academics from a university in Canada who are here with a number of ‘administrative’ agendas…Whew! That kind of shift will keep me on my toes…!




I already miss the simple authenticity of my village experience and hope it won’t be too long before I am once again in a similar environment. I guess it seems quite a natural fit for me… although I do have to say the flush toilet is a most appreciated luxury to have once again, for a short time at least!


Before leaving the Kampala/Mukono area I was fortunate to attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the local NGO that I will be volunteering with. Being an organization that provides support services to people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS ( I know, acronyms aplenty… !) at many different centers throughout Uganda, there were a few thousand ‘positive’ clients in attendance who had traveled from a number of districts and communities around the country. I feel VERY grateful to have been witness to such a wonderful celebration of life in the form of song and dance, sharing and community.




From the ‘Welcoming Dance and Song’ put on by a number of clients from Mbale ( women and men with wide eyes and smiles, singing loudly in high pitched tones, words in the local dialect, performing to the 4 directions of the room, accompanied by a constant beat, huge shoulder gyrations and an ever forward moving shuffle of the feet ) to the extremely powerful presentation by the young ‘Children of Entebbe’, also clients, performing a drama that loudly, boldly asks in African accented English ’Why AIDS?, Why ME?, Why YOU?’ ( a performance that placed COMPASSION directly in front of us all, reaching in and grabbing hold of hearts, bringing tears to the eyes of many) it was indeed a huge honor to be present and I will not easily forget the many great people I was fortunate to meet and share with there.

Smiling warmly, reaching out, embracing each other and me sometimes, many of the people present were full of strength exhibiting a positive pride and deep determination. Surprising to me, many asked for photos with me, one little ‘positive’ girl sat staring at 2 of us muzungu’s for hours even after I hugged and shared a photo with her, and, I received ( what a group of us decided must have been ) a marriage proposal from a man who probably thought I was a client as well! (… I tried my best to politely sidestep…! )




Endless Blessings…I felt and saw many moments of Love and Heaven in the eyes and Spirit of the people there that day!

So, now I find myself in Mbale ( pronounced with the sound of a very slight ‘m’ run together with ‘Baaa-lee’ ) and this week I begin my volunteer work at the centre here. I’m sure I’ll have lots to share as time goes by when I start to connect directly with clients, work in palliative care and go out into rural areas to meet with orphans and visit child headed households…so far, I can tell you what I witnessed yesterday morning during my first visit to the center.

Yesterday was a ‘clinic day’ at the center. I understand this is a day that happens a few times each week when ‘positive’ clients who are registered with the NGO come to see their counselors and receive a specific number of ARV”s or ART’s ( Anti Retro-viral Treatment ) medications that will help them to remain healthy for an upcoming period of time. As well, people who have recently been diagnosed positive with HIV, and have been referred to the NGO for support, visit the center for the first time on a ‘clinic day’ to start to become informed about all of the services available to them.

When I arrived at the center I noticed the several benches by the side entrance to the building were almost completely full of people. Men and women dressed in various ethnic styles and colors of clothing, many holding little children, were sitting waiting on the process that would move them forward to the person or part of the building that would help them. For the next several hours, every hallway I traveled was filled with clients sitting along one side, all were waiting, usually very quietly, for something. Most had a glazed over tired look about them, some looked scared, withdrawn and confused. Again as at the AGM, without hesitation most lit up and offered a smile to me when our eyes met and they saw me smiling at them.

All of these days as I wonder about, whether in village or center, driving by people on the road or shopping beside others in the open market…where ever I am, I am feeling happy, grateful and very privileged to be here. I am feeling a sense of being in the perfect place at this moment in my life, sometimes wondering where this will lead, but, most times managing to stay quite present to exactly where I am.

With Gratitude and Deep Love,
Cath xoxo

Happy Wishes from Mbale!

Love to you all! I am writing today from a city called Mbale, some distance east from where I have been. Yesterday I said ‘farewell till next time’ to my lovely ‘Ugandan family’ in Mukono and traveled with a small group to here where I will be starting my volunteer work this week. The journey was fun, about 4 hours, over a bumpy ( my head hit the ceiling a few times! ), dusty, dry road alongside wonderful compounds and lush green fields of sugar cane and tea that seemed to go on forever. One of my traveling companions brought along her iPod and we enjoyed an eclectic selection of music as we journeyed. My favorite moment… quite surreal… listening to ‘The Boss’ singing ‘Thunder Road’, weaving our way around a cow stopped in a ‘meditative’ moment on the road and swirving round a chicken in the midst of crossing it! Why? Of course you know….to get to the other side!

