Young Carers - Reflections from Acholi Quarters

I’ve just had a lovely two days being ‘classroom assistant’ for Ryan and Rosa at the Acholi Quarters as they embarked on a week of teaching some of the younger children who don’t go to school at all.

It’s not something I manage to do very often – I’m usually focusing on the logistics side of the trips, getting lots of photos to provide the team with a visual record of the trip, and letting the young people of the CRED teams deliver the lessons and activities that they have spent so much time preparing and resourcing. But those foci weren’t so necessary or prominent this time and it was a very pleasant change to be able to be with the children for longer than just having a random selection of them walking with me wherever I happen to be going as I carry out my various tasks.

Yes, I still had that every time I stepped out of the building where we were doing the lessons, and it still makes me smile when the little toddlers coming running up shouting ‘mazungu mazungu’ and then grab hold of a finger each as we walk along. But it was very special to have that extra time with some of the ones doing the lessons as they tried to master the phonic alphabet, do some basic addition, and practise writing some of their letters and numbers.

These children will probably never be great scholars – let’s face it, if you’ve got to age 8 without having the chance to do regular schooling, then you’ve definitely got a lot of catching up to do just to be average for age.

But what they lack in educational knowledge, they certainly make up for in other ways, and the adultness in some of these children can be both heart-warming and heart breaking to see.

Half way through the morning, and then again during the afternoon, we fund the ladies to cook Ugandan-style porridge for the children to drink. It’s made from millet, and is more liquid than our porridge, but the children love it, and for many it is the first, and maybe only, meal of any substance that they will have that day.

Once the children we are teaching have had their large cup-full, other little ones in the area will get a look in, but it also brings a lump to my throat when I watch so many of the older children going and seeking out younger siblings to make sure that they also get some porridge – either by making sure they are in the right place at the right time, or by giving up some of their own porridge so that the little ones don’t go hungry.

Today, one of the girls, Lakey, who can only be 5 or 6 herself, found an empty water bottle, and having had some of her cup of porridge herself, then carefully poured the rest into the bottle so she could take it home to the little ones – such selflessness at such a young age.

At the same time Maisy, a loud, boisterous, and very in-your-face 8 year old, suddenly wasn’t in the building anymore, and when I went to check where she was, I found her nearby giving portions of her cup of porridge to 3 younger siblings who were sitting just near to where we were.

Nothing new - I've seen it before many times, but sometimes these things can hit you afresh, and today was one of those days

Another adult-ness about the children I witnessed today was when a very little toddler fell over and started crying just outside the building where we were teaching. Maisy was inside at the time, but as soon as she heard the cry, even without seeing who was making the noise, she put down the activity that she was enjoying and went out to sort out the baby. It turned out the baby was her little sister, and Maisy as the oldest has to look after her. Desperate to go to the lessons, Maisy had left the baby with the next sibling down, her brother Derick. But she clearly didn’t consider herself to be off-duty as official baby-sitter – as soon as she heard the cry she went out to check on the baby, and Derick, and help get things settled down.

Again, I know this isn’t unique, and I’ve seen it all too often before around the world, but today it just reminded me yet again of the role of the child-carer, and how many there are in the world who are living a life of adult-ness at such a young age.

Tomorrow I’m across to Rwanda, to spend a week in Kigali with a CRED Team who are on their way out there to deliver an educational activity week to the children at the GNPDR Catch Up Centre for street kids and ex-street kids.

Whilst at the airport I might get round to writing about a couple of other meetings I’ve had here, and some incredible work that is going on by those organisations.

But for now I end by saluting all young carers around the world – who day in day out give up some of their childhood innocence and freedom to care for family members who are less able to care for themselves. May these young people be blessed, as they are a blessing to others.

Friendship – low cost, high value

I’m writing this from Uganda where I am spending a few days before going across to Rwanda to lead a team there.

With me are Ryan and Rosa, two CRED supporters from UK who have come to spend a week doing some teaching in the Acholi Quarters, and so part of my role whilst I am here the next couple of days is to settle them in and make sure that everything is sorted for them for their week.

As a result, today we popped in to the Acholi Quarters on our way from airport to accommodation, so that Ryan and Rosa could see who and where they will be teaching, and use that knowledge to influence the final preparations this evening.

The last time I was at Acholi Quarters was in early July, when I led a team of young people there to do a week of teaching some of the children who don’t normally get to go to school.

