Saturday saw Sam and I drive to Kisenyi and Nakulabye slums.
Sam attends 'God's Ark Worship Centre' located right in the heart of Kisenyi slum - where he used to live. We met Senior Pastor Fred who has led the church for the past 10 years.
The facilities were pretty basic, yet it was obvious that the shed was a place of worship - colourful wall hangings, musical instruments, Bibles and lots of plastic chairs.
It was a little unusual to walk through a slum (or a ghetto as Sam calls it) to find ourselves in a church. Having said that, it seemed well connected to its surrounds and the people of the slum. The area was full of pungent smells (rubbish and sewerage), there was lots of charcoal and smoke and there were people everywhere, all very busy - a captive audience I would say!
After praying with Fred we walked back to our 4WD. To be honest, I was half expecting it not to be where we left it- but it was there and in the same condition.
On our way to the 'Reach Out Uganda' School we watched a group of boys playing a game of soccer. I'm still amazed how seriously Ugandans take their soccer - especially children!
The Reach Out School is also to be found within a slum, but it is absolutely a school. Two of the staff explained how the children make charcoal brickettes to help fund the ministry. They are made from recycled materials found within the slum - straw, dirt and charcoal.
We met a couple of the students - they were very well behaved, seemed interested in what they were learning and were proud of what they were achieving - it reminded me how precious an education is for African children, especially those from a slum, and how highly the community (and the children) respect learning.
No comments:
Post a Comment