All is well, I am in fine form and will write again soon, hopefully within the next couple days…I’m very much looking forward to starting my real education now into the issues surrounding orphans and child headed households in this area and beyond…for now my Love and happy wishes to You!
Cath xoxo

A conversation…

Recently, I was delighted to spend time in conversation with 2 single mother’s here at the village in which I am staying. We openly discussed many issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, orphan children, traditional charity organizations, some local women’s issues as well as a few local men’s attitudes. Here are some of my notes…

Both women, educated, independent and articulate, spoke of choosing to be single mother’s as a way to manage their personal health and well being when education about HIV/AIDS informed them years ago how the disease is spread. At that time their husbands, both used to having many women as sexual partners, desired to maintain their lifestyle for status and other reasons despite being made aware of how the virus is spread. As a result, the women chose to become single to avoid the possibility of becoming infected. I understand from both women that they are ultimately very satisfied with their decision these years later, as, among personal benefits including their resulting autonomy and empowerment, they are healthy and here to care for their children, while their former husband’s, the children’s fathers, have both died due to HIV/AIDS in the years between.



We discussed the estimated number of orphan children and child headed households here in Uganda due to HIV/AIDS and both women assured me actual numbers far exceed the current UN stat of 1,000,000 and continue to grow daily. They said that although ARV’s ( ‘anti retro-virals’, the drugs used to help manage HIV/AIDS) are effectively helping some people here to live positively with HIV/AIDS, treatment is not widely available +/or distributed and many youths and adults continue to die as a result of contacting HIV/AIDS. A lack of educational and medical intervention is leaving a continually and rapidly growing number of children without parents.



The topic of ‘charity’ and ‘aid’ surfaced and a few western and religious based NGO’s along with their work here in Africa were discussed. The women noted ( without judging history or the original intention of many org’s ) by observing here and now one can see a generation or 2 ( or more ) of dependency exists in certain areas and among certain groups who have been conditioned by circumstance to understand that they NEED traditional charity and aid to survive. Many know of no other option or possible reality. It could be said that in numerous cases an on-going, self-perpetuating kind of co-dependent relationship of ‘supply and demand’ regarding aid has been created and fueled over many years and along with other issues, it is this relationship, the ladies suggest, that currently seeks transformation. We agreed that it can be observed that Africa is in a time of great change and how included in reaching out to developed wealthy countries for help today, is the hope for assistance and education that will serve to empower and lead to self-determination, self-sufficiency and self-sustainability. I found this totally consistent with the main message of many of the African speakers whose lectures and presentations I attended on the topic of Africa awareness over last winter in Vancouver. I shared with the women that my personal attitude/approach is in keeping with this perspective of supporting transformation and it is what I have brought along with me to Africa. They expressed support for me as I move forward daily, learning about and being open to discovering ways and means to assist the orphan children, keeping their self-empowerment and self-determination first and foremost in my intention.

We discussed how the application of ‘fair trade’ creates win-win situations for all involved, and how when we as consumers take active responsibility to educate ourselves about the products we consider buying ( as in , Where they are from? Who has made them? Were the growers, workers, artists, crafts people etc. paid fairly for their goods and services? Who is profiting by our purchase? And is that profit ‘fairly’ distributed? ) and then choose ‘fair products’ when possible as well as advocate for them when they are not available, we can actively play a huge part in promoting the flow of integrity and the uplifting of conditions and circumstances…

Perhaps you can sense how excited and honored I was to have been given the opportunity to share with these women openly and honestly ‘in a little village somewhere in Uganda, Africa!’ Our time together, cut short only by the daily rain that was starting, served to enrich our collective understanding that, indeed, we are ALL very connected, we are ALL ONE, and that while lots is happening around the world that can cause us all to pause, we can observe, former ‘old world ways’ are currently birthing into refined and uplifted ways that are basing themselves in integrity, mutual respect and ultimately, Love!



Wow!…and SO IT IS!