I don’t manage to keep in touch with any of these folks in between visits, mainly due to their lack of access to international communication systems, and their lives are such a world away from mine. We do spend time catching up when I’m at the project, and I do keep in touch with project staff, but not the project beneficiaries.

And on these trips, I tend to be very much in the background, sorting the logistics, and making sure that everything is in place for the trip to run safely and smoothly. As a result it always amazes me when I arrive at a project and am greeted like a long-lost friend.

But that’s what happened today when we arrived. I was soon swamped by children who I recognized from the previous trips, and being hugged by the ladies who I have spent time with in the past. And then lots of chat enquiring about family, and past team members, and health etc. A definite feeling of friends reunited.

Later, as we took a walk around the community so Ryan and Rosa could get a feel for the place, I caught a beautiful glimpse of true friendship – 3 of the Acholi lads: Innocent, Dan and one other, all about 6 or 7 years old, were walking along, arms round each others shoulders, chatting and laughing together. These lads don’t have a bean between them; their clothes are very worn out, hanging by a thread, and I doubt they have any play things above a few old bottle tops, or a plastic bag ball. But what they do have is friendship of each other. And the beaming smiles on their dirty little faces showed how important that friendship is to each of them.

That brief visit to the Acholi Quarters today left me with a reminder and a personal challenge.

A reminder of the low cost but high value of friendship, and a challenge as I consider how many excuses I subconsciously come up with which mean I don’t give as much time to maintaining friendships as I ought.

Life can be so busy, and weeks can suddenly go by and I realise I haven’t made the effort to keep in touch, or catch up with people. At the time, I’m sure all the different bits of being busy seemed important, but the reality is that friendships are what really count in life, not the number of tasks that have been ticked off the never-ending to-do list.

So, I apologise to all those of you who at some time have felt snubbed by my busy-ness and lack of time for a coffee (or chai in my case!). And thank you to Innocent, Dan, Harriet, Gloria, Catherine, John and Sophie who today have reminded me about the beauty of true friendship – may I show it just as much as I travel through life and the world.

Persecution at its worst - please pray

some of you will have read this through an e-mail I sent out, and some will have seen it on Facebook, but I can't rest until I have shared the following by blog as well, just so I know I have done all I can to  fulfil the request for sharing and praying.

I can't begin to imagine what it must be like to be in the situation outlined below, but I do know that the least I can do is respond to their plea for prayer. And I do know that we often underestimate the power of prayer, but in reality it is a very powerful weapon that can be put to very good use.

please read on, and pray and share as you feel appropriate for you.

“Dear All,
I have received these two emails from our missionary friends, one yesterday and one this morning. I just wanted to pass it on so that as many people as possible can pray specifically for our brothers and sisters. Much love and blessings


A friend just got a text message from her brother asking her to shower him and his parish in prayer. He is part of a mission and ISIS has taken over the town they are in today. He said ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far all have consequently been killed. But not the parents. The UN has withdrawn and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families - even if it means their own deaths. He is very afraid, has no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who have seen their children martyred. Yet he says he knows God has called him for some reason to  be his voice and hands at this place at this time. Even so, he is begging prayers for his courage to live out his vocation in such dire circumstances. And like the children    accept martyrdom if he is called to do so. She asked me to ask everyone we know to please pray for them. These brave parents instilled such a fervent faith in their children that they chose martyrdom. Please surround them in their loss with your prayers for hope and perseverance.

She was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn't say it but I believe she believes it will be their last conversation. Pray for her too. She said he just kept asking  her to help him know what to do and do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for them and they are not alone or forgotten -- no matter what. Her e mail broke my heart. Please keep all in your prayers. Thanks

This came this morning... Just a few minutes ago I received the following text message on my phone from Sean Malone who leads Crisis Relief International (CRI). We then spoke briefly on the phone and  I assured him that we would share this urgent prayer need with all of our contacts.

"We lost the city of Queragosh (Qaraqosh). It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been smuggling food too. ISIS has pushed back Peshmerga (Kurdish forces) and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated it's staff in Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!"

Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of the people of Northern Iraq from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for mass conversion or death for Christians across this region. May I plead with you not to ignore this email.

