Legacy Uganda Trip 2013: Days #1 & #2 [Tuesday & Wednesday]

So....while this blog did not work out as planned while we were actually on our trip, I figured it would still be a good place to post some pics and reflections now that we are back in the States:

DAY #1
Because we arrived at Kubamitwe late at night... 

we had to wait until the morning to get our first glimpse of Legacy Uganda. But not even our greatest imaginations could have prepared us for what we experienced our first morning. First, we were hit by the beauty of where we were staying… we woke up to bright sunshine, birds singing, and monkeys playing in the branches of the thick jungle-like vegetation. 

And Legacy Uganda…



















WOW, what a greeting we received! There really aren’t words to describe the joy we experienced at actually being there in person. The students were so excited to see us. They greeted and welcomed us in English, led us to their classrooms, presented us with cards, and impressed us greatly with their vast repertoire of memory verses…love at first sight for sure!

The quality of education that we saw going on even in our short observation time was so impressive!
 The rest of Tuesday (our official Day #1 here) was spent in teacher training sessions…those of us teaching the sessions were very encouraged by how engaged and eager to learn the teachers were. 

DAY #2
Today was a national holiday for Uganda (Independence Day) so there weren’t any classes being held at Legacy Uganda. Instead, we visited each of the children’s homes and helped them plant fruit bearing trees (the idea is that these trees will quickly grow and provide the family with food to eat and sell). It was so humbling to see the living conditions of these students as well as the great distance these students have to walk to get to school every day. But even more humbling was the joy that lit up their faces – these kids don’t even have what we would consider basic necessities…in our society, we would consider this to be a great and heavy burden to bear. However, these students don’t consider their situation to be a burden…in fact, they don’t consider their situation at all. They only considered how they could serve and love us more. They were just so excited that we were there.