Sixty Feet was birthed when a couple of Americans happened across a blog of a horrible government run orphanage called, M (they use this name to protect the children of this place) in Uganda..an hour outside of Kampala. A women named Natalie heard of "M" from others around Uganda that it was a place the government sent mentally challenged children and badly behaved children, 12 and above. Often many Ugandan parents would threaten their children when they behaved badly at home. "If you don't do this or that, I am going to send you to "M". So one day Natalie was in the area of this place and just decided to check it out for herself. She was shocked to find babies to children all the way up to 18. These kids had hardly any clothes on, three or four children were sleeping on one piece of foam with hardly any blankets or they were sleeping on the cold cement. The government provided food for 100 children, but there were about 300-400 children living at "M". When the food ran out, they had nothing to eat for days. Natalie found the staff in charge; they were worn out and very discouraged by what was going on and had no idea what to do about it. Natalie went home that night and told her husband Warner this place was like a prison. She said to her husband that they needed to do one of two things: leave Uganda and never come back or they have to do something about this place...
Praise the Lord they decided to do something. They realized many of these children were dropped off at "M" by the police. The parents had no idea where they were. Some were brought to "M" for minor offenses and others were dropped off by their parents. In Uganda...often step mothers do not want the children from the previous marriage to interfere with her new family, so she just gets rid of them and sometimes they get dropped of at "M". Natalie moved some to foster homes, but most of their parents were found, leaving 100 true orphans. True orphans are those who have no father or mother who can be found.
In April, a lady was traveling through Uganda for a short while and decided to visit "M", I think she heard about it through Natalie. She was also shocked and disgusted at the horrific sights she saw. On her blog she informed the public about this terrible place and asked for donations and supplies to be sent to them.
I came across this blog through Amy Levy a couple days after it was posted. I did not look at it for a couple of days, but when I did the Lord did a mighty work on my heart. About thirty minutes before looking at this description of "M" and seeing the pictures of this horrific place, I was talking to my mom and husband about all the things wrong with our house, how we don't have money to fix it up, how I don't have money for clothes, etc....I was being extremely self-centered and drowning in my own self pity. Not liking either one of their responses to my earthly frustrations of not having everything perfect like everyone else...I rushed out of the room to check my email and blog. Well...I decided to read the blog that Amy sent me. Boy oh Boy did the holy spirit meet me where I needed to be met. He convicted me, humbled me, my me bawl my eyes out, and brought me to him through the realization that a place like this exists in 2010 half way across the world. He really changed me and I am not the same today...Praise God!!! I wanted to send some money, but once I talked to my husband and my parents, we all started to become skeptical if this was really a real place or not.
About one month later...I hear about a group of Atlantans who have also discovered this place through this lady's blog too. They had just started a non-profit organization to help the children of this "prison"...as Natalie and Warner have chosen to call it. There are no walls, but it is just as bad or worse as a prison. Well, at that point I realized it was a real place and those were real children dealing with horrific conditions. I was thrilled the Lord led people in my own city to do something about this place.
In the past 8 months at least three teams of men have ventured over to Uganda to see this "children's prison" for themselves. They have raised a lot of money back in the states to help these children. They have restored the men's restroom among many other things for these. Many people around the country have learned about this place and are also helping restore "M". The hope is to build a new orphanage for these children and one day restore "M" to function again.
So after learning about the background of this place...I can now take you to our experience yesterday when I got to visit "M" for the first time.
Dan and Shelley are also apart of the founding members of Sixty Feet. Dan journeyed to Uganda bring home two precious children from "M". So neat Dan and Shelly have been compelled by the Lord to step out and adopt two children into their already five person family. What blessings they all will receive! I am so excited we will have a family who has been through and is going through the adoption journey with us in our city.
David drove CT and I to Natalie's house to let Dan and Warner ride with us. It was such a privilege to meet Warner and learn first hand all that is Uganda associated with "M". He is such a lovable guy! I was really nervous and excited to go see this place which God has used to change and humble me. I was eager to see these children in person and how God has used so many to supply their needs. The ride there was amazing...no traffic for miles! This was my first time out of the city and I have to say I like the village life much more than the hustle and bustle of the city life in Uganda.
