Community requests, water well fun and a hair cut.

So far there has not been anything majorly new during this week, so I thought I would just write a short post and put some pictures up.

Everything is running fine at the moment, all programs are going well and I am enjoying daily life.
Farook and I are in discussions of trying to start up an agriculture program for young men who need a source of income, so they can start their own cultivating business.

The other day I was awoken at 7.00 am to an old window outside my house. The school guard had let her in as she wanted to talk to me.
I really didn't know who this women was, but I am guessing she knew me. She then proceeded to tell me (through the school guard translating) that she was an old widow who was looking after many children and had a teenage boy who needed help in sponsorship for high school. Over here there is a steady flow of children who can not go to school and need help in school fees, and basically if you tried to support them all you would run dry of any money very fast. It can be hard to simply tell them you can not do it, but at the same time you don't want to give false hope, so you do need to be direct, but with empathy. It really is hard, because I already have people I personally sponsor here that I am committed to, and I simply can't sponsor everyone.
Some days you just have to offer prayer and tell people you are sorry but you just can't help. The best I could offer this woman is that the boy may potentially be able to enter the agriculture program so he can work in a small business for maybe a year to raise money for his school fees.

The other day I had another similar experience where someone I know here sent their young cousin to come and see me. The teenage girl goes to a local high school here and is doing her exams, but has been refused to sit them as she has not payed her final fees. She came to ask me if I could please help. At first I did the usual routine that I have become used to, explaining that I don't have the money at the moment, only to see her eyes well up with tears and then thank me as she turned away. I stood in that moment for a few seconds and realised what I said was a lie. The money needed to pay the exam fees was really not that much (in comparison to a sponsorship like the old widow had asked for) and although my monthly budget money has been running low, I do have savings in my bank account. Knowing that she would fail this year and all her effort would be a waste got the better of me, so when I went to town that day I had to withdraw a little bit of money and then go to the local school to pay the exam fees directly.
Although I do not have a lot of money, in comparison to these people I am filthy rich .. and to say I just don't have anything really is a lie ... perhaps we can be fast to do that, justify why we can not help someone because we think we don't have the resources. But in the end we will find that if we are willing to sacrifice some things, we really can help others.
It still is a balancing act on where do I help out, and where do I just say it is not possible. The demands and requests from living a community like this are in your face, and although back in Australia poverty is only really in front of you on the TV or computer screen, here it greets you every morning.
There is also a real need to be careful with handing out money. Handing out money can do more damage then it does good some times and can create dependence, so a balance of paying things directly to school institutions, or creating micro finance programs that empower people to be self sufficient is important.
Needing the wisdom and discernment in all these matters leaves me needing to rest in God. I am just a human who is weak and can make mistakes, but by setting myself on God, he can use me in a way that I trust is right.

Otherwise life goes on here, I feel very much a part of the community here and I have lots of fun times as well.
The other day during our film making program, me and a friend took some young children from local organisation Nurturing Uganda to have some fun at the water well.
Below is a link to a short film I made using my Go Pro.

I also had a hair cut the other day, which was fun .. and scary. Agnes and my friends Juliet and Anne Marie from Australia all had a crack at cutting my hair (I am glad Anne Marie was there to supervise, as Africans are not the best at cutting Muzungu hair).

Enjoy some of the photos and God bless.

                                          
                                                           Avocado Helicopters

       

                                                               
                                                    Hair cut time (feeling scared)

       

                                                                The result!

Check out the link to the short film I made here..
https://vimeo.com/79699226