Many Blessings,
In Peace, Joy and Love Love Love,
Cath xoxo

Ps…You may be hearing about rivers rising and flooding due to heavy rains, forcing people in eastern Uganda to move to higher ground. Wishing to let you know that while I am not in that area and do not plan to be in the next few weeks, we are keeping the people who are affected in our thoughts and prayers.

Pss…You may commute each day and experience traffic jams at times…well, here’s a story for you! The other day, my hostess and I were returning by taxi from Kampala to the village. We ran into a traffic jam like none I had seen or been in before! As we tried to travel down the dirt road we were on, at times there were 3 lanes of vehicle traffic going west, with 1 going east, and then up the road that would change to 3 going east and 1 west….over and over this happened…the resulting grid lock was very intense and for long periods we moved not even an inch! It took us almost 7 hours to go 25K!
I was amused and delighted to observe that the locals had great fun with it, laughing, turning up their radios, leaning out their windows, sharing stories…it was all good…
going with the flow…or not!

LOVE from Uganda!

After 2 days of travel I arrived safely and in fairly good shape in Entebbe on Saturday, Sept 15th. As pre-arranged I was met at the airport by a driver from the NGO I’ll be worng with here and driven to Kampala, the capitol city. There, I was introduced to the woman with whom I have been billeted for my first week in Uganda. We were driven through Kampala, a very busy, noisey, and severely air polluted city to a district about 25k outside of the city called Mukono. We drove a little further ending up in a village called Kirowooza.





Here my hostess, a single mother, lives with her 3 children along with 4 other children in her care, all ranging in age from 3 to 24. Including me, there are 9 of us sharing her home. Her house, a work in progress, is built on a concrete foundation with painted concrete interior walls and red bricks made locally from the clay earth, on the exterior walls. There are metal bars on every window that opens. There are 7 rooms including a kitchen, combined livrm/dinrm and 5 bedrooms, maybe a total of 800 sq ft. I have been given one of the rooms for my own use. Each room has a ‘breather window’ up close near the ceiling that is open all the time, about 6 inches wide and a few feet long, covered with screen to keep the mosquitoes out.

Electricity is sporatic due to ‘load sharing’…one night her lights turn on, the next night someone else’s do and her’s do not. Rain is collected in a 10,000 ltr galvanized tank and is her only source of water. She has never run out of water. It is used as is for cooking and cleaning, boiled for drinking. There is no fridge or plumbing, the toilet in a separate building is a ‘pit’style…basically a rectangular hole, maybe 8” x 5”, in a concrete floor that one squats above, with a large pit dug out beneath. I am aiming to please, and can happily report, so far so good!

Cooking is done outdoors for the most part on 2 small barbeques that have compartments below the grill for coal +/or wood, the main fuel sources. There is a one burner gas hotplate indoors that is used for quick cooking such as boiling water. My hostess assures me we are eating the way she and her family always eat and I have been enjoying tasting some traditional dishes. Matooke is plantains boiled then steamed in banana leaves, posho is maize meal combined with water and some spices, then wrapped in banana leaves and steamed; yams, sweet and ‘irish’ potatoes as well as rice and beans are staples. We drink local tea with tea masala, and local instant coffee. The sugar is raw, the milk powdered. I am drinking bottled water… My tummy is coping perfectly!



The local village is very beautiful to my senses. The air is clean, the sounds are gentle, the earth is red and orange, the trees, grasses and bushes wonderfully lush and green. Tonight as the sun was setting, the sky lit gently with pink, purple and some blue, I could see the silhouette of a monkey with a very long tail sitting in a tree out back….very beautiful, very African! The rolling hills are covered with some crops, bushes and trees, red brick homes are scattered here and there, a few cattle, chickens running free range wherever….The second and lesser of the 2 rainy seasons has come later than usual this year. In this district, August has been the traditional month for these rains to come, but apparently they have just started most recently. At least once a day, the skies cloud over and it absolutely pours…maybe for about an hour or so. Many streams form and run along the top of the clay soil. The sun comes out, dries the surface and everything gets warm and humid again. The evenings are pleasant usually around 16C or so.



I have learned quickly that the children here are taught respect for their elders from the moment they stop breastfeeding. All children kneel when meeting, greeting, serving and conversing with an adult in the home. They are very responsible for themselves in terms of keeping themselves clean, making their beds, even washing their own clothes as soon as able. Starting with washing their own socks and underwear they progress on to larger items as their little hands allow. I do not see any toys here. The small children play outdoors together using nature’s toys or can be found doing chores like sweeping around the ‘compound’.