The country side of Uganda is beautiful!
After about an hour's drive...we turned off onto a dirt road....
Right before we got to "M" this was the scenery off the side of the road..
This is the children's prison...
This is not bad infrastructure...but it has not been maintained at all...
This is a chicken coop and there are pigs behind them in another building. So why are they hunger if they have chickens and pigs? Well, the government makes the kids farm the land and raise the animals to sell in the village. The kids do not get one bit. Natalie and Warner are trying to work with the government to let the kids eat the food they work so hard to harvest at least one day a week. This would probably give them an incentive to work harder and then the owners would end up making more money in the end. Funny, that no one has thought of this??
Look at the scenery surrounding "M"...
This is the non functioning school house that was restored. They hope to start school again in the future..
Down from the school house is the boys restrooms, which have been improved dramatically by Sixty Feet. The running water was unreliable when they first discovered this place...they would have to walk up the big hill to get water most of the time.
When we first got here we waited for all the other Muzungus to arrive so we could start the Christmas celebration...
While we waited CT ventured off to check the place out. Little did we know he would be a target...
What do I mean? Well, a couple of minutes later we stumbled upon some turkeys just hanging out under a bush. What a shock to see these large birds, which CT now calls "bird turkey". At one point, this male turkey started charging CT...so I grabbed him pretty fast. David informed me turkeys like the color red, just like bulls do...Who would have thought?
Most of the kids were playing, but others were cooking and decorating for the celebration...
Then Natalie called all the children over so she could introduce us all...she spoke while Jefferey, the director of "M" interpreted...
These are some of the "M" children getting ready for their dance performance. The dancing was amazing, I have some video photoage I will have to put on my blog when we get home. Us, "muzungus" do not have bodies that move like that. At one point they sang worship songs...their voices will melt your heart....So humbling...what do they have to be thankful for?? They have nothing, but they have everything in Christ... It was beautiful....
Natalie and Warner telling the children how much they love them all....
Then they asked all their guests to do a performance...
Natalie even broke it down...
A seven year old boy who things the "Muzungus" are funny dancers...
Some of the older boys at the "prison"....
This little boy kept telling me to take his picture. He loved seeing himself. He is one of the ones who was taken out and put in foster care, he just came back for the Christmas party..
Then it was time for meal the children prepared for all of us to eat, of course, Natalie and Warner supplied the food. The room was filled with Christmas gifts for all the children...their faces lit up when they walked into the room. If you look closely, you can see the Christmas tree decorated with toilet paper and balloons in between the blue chairs....
The staff of "M" served the meal....The kids ate first and then all the adults and visitors were able to eat. I was a little nervous about eating the food, for those of you who know me...I am a little picky about strange foods...but I tried it and I actually liked it!
Then it was time for the kids to open their gifts...it was a sight to see...
They all received a cup full of goodies and a backpack with Vaseline for their skin and hair...something we all take for granted...
Oh...were they thankful! No one asked where the other gifts were, like American kids often do after opening 20 gifts on Christmas morning. They were thrilled and excited about their small gifts...some of them may have never received a gift in their life...
The minute we got there, our tire was flat. So David and Dan worked hard to replace it. Good thing we had five men to help us lift the car...
David's father was very proud of his chicken coop in the back of his house...
CT was a little scared of the "chicken birds" when they got too close...
What a day!!! This was a true experience of the Ugandan people...The children who are dropped off in a prison, the son who is cast aside, and the hard working middle class family...Ugandans have undergone some real hardships and they still experience this suffering today, but what's amazing...they don't complain. They are joyful! They really see God as a father who truly loves them, despite their circumstances. Wow! If I only had half this faith.
Praise the Lord they decided to do something. They realized many of these children were dropped off at "M" by the police. The parents had no idea where they were. Some were brought to "M" for minor offenses and others were dropped off by their parents. In Uganda...often step mothers do not want the children from the previous marriage to interfere with her new family, so she just gets rid of them and sometimes they get dropped of at "M". Natalie moved some to foster homes, but most of their parents were found, leaving 100 true orphans. True orphans are those who have no father or mother who can be found.