Do not forward it before you have prayed through it. Then send it to as many people as possible. Send it to friends and Christians you may know. Send it to your prayer group. Send it to your pastor and phone him/her to pray on Sunday during the service - making a special time of prayer for this. We need to stand in the gap for our fellow Christians.”

The Art of Celebration

There is an album on my iPod called The Art of Celebration, by Rend Collective, a wonderful Irish Christian band who I can happily listen to on a daily basis.

As I’ve been out for my morning runs this past week, here in Cornwall, the songs have featured fairly regularly, and there is one in particular that has become my theme tune for the week, and challenged me in my thinking as well.

I’ll not put the whole lyrics here, but the song ‘Boldly I Approach (The Art of Celebration)’  is the culprit that has led me to run through the woods and along the cliffs with an extra bubble of excitement and joy inside, and challenged me to think about what it means to express life as an Art of Celebration.

Feel free to google the whole song on YouTube to get the full effect of their wonderful singing, but these are the lyrics that have been going round and round in my head:

Boldly I approach Your throne

Blameless now I'm running home

By Your blood I come

Welcomed as Your own

Into the arms of majesty

This is the art of celebration

Knowing we're free from condemnation

Oh praise the One, praise the One

Who made an end to all my sin

So, how does one live in a way that expresses the concept of celebrating such a great truth as being free from condemnation?

Well, certainly this week there have been many moments of celebrating the wonders of creation – watching the waves crashing onto the shore, marveling at the geological structures of the cliffs, seeing the pod of dolphins swimming past…..

And of course being away with the family, and celebrating 24 years of marriage – all are special times for which I am so grateful and feel so blessed.

But celebrating life is about so much more than that – and this is where it gets challenging for me. Because in my way of thinking, this celebration isn’t just a personal, self-centred thing, but its something to be shared, and passed on to others.

It’s not just my freedom from condemnation that I want to celebrate, but freedom for others as well. And to do that requires me to live in a way that allows others to celebrate life. Making ethical choices, living lightly on this earth, trying to have only a positive impact on the myriad other lives that intersect with mine at various points along the way.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed at this point – the whole concept of ethical shopping is a bit of a minefield to say the least. But I figure that if each day I can make one choice that helps rather than hinders someone else to celebrate life, then that is a good place to start.

Not quite sure what today’s choice will be, but if it requires me to support the local fishermen by eating yet more locally caught crab or mackerel or similar – then I’m very happy to oblige!

Wishing you a day worthy of celebration, in little and not so little ways, and may you find opportunities to help others celebrate their lives as well.

Poem from Gaza: You have 58 seconds to run

The following poem was posted by Jonathan Cook, a Nazareth-based journalist, on his blog site 'Jonathan Cook, the blog from Nazareth'.

I don't know what the answer is regarding the ongoing and often bloody dispute between Israelis and Palestinians, and I recognise there are two sides to every argument, but this poem, written by a Palestinian lady definitely makes you stop and think

Running Orders

Lena Khalaf Tuffaha

They call us now.
Before they drop the bombs.
The phone rings
and someone who knows my first name
calls and says in perfect Arabic
“This is David.”
And in my stupor of sonic booms and glass shattering symphonies
still smashing around in my head
I think “Do I know any Davids in Gaza?”
They call us now to say
Run.
You have 58 seconds from the end of this message.
Your house is next.
They think of it as some kind of
war time courtesy.
It doesn’t matter that
there is nowhere to run to.
It means nothing that the borders are closed
and your papers are worthless
and mark you only for a life sentence
in this prison by the sea
and the alleyways are narrow
and there are more human lives
packed one against the other
more than any other place on earth
Just run.
We aren’t trying to kill you.
It doesn’t matter that
you can’t call us back to tell us
the people we claim to want aren’t in your house
that there’s no one here
except you and your children
who were cheering for Argentina
sharing the last loaf of bread for this week
counting candles left in case the power goes out.
It doesn’t matter that you have children.
You live in the wrong place
and now is your chance to run
to nowhere.
It doesn’t matter
that 58 seconds isn’t long enough
to find your wedding album
or your son’s favorite blanket
or your daughter’s almost completed college application
or your shoes
or to gather everyone in the house.
It doesn’t matter what you had planned.
It doesn’t matter who you are
Prove you’re human.
Prove you stand on two legs.
Run.

