Once we got there, there was a massive greeting, with the children singing a song. There was a sign up welcoming us (I was sister Elizabeth! I was asked what my second name was, so I said Elizabeth instead of my surname. Because they switch the order of names to have the surname first, and Elizabeth is a common name here, they thought that was my name.) Esther was given a bunch of flowers and there were many people waiting to take photos. One of the staff, Ignatius, took Esther’s camera to get lots of photos of us.
Then the tour started. Esther hasn’t been since 2003, and Bushikori has grown a lot since then!
The first stop was Anne’s office, where we met Michael. (Michael has visited Esther in Australia, and was here in 2003, so it was a re-meeting for them.) He was one of the 13 original sponson children, orphaned by HIV. Now he is the headmaster of a very large primary school (which takes some Bushikori children) and is making a difference in the lives of children like him.
We talked a bit about the growing needs of Africa, and how in a lot of areas international support is drying up as not enough of a difference is being made for the donors. I know from speaking to a few people at Bushikori that it worries them – firstly if they are doing enough and secondly if the support will continue even with the difficulties and failures. I pointed out that Australia has a lot of generational problems – of generation after generation being involved with drugs and alcohol or just never getting jobs, and how we spend lots of time and effort on trying to reach these children – and sometimes we’re successful and sometimes we aren’t. But we need to try, because some DO make it out, and sometimes it surprises you which ones it is.
The next stop was to visit Linus. He’s a head of a department, but I’m not sure which one. He had recently been severely burnt all across his face, neck and shoulders (November 2011). Esther, who had seen the photos, was surprised that he was the same person! There was initially concerns that he would lose sight and that his mouth would be damaged, and that he would be scarred for life. But with much prayer he is now almost completely healed! Praise God! It truly is a miracle in his life. The only place with any scarring left is his chest, and that is where they were not expecting much scarring, as his chest was covered with clothes at the time of the burn, which would have provided some protection.
We met the other heads, and learnt about the childcare department especially. Here it involves a lot of things – from making sure that all the children have mosquito nets and bedding to providing food at school to checking that things are okay at home. There are over 400 children currently being sponsored (most from Australia) so this is a lot of work.
To sponsor a child, please go to the Bushikori website, or see Sam and she’ll put you in touch with those in charge of child sponsorship. Fees are $320 a year for children in primary school, $320+ hostel fees for secondary school children. There are also scholarship funds for those who are at university.
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