Street Kids

Over the past month I have been volunteering with a street kid’s ministry called Frontline. It is associated with Calvary Chapel Kampala, the church I attend on Sundays. So far it has been a very rewarding experience. On Saturday mornings between 30 and 40 boys between the ages of 8 and 18 come to the church and we provide different activities for them and teach them about God. All of the boys are homeless, living on the streets of Kampala. This could be for a variety of different reasons: some have lost parents due to AIDS; others are runaways because their parents are abusive and it is better for them to live on the streets than to live at home.

The first Saturday I volunteered we watch The Karate Kid (the new one with Jackie Chan) with them. It was interesting because the movie was translated into Luganda and had Chinese subtitles. It was a good thing I was familiar with the story because otherwise I would be completely lost. There were a few times that the translation cut out and I caught a few English which helped as well. Other times we have just hung out and played cards and other games with them. We finish each day is ended with a time of teaching from the bible (in Luganda) and then we feed them. In many cases it will be the only meal they eat that day.

It is also heartbreaking because these kids are desperate for attention. From the second I get there until I leave a couple hours later, I have at least one kid either on my back, in my lap, or holding my hand. They are all very dirty, not bathing very often. As result, I always leave very, very dirty. It’s easy to see that they don’t have very many people in their lives that love them. Many of them are tough, always fighting with one another, and tend to lie and steal.

It still has been fun to get to know some of these kids. They all have good hearts. I took my camera with me this past Saturday. The last Saturday of every month is a sports day so we went out and played soccer and basketball with them. Here are a few pictures from the day:

Jonah is teaching the kids about patience, using Job as an example.

This is the basketball “hoop” that we used to play basketball with them. They just got a point whenever they hit the backboard.

This is me with Marvin. He is one of the kids who is always jumping on my back.

Of course, once I took a picture with Marvin, Joseph (left) and Ivan (right) had to get a picture too.

This is Nathaneal, one my roommates, with Moses. Moses loves to teach me how speak Luganda. I can now count to ten because of him.

[Side Note: Nathaneal is working as a social studies teacher at the nearby Christian school for the year. Over the weekend he was diagnosed with malaria. He is still in the hospital recovering. He could use your prayers as he is still feeling very ill.]