In April, a lady was traveling through Uganda for a short while and decided to visit "M", I think she heard about it through Natalie. She was also shocked and disgusted at the horrific sights she saw. On her blog she informed the public about this terrible place and asked for donations and supplies to be sent to them.
I came across this blog through Amy Levy a couple days after it was posted. I did not look at it for a couple of days, but when I did the Lord did a mighty work on my heart. About thirty minutes before looking at this description of "M" and seeing the pictures of this horrific place, I was talking to my mom and husband about all the things wrong with our house, how we don't have money to fix it up, how I don't have money for clothes, etc....I was being extremely self-centered and drowning in my own self pity. Not liking either one of their responses to my earthly frustrations of not having everything perfect like everyone else...I rushed out of the room to check my email and blog. Well...I decided to read the blog that Amy sent me. Boy oh Boy did the holy spirit meet me where I needed to be met. He convicted me, humbled me, my me bawl my eyes out, and brought me to him through the realization that a place like this exists in 2010 half way across the world. He really changed me and I am not the same today...Praise God!!! I wanted to send some money, but once I talked to my husband and my parents, we all started to become skeptical if this was really a real place or not.
About one month later...I hear about a group of Atlantans who have also discovered this place through this lady's blog too. They had just started a non-profit organization to help the children of this "prison"...as Natalie and Warner have chosen to call it. There are no walls, but it is just as bad or worse as a prison. Well, at that point I realized it was a real place and those were real children dealing with horrific conditions. I was thrilled the Lord led people in my own city to do something about this place.
In the past 8 months at least three teams of men have ventured over to Uganda to see this "children's prison" for themselves. They have raised a lot of money back in the states to help these children. They have restored the men's restroom among many other things for these. Many people around the country have learned about this place and are also helping restore "M". The hope is to build a new orphanage for these children and one day restore "M" to function again.
So after learning about the background of this place...I can now take you to our experience yesterday when I got to visit "M" for the first time.
Dan and Shelley are also apart of the founding members of Sixty Feet. Dan journeyed to Uganda bring home two precious children from "M". So neat Dan and Shelly have been compelled by the Lord to step out and adopt two children into their already five person family. What blessings they all will receive! I am so excited we will have a family who has been through and is going through the adoption journey with us in our city.
David drove CT and I to Natalie's house to let Dan and Warner ride with us. It was such a privilege to meet Warner and learn first hand all that is Uganda associated with "M". He is such a lovable guy! I was really nervous and excited to go see this place which God has used to change and humble me. I was eager to see these children in person and how God has used so many to supply their needs. The ride there was amazing...no traffic for miles! This was my first time out of the city and I have to say I like the village life much more than the hustle and bustle of the city life in Uganda.
The country side of Uganda is beautiful!
After about an hour's drive...we turned off onto a dirt road....
Right before we got to "M" this was the scenery off the side of the road..
This is the children's prison...
This is not bad infrastructure...but it has not been maintained at all...
This is a chicken coop and there are pigs behind them in another building. So why are they hunger if they have chickens and pigs? Well, the government makes the kids farm the land and raise the animals to sell in the village. The kids do not get one bit. Natalie and Warner are trying to work with the government to let the kids eat the food they work so hard to harvest at least one day a week. This would probably give them an incentive to work harder and then the owners would end up making more money in the end. Funny, that no one has thought of this??
Look at the scenery surrounding "M"...
Remember these termite hills? They are everywhere...
This is the non functioning school house that was restored. They hope to start school again in the future..
Down from the school house is the boys restrooms, which have been improved dramatically by Sixty Feet. The running water was unreliable when they first discovered this place...they would have to walk up the big hill to get water most of the time.
When we first got here we waited for all the other Muzungus to arrive so we could start the Christmas celebration...
While we waited CT ventured off to check the place out. Little did we know he would be a target...
What do I mean? Well, a couple of minutes later we stumbled upon some turkeys just hanging out under a bush. What a shock to see these large birds, which CT now calls "bird turkey". At one point, this male turkey started charging CT...so I grabbed him pretty fast. David informed me turkeys like the color red, just like bulls do...Who would have thought?
