HIV Testing and AIDS Orphans ART Day

-------I love this shot of Eveline and her kids with stickers on their heads.

While there were so many young visitors from various countries and backgrounds, it seemed a good time to have an ART Day for the AIDS Orphans. And what a day it was!!
In the morning I tested 75 children for HIV, with help from American Medical Student Christy and backup support from the rest of the group..
-------------Leike(from Holland) got to give out the Gum Balls, while I got to stick their finger!

Lisa (from USA) picks out the Art supplies for her group

Following lunch I put all the supplies on a common table, then assigned a visitor to each circle of about 8 to 10 kids proclaiming that there was no theme, no rules, just go at it and have FUN!
------Kids enjoy gluing torn colored paper to their Artwork

-----The difference in the supplies from now to the first ART Day about 7 months ago, is phenomenal, Thanks to all my generous friends, new and old, as well as the supplies Carolyn from Holland left us when she returned home. We had paints, crayons galore, colored pencils and pens torn colored paper to be glued , and , of course, the kids favorite “stickers”! With an adult in each group, the kids each had a lot more attention and pats on the back than ever before
------------Eveline (from Holland) had the little ones, which suited her, as she is just a little kid in a beautiful woman's body.

-------We even had some visitors from Sweden for the day, so there were helpers from the USA, Germany, Holland, and Sweden. Even with all this help, I was terrible busy directing traffic and hanging up the finished products, so I have needed to rely on others for photo taking. I think they did a good job in capturing the mood of the day.
-----I mentioned before how ingenious the kids have been with the stickers, but what is even more winsome is how they use the form from which the actual stickers come from, as decorations in themselves.
----My favorite painting , this time, is an unsigned watercolor of a woman carrying a clay pot on her head.

-----------Beautiful Children show off their artwork!

----As of today, all the visitors have gone. It certainly will be less hectic and less fun but there is so much to do, the time will continue to fly by as it has the last 1 and ½ years, since my arrival in Uganda..
--- Diana, my fellow classmate has already ask me if I am going to “re-enlist” after my three year commitment to Lay Mission Helpers is completed. It seems a bit early to make that decision, nor do I know if the Hospital or the Bishop would want to renew my contract, but I remain open to the possibility of extending my mission here at St. Francis-Mutolere—


Marike (from Germany) enjoys her circle of kids

-----There are still so many stories to be told, most of them yet unlived!.
-----. Nope, God hasn’t finished working on or through me yet-------and I am still so young (smile), I’ve got lots of livin’ to do before a rocking chair on my Arkansas deck will have a stronger pull than serving God’s Children here in Africa.