Lyzette Kasigwa and the New Hope Family Home.

I would like to introduce you all to Lyzette. :)

Rose met Lyzette during her previous visit to Uganda 4 years ago, so it was a sweet reunion for them. After hearing from Rose about this precious lady, I was so excited to get to meet her and her lovely family. :) And also get the chance to sit down with Lyzette and hear her story and about her ministry, Hope for Women in Crisis.

Lyzette founded Hope for Women in Crisis after she went through her own crisis of losing her son at birth. As she was home and grieving her own loss, thoughts of the other mothers from the hospital going through the same pain flooded her mind and God revealed to her the ministry he had for her.
To bring hope to women in a seemingly hopeless situation.

So she began Hope for Women in Crisis. They have a hospital ministry where they visit women who have given birth by Caesarean section. These women have most likely been rejected by their families and are too poor to afford the proper medical treatment. A full recovery requires sanitary medical equipment, antibiotics and medication, all of which are expensive. Not only is medical equipment needed, but many of the women are not even able to afford food and water. When the ministry goes into the hospital, they pay for medical treatment, provide food and water for the women, and a lot of times their baby's very first blanket and set of clothes.
But even greater than all that is the love of Christ that they share with all the women, some of whom have lost their baby and are grieving alone.

During our stay in Uganda we didn't have the chance to accompany Lyzette to the hospital, but we did get to visit the the other part of Hope for Women in Crisis' ministry, the New Hope Family Home.

Many pregnant teenage girls in Uganda are rejected by their families and/or boyfriends. At New Hope Family Home those girls find just that, a new hope and a home.
The ministry here provides life skills training, medical monitoring, and counseling.
Life skills training equips the girls with skills they can use to make money and provide for themselves and for their children. A few of the skills they learn include cooking and baking, sewing and tailoring, handcrafting and painting. Some of these young women are even given the opportunity to go back to school to continue their education.
During the girls' stay at the home, they are counseled through spiritual and emotional trauma they may be dealing with. The ministry also tries to reconcile them back to their biological families.

This was probably one of my favorite places that we visited during our stay in Uganda. After meeting Lyzette and hearing about the ways this ministry cares for these girls, we got to meet the girls who are living at the home right now and hold the precious little ones. :)

This is Percy. :) Here I'm holding her daughter Julia.

Julia. :)

John Mark and his mother.

This young 14 year old girl gave birth to twins. John Mark and Gracie just recently turned 1! As you can see from the picture above, they are very small, but they are being well cared for here. :)

Lyzette and this sweet little one. :)

 

those round cheeks. <3

Kyle.

Patricia. :)

Peter, our awesome driver, having a little fun outside while waiting for us. :)

The girl on the right is Sylvia, Kyle's mother. She spoke English well and I was able to talk with and get to know her a little. She wanted to know about my life back in America so I told her about my family and showed her pictures on my iPod. She had lots of questions about my siblings and parents. :) I really enjoyed talking with her and answering her questions.

I think we wore Kyle out with our visit. :)

After a short time, Julia also fell asleep in my arms.

I had a wonderful morning visiting the New Hope Family Home and meeting these precious ladies and their babies. Before we left Uganda we went back to the home one last time to say goodbye and take 2 large totes full of baby clothes, blankets, toys and pacifiers, and diapers that had been donated by Rose's church family back in Idaho. :)

I love the vision that Lyzette has and how she's caring for the pregnant women of Uganda and I pray for God's continued blessings on her as she carries on this ministry that He has given her.

Sarah's Family.

This special lady here on the left is Sarah. She has 3 biological daughters, but looks after over half a dozen more children. We had the pleasure of getting to know this family during our 3 weeks in Uganda and they became very dear friends.

We met them on our first day when we went along with Paul to deliver food to their house. They immediately welcomed us into their home with smiles and hugs. We spent just a short time getting to know them that afternoon, but then made plans to spend a day together that next week. :)

But before we left, of course, pictures. :)
How could we not take time to capture all these beautiful smiles!?

The next Thursday, we were able to spend the whole day out with the kids and take them all swimming for the very first time! Our first stop was the market to buy swimming costumes. :)

Shout-out to Ezra for always taking pictures when no one was prepared. ;)
Except for Chris. Chris is always prepared.

Precious modeling Rose's sunglasses. :)

Then it was off to the Hotel Paradise on the Nile. :)

beautiful girls. :)

Ezra. Swag.

 It was a gorgeous day and it felt so good to be out in the sun. :) 

Chris and Esther.

 

The excitement and joy on Precious's face explains it all. :)

The gang. :)

Yafesi and Ritah.

 Warming up in the sunshine. :)

After swimming for a bit, we took a break for lunch together at the hotel. 

Our view during lunch. The Nile River. :)

And then Peter showed up and joined us!

 Delicious burgers and chips. :)

Selfies. :)

After our lunch break, it was back to the pool for more fun! 

And Andrew made it in time to join us for the rest of our day too. :) 

Back home in Idaho, Andrew is a swim coach.
I think he enjoyed teaching the kids some swimming techniques. :)
I know they loved it.

We had a fantastic day together! I think we all went home exhausted, but it was a good exhausted. :)

It was such a joy getting to spend time with these wonderful friends and building relationships.
We took home many memories from that day. And for us mzungus, we also took with us a more painful reminder that the gorgeous Ugandan sun is harsh and sunscreen definitely washes off when you're in a pool for several hours. ;)
But it was so worth it. And looking back on the memories of that day, I just feel...blessed. :)