Yearning to see the children's faces once again

Firstly - my apologies for the lack of updates - life sometimes gets far too busy!

Exciting news - we leave Canada June 19 enroute to Uganda again.  This time Alicia and I will be accompanied by my beautiful and industrious wife Susan, plus Jeffrey, who was Alicia's classmate in early public school years.  I can stay just two weeks in Africa, but Sue & Jeffrey will stay one more week and Alicia will remain 5 weeks in total.  On top of that, we will be joined by Nadine, Dan, and their 3 teen/young adult children:  Jaclyn, Laura & Matt.  They arrive a week after us and will return with Sue & Jeffrey.  The size of our contingent is evidence of the enthusiasm and devotion which Victoria has instilled for her cause in our Kawartha Lakes community.

So much has happened in the past 16 months - I hardly know where to start - I'll offer a high-altitude perspective - apologies if I missed any important items.

Alicia stayed two weeks after me in Feb/13 and bonded very strongly with Victoria and the kids.  Rainy season hit and the roof leaked on Arnold's bed, so Alicia took to bringing him in to sleep with her.  The night she left for the airport he ran after the car screaming and took a long time to console.  Alicia returned for a month last summer and this time they distracted Arnold while she departed for the airport.  Victoria has named our daughter the "Canadian Ambassador for BKU".  She was charged with guiding and orienting new visitors and volunteers at the home and made herself useful in very many ways.  We are amazed how this experience has served to mature Alicia and I'm sure has contributed to her amazing performance in first year at College (Dean's list - way to go, girl!!!).

Alicia's photos from her solo trip

Baby Don - he's a toddler now!

Esther

Alicia selfie with friends

We stayed in touch with Pauline Greenlick & Louis Picard who live in Pittsburgh and lead the BKU foundation in the USA.  To get to know them better, Sue and I spent a weekend at a B&B in Niagara-on-the-Lake with them and were joined by a delightful young couple, Marie & Martin Pinto.  Martin is the son of the man who co-founded BKU with Victoria, and Lou had taught with Manuel in Uganda during his university years with the peace corps.  Both Martin and Lou told us fascinating stories of what they had witnessed over the years in that beautiful but troubled country.  Marie was born in Haiti but grew up in Montreal.  She and Susan hit it off famously.  Martin is a trained family doctor who is now practicing in Ontario.

Marie & Susan giggling over old photos

Victoria compares Balsam Lake to Lake Victoria at her September visit

Martin & Pauline do "Canadian Gothic" with our new friends from the farmfest that I only imagined

Can I take him home, Martin?

Pauline & Lou at Fenelon Falls

Our little group of friends back home were very enthusiastic about BKU and the children, and, spearheaded by the energetic Maurice LeClair, pushed us into arranging a fundraising night in September.  We rented a hall, solicited donation auction items for sale, and furiously tried to flog tickets to our network of acquaintances.  Our good friends from Balsam Lake, Tim & Gina, donated airmiles to bring Victoria to Ontario for the gala, and our new friends Lou, Pauline, Marie & Martin made the trek to Lindsay.  There was a hugely generous outpouring of donations - almost 100 people attended and we raised the amazing sum of $10,000 which Victoria used to purchase a minivan for the children's home.  No longer will we wave goodbye to 5 children without helmets piled on a boda-boda heading off to school in the mornings.  The BKU van saves Victoria transportation costs and earns income when let out for hire.

I'm sure we can pack in even more riders!

While in Lindsay, Victoria completely won over Susan who spoke of nothing else for a month after that great lady's departure.  Victoria gave presentations at the 3 high schools in town, stimulating Jeffrey and Jaclyn to make the journey to Uganda with us this summer.

In November we organized a fashion show fundraiser involving Cathy Allan Ladieswear and the Cat & the Fiddle pub (I say "we", but it was the business ladies Lisa & Liz who did all the work) which was a great success.  Susan was heartened by the many people who said they had a wonderful time and wondering when we will do it again (October 2, 2014).  Maurice has initiated another auction/dance fundraiser for September 26th at the Lindsay Armouries.

Glamour rocks!

Denise with that foxy over the shoulder look

Some of the models were much too shy

Pam does patterns

Sue & Liz with John, our talented musician

Lisa's rarely seen the Cat & the Fiddle so packed

City of Kawartha Lakes residents now sponsor fourteen of the Uganda Bright Kids!  I am continually amazed by the generosity & loving nature of our friends and neighbours.

Victoria had an influx of new children over the winter, some with the most heartbreaking of stories.  Her number of charges has now grown from the 69 when I visited to over 90!  We sent money from fundraising to help her purchase beds, mattresses & blankets for the new kids.

Jaclyn and Jeffrey organized a benefit dance at the Lindsay Armouries and raised $1500 in May.  Later that month we held a yard sale at Dan's business place and raised a similar amount.

The young folks take up the BKU cause with enthusiasm

Donna, my sister, heads for the baked goods first

Almost everything sold - we had very little to cart away at the end of the day

So, altogether we have almost $5500 US which we will bring to Uganda.  That money will be used to purchase building materials and supplies for the home.  Again, none of the funds we raised from these efforts will be applied to travel or expenses for volunteers or Victoria herself.  I have posted summaries of donations, fundraising & transfers to BKU on the facebook group which I encourage you to join:  "Friends of Bright Kids Uganda".

Victoria has plans to put us to work constructing an addition to the small medical clinic building.  Susan has dreams of buying/constructing shelving and bins for the dormitories to provide badly needed organization and storage.  I have installed "Oscar", an open source medical records program developed and maintained by a team at McMaster University in Hamilton, on a laptop which I shall take and leave with Rose after training her on the program.  Spent tons of time the past month installing Linux and learning both the operating system and the medical records program.

Pauline and Lou will be in Uganda at the same time we are there, so it will be great to connect with them again.  Durga Malepati is a pediatrician from Pittsburgh area who will also be arriving at BKU later this week.  Since I have been out of family medicine for 8 years or more, my knowledge base is getting a little outdated and I will be thrilled to have her available to lend her skills and expertise to the clinic function.

Pauline has completed production of a documentary movie about Victoria and BKU which is truly heartwarming.  We hope to offer viewings in Lindsay over the summer and fall.  I told her that it's a great tribute to Victoria & Manuel, the children, and humanity in general.

I'll do my best to keep up regular blog postings over the next couple of weeks.  Perhaps Susan, Jeffrey or someone else will continue after I return.  Thanks for your attention and encouragement.