Herbert

So, you guys read a lot about what I'm doing here in Uganda and a lot has been said about Jackie. But, what about the other kids? I'd like for you to get to know some of them as well. So, each month as I'm doing my newsletter, the child that I write about in the newsletter I will also introduce to those of you reading this blog.

Meet Herbert!

He is one of the students in my school. Herbert is a really smart kid. Although at times the class clown, usually with his feet flipping in the air, he is one of the smartest kids in the class (usually easily acing everything we do). He likes repeating everything said in English and can already recognize every letter in the alphabet, count to 20, recognizes colors, and recognizes numbers. He just turned 3 in April!

All of this is quite an accomplishment for Herbert. I met Herbert around this time last year. He was living with his mom and they were homeless. Shortly after I met them, they moved into a house, if you could really call it a house. The place was smaller than most American showers, had dirt floors and was in a swamp, meaning every time it rained the house was flooded. They had no mattress and rarely ate. His mom would boil water for Herbert to eat for supper at night. At that time, Herbert looked less than two years old. He rarely walked on his own and rarely talked.

Thankfully, Herbert was one of my first students to be sponsored and life changed for him. He now lives in a house about the size of a small American bedroom (not idealistic to most Americans but it has cemented floors and walls and doesn't leak). He gets to attend school where he receives breakfast and lunch every day. His mom is now employed as the school cook meaning other needs at home like soap, toothpaste, etc. are being met.

There are many more children like Herbert waiting to go to school. Please pass the word along and see if we can change the lives of more children.