- See more at: http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2014-08-02/poem-from-gaza-you-have-58-seconds-to-run/?utm_source=Digest+August+13%2C+2014&utm_campaign=July+30%2C+2014&utm_medium=email#sthash.qSiMCkPJ.dpuf

Summer holidays – not always sun, sea and sand

With the summer break just over two thirds of the way through it’s been lovely seeing photos of so many friends and their families having well-earned holidays at home and abroad.  But combined with some recent visits I’ve made it has also led me to reflect on the wider experiences of this period in the year

The preferred perception of summer holidays is, as alluded to, one of happy family times, adventures, days out, exploring new places and welcome breaks from the normal routine of long working days and the relentless ‘pinging’ of the e-mail inbox

However there is another side to school holidays, and in particular the longer summer one. A lack of access to free school meals for the children leads to extra pressure to find ways to feed the family. A lack of routine results in the loss of security that comes with that routine. The holidays become a concentrated block of time with none of the usual support systems. The summer break is a time of apprehension for those transitioning from one school to the next, and that apprehension can manifest in many and varied ways. The holidays are also a time of peer pressure to take part in holiday activities – days out, weekend breaks etc that they can ill afford, and that result in debt racking up. The holidays can be a time when the fracturedness of family life comes to the fore.

Last week I went to visit a friend who was leading a summer camp for 40 local children ages 9 – 12. Of those 40, local churches sponsored at least 12 of them because their families couldn’t afford to pay the camp fee themselves. For many of the children, it was their first time away from home, for others it was the furthest they had been from home, even at just 45 miles or so. As I watched and joined in with them exploring the woods, trying out the homemade waterslide, blasting prayer rockets skywards, posing for the photo-shoot and preparing for tent inspection, it was clear what a fun adventure this was for all the children, but for some of them it was also the absolute highlight of the long, ‘boring’ break from school.

In Bulgaria this week a team from the Salisbury, affiliated to the Trussell Trust, are running a summer camp for ex-orphanage young people. The camp is run in conjunction with FSCI (Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion) which CRED is forging a partnership with, and whom I visited a couple of weeks ago.

One of FSCI’s main projects is setting up Houses of Opportunity for young people who have spent their lives living in orphanages but on reaching 18 yrs old have become to old for the orphanages and so are forced to leave. With no preparation given to them on how to live life outside of an institution, and yet with access to a standard care-leaving pot of about £1500, these young people can find themselves adrift and very vulnerable to those who want to take advantage of them, and their money, including pimps and traffickers.

The FSCI Houses are a safe haven, and allow the young person to stay for 2 years whilst they finish their education, get some training and a job, and also learn basic skills for life – cooking, shopping, budgeting and independent living.

The summer camps are an opportunity for the young people from all the FSCI Houses to come together for mutual support and to learn more deeply life skills and skills for life. They are a chance for exploring and processing their thoughts on the way forward, for having some extra mentoring and guidance, and most of all for them to have an actual summer holiday – something that is so ordinary to many of us, but is a new concept to these young people.

Another family that I met whilst in Bulgaria gave another view on the summer break (which is 3 months long starting at the end of May and running through until early September). They are a Roma family, living on the edge of a small town, and very much marginalized by many in the community. They live in a very run-down, two room structure that has plastic bags and sacks filling the many holes in the walls and roof. They cook outside in the summer but in the winter bring the wood-burning stove inside as it is the only source of heat. The family comprises an alcoholic dad, an abused mum, 5 girls ages 16 – 9 and a boy age 5. The youngest son, age 3, lives at an orphanage as the family just weren’t able to look after him, but they’d dearly love to have him back.

For this family, 3 months without school means 3 months when the children don’t get a guaranteed meal in the day. Life is a massive struggle for them all the time, but to be without the access to breakfast and lunch for the children is a huge extra burden on the parents – enough to drive dad further to drink with all the possible outcomes of that.

The family can’t afford child care, so the youngest children either fend for themselves, or are looked after by the oldest girl whilst the mother and the other older girls go in search of seasonal work. For this family, and others like them, summer holidays are certainly not a string of carefree days, lie-ins or days out.

For many families in the UK, the 5 – 6 week summer break from school is too short, and it whizzes by far too quickly. But for others it is plenty long enough, and the thought of the children going back to school, with all the security, routine and support it provides, cannot come soon enough.

As we enter the final week or so of  the summer holidays, may it be a positive time for all, and a time when a few extra special memories are made.