The local language is Luganda. The first word I have learned is one that I have heard several times already…’muzungu’…’white one’… usually accompanied with a huge smile, waving, pointing, and laughter! Most adults and many of the children speak English very well and have greeted me by saying ‘You are welcome’ and things like ‘How do you like your life?’ and ‘Do you like Uganda?’ One hears ‘Thank you’ or ‘Welcome’ after just about every sentence. People in general have been very warm and friendly, seeming quite curious, sometimes very shy, other times eager to say hello and share a moment. Most people speak quietly using hushed tones, and a most gentle and polite manner.

People make it around by walking and riding bike or if needed, taxi and boda boda
( a small motorcycle that you double on the back of… ) as there is no public transportation at present. Frustrating to the consumer, supply and demand determines the fluctuating cost which at present is about $6,000 Ugandan Shillings for a return journey from this village into Kampala. This converts to around $4.00 Cdn, which is VERY expensive for locals here. I am told a person working in a service job in a clothing store in the city can expect to earn about $300,000 USh per month, that’s about $$175.00Cdn, so would likely live much closer to their job to afford other expenses. Surprising to me, almost everyone has a cell phone!

School has started today and 4 of the children I am staying with have returned to classes. One of the others is awaiting college entrance, another has completed a University degree and is currently looking for work. The youngest is 3 and will wait a couple more years before starting. All of the children in primary and secondary school wear uniforms and the girls shave their heads so that they are not pre-occupied with distractions that will take them away from their studies…like hair.



Today, I enjoyed a wonderful visit with my hostess and one of her close friends, another single mom. We spent a lot of time talking about why I am here, and about HIV/AIDS orphans, the number of which they assure me is far greater in Uganda than the UN stats stated on my ‘about page’ here on the website…They say…’those numbers are only the children who were counted…there are many more’. We also discussed other related topics that I will start to talk about next posting…maybe a few days from now. Both women are very welcoming and supportive of me being here and have expressed their heartfelt thankfulness at the opportunity to have help from me, and you, in caring for the parentless children here in their country.

I was also introduced to and welcomed by the local Secretary of Defense for this village. It is customary to let him know when one has a guest staying in their home, so he can always knows who is in the community he is responsible for. He was very pleasant, thanking me for being here, extending his wishes to my friends, family and community back home…that’s you!

Hopefully I’ve given you a decent picture of where I am! I will likely be moving on from here in another 3 or 4 days.

Hopefully this finds you well and happy!

Thanks for sharing this… please know that your happy thoughts and uplifting prayers are certainly finding me and influencing the circumstances in which I find myself. I don’t think I could have hoped to be in a safer, more friendly, warm and supportive environment as I am right now! It is the perfect and most wonderful place to begin to become aware of and accustomed to the local ways of the beautiful people here while I move ever closer to the little ones I have specifically come here to meet and Love.

More soon…

Many Blessings,
In Peace, Joy and Love Love Love,
Cath xoxo


ps…The internet connection, amazing as it is to even have one this close to the village where I am staying, is very slow and I am having some trouble uploading photos here…I will be trying to post some as soon as possible, maybe sending them to Erynn ( my website designer and manager ) and she’ll get them on here… xoxo C

Blessings and Greetings to All!

Thanks for sharing this exciting moment with me! Today is the day I am emailing my first official message to friends and family about my upcoming journey to Africa that also contains the link to my new website and this blog! ( It’s also the first time I’ve ever visited and participated in a blog!!! )

A few more days and I will board the ‘747′ that will take me into the heart of Africa where I will begin to connect with the many, many orphan children living there…

Before I take off, I want to say a couple thank you’s here and now:

Erynn, I appreciate all of your great work on the website! Thank you, Bless you!

Beautiful, precious family and friends in my life who have Loved and encouraged me to my arrival in this moment on the journey…You know who you are, I am ever grateful for your presence in my life! Gratitude and Love to you Always…

Spirit, Angels, Guides, Mom and Dad…Thank you, I Love Love Love YOU with all my heart!

Coming up there is much work to be done. For now, I bid you farewell while I attend to details here before leaving…I will next write once I arrive in Africa…

So, until Uganda then!
In Peace, Joy and Love Love Love, Cath xoxo