Visit to Rivers of Life Church and Amazima

This afternoon we visited the Rivers of Life Church, also for our third and last visit. The kids were thrilled to see our van arrive. We spent a few hours with the kids there. We had such a great time. The staff was very grateful and asked us to consider coming back soon.

After this we visited the Amazima location in Jinja. Amazima is the organization founded by Katie Davies (Author of Kisses from Katie). We went there to see their playground structure to see if this is something we may consider for the Siita Nest orphanage. We met two awesome guys who showed us their amazing playground. They shared a little of their stories, Amazima and Katie.

One of them is the operations manager for Amazima. Originally he joined Amazima in a temporary position, building the playground but now he is in a permanent position. Regarding construction of the playground, one of his observations was the importance of understanding local construction methods and materials. He shared that he relied on the knowledge of a local foreman to learn about these. We asked if it would be possible to get in touch with that local foreman. We realized it would be wise to work with the same foreman if possible. He said he could provide the foreman's contact info.

We discussed several other issues, but one that is noteworthy is the fact that the older kids in Amazima want to become professionals. Most want to become doctors, attorneys, etc. People in Uganda believe they can't be successful unless they have a higher degree. In fact, there seems to be a shortage of people with vocational aptitudes. Our new friend explained for instance that Ugandan's view farming as a low class position. People do farming when they can't succeed at something else. Westerners know farming can be a successful vocation. One of the things Amazima is doing is teaching men how to effectively farm the land using proven, biblical, methods.

The conversation shifted to jobs and hiring. One of our hosts mentioned one of his recent tasks was performing interviews for a position of mentor (for the kids).  He said he must have interviewed some 40 people. In what is an amazing turn of events, the person he hired was one of the graduates from Siita Nest. He said this person stood out from the rest. He was looking for a loving person that met certain qualifications. He also said our friend from Siita didn't have the exact qualifications he was looking for but made up for the rest with love.

We mentioned to him one of the things we were doing this very same week at Siita was teach the older kids how to write resumes, how to shake hands, maintain eye contact, etc. Our host was very happy to hear this. He said the people interviewing for jobs clearly needed help in this area. In fact, it crossed his mind to call these people and tell them what they need to do better if they ever go thru an interview again. We were very happy to know the effort our different teams over the last several years are paying off.

We didn't want to cause a burden to our hosts so although we wanted to stay there longer we felt it was time to leave. As we began to say goodbye, our host said if you stay a few minutes longer you'd be able to meet the foreman that worked on the playground, he just called and he is on his way. A few minutes later we met Sam, the foreman. We mentioned to Sam what we had in mind and asked him if that was something he would be interested in. He said yes and reached into his pocket to get us one of his business cards. Frankly, I was surprised he had one. We are really glad we got to meet him. It is important that we extend our network.

If you have read the book "Kisses from Katie" you will recognize this little guy. I guess 13 girls and a monkey were too much. He got a new home at this location.