Most of the kids were playing, but others were cooking and decorating for the celebration...
Then Natalie called all the children over so she could introduce us all...she spoke while Jefferey, the director of "M" interpreted...
Then we all head into the dinning room for the Christmas celebration performance...
These are some of the "M" children getting ready for their dance performance. The dancing was amazing, I have some video photoage I will have to put on my blog when we get home. Us, "muzungus" do not have bodies that move like that. At one point they sang worship songs...their voices will melt your heart....So humbling...what do they have to be thankful for?? They have nothing, but they have everything in Christ... It was beautiful....
Then they asked all their guests to do a performance...
Natalie even broke it down...
A seven year old boy who things the "Muzungus" are funny dancers...
Some of the older boys at the "prison"....
This little boy kept telling me to take his picture. He loved seeing himself. He is one of the ones who was taken out and put in foster care, he just came back for the Christmas party..
It is very common for anyone to come up to you and just take your baby out of your hands, especially if you are "muzungus" are holding a Ugandan baby..CT was not too happy about this...
Then Natalie went through all the sponsors who have helped "M" this past year, including Dan and Sixty Feet...
Then it was time for meal the children prepared for all of us to eat, of course, Natalie and Warner supplied the food. The room was filled with Christmas gifts for all the children...their faces lit up when they walked into the room. If you look closely, you can see the Christmas tree decorated with toilet paper and balloons in between the blue chairs....
The staff of "M" served the meal....The kids ate first and then all the adults and visitors were able to eat. I was a little nervous about eating the food, for those of you who know me...I am a little picky about strange foods...but I tried it and I actually liked it!
Then it was time for the kids to open their gifts...it was a sight to see...
They all received a cup full of goodies and a backpack with Vaseline for their skin and hair...something we all take for granted...
Oh...were they thankful! No one asked where the other gifts were, like American kids often do after opening 20 gifts on Christmas morning. They were thrilled and excited about their small gifts...some of them may have never received a gift in their life...
We got to take a look at the surroundings around "M" when CT got restless during this long ceremony...
We meet this boy taking water back to his house...
Then David wanted me to take us to see the view from the top of the hill...Look at this view!! If you saw this place from far away, you would think it was a resort, but far from it in actuality...
On the top of the hill was government housing for the staff and a water well. Many of the kids from the village walk up here to get clean water to bring back to their houses, like this little girl...
We also saw a goat lounging under a tree..
CT thought the goat was a dog...I don't blame him they look a lot like dogs..
little pink pigs...
and a big black pig sitting in the mud grunting at us...
Just beautiful sights from this hill....
What else did we encounter on this hill? More than I could imagine...
This precious child of God was sitting on the side of the hill 50 feet away from what it looked like to be his house. He as all alone and he kept moaning and moaning. David thought he was about 15 years old. He seemed to be handicapped and mute. It is one thing to see people like this on TV, but it is another to see them in person. I just wanted to pick him up and take him to a hospital. David said the families in Uganda often forget about children and people who are handicapped or crippled, they just toss them aside like trash. I could not stand the thought of what this child has had to endure...the tears just streamed down my face...All I could think and pray was....Jesus rescue him, rescue us all from this sadness in the world. Before we left, the least I could do was give him half my sandwich...
A couple of minutes later one of the kids getting water at the top of the hill told us, his family lives in this house, but they are gone and often do not come back for a while...
God break my heart for what breaks yours....I am still processing all that I saw this day.
We said goodbye to the children and headed toward Kampala. David, our driver, wanted to make a detour before heading back. His father and part of his family lives about twenty minutes away from "M" so we stopped in for a visit. David was raised better than most of the people in his village. He actually had a black and white TV growing up and his house was made of concrete on all sides, unlike many of the mud huts that the majority of Ugandan's live in...
The minute we got there, our tire was flat. So David and Dan worked hard to replace it. Good thing we had five men to help us lift the car...
David's father was very proud of his chicken coop in the back of his house...
CT was a little scared of the "chicken birds" when they got too close...
We even got to hold one of the baby chickens...
Before we left, they wanted a picture with us...CT wasn't too sure about this idea...
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