Gems

Today I went with Felisha and her liason, Paul, to the Gem foundation. This is an orphanage for children with special needs and it has a direct link with Watoto. While she has been here Felisha has been part of the schools outreach programme which has meant she's gone to schools and told them about Jesus. So that's what we were doing, we started by waiting for the rest of the team to arrive so we played with the children, some of which are severely disabled. The most friendly one was a little girl called Mercy, she was born without any limbs but this didn’t stop her, she's still shuffling very quickly around the room with a huge smile and always asking to be picked up! Once the others arrived there was a short talk about the story of Noah's ark which is very basic but is more for the nannies looking after the children. Next comes some music and dancing, which is for the children. Everyone joins in, no matter what their disability, they're either jumping or moving in their wheelchair or even just twitching as they lie on the ground. It was a very eye opening experience seeing children with quite obvious disabilities and seeing what an amazing job the nannies do to look after them.

After this we went for lunch at Downtown and then to see a performance by one of the Watoto childrens choir. They were performing at a school before they embark on their tour around the UK. The kids are so talented, and their stories are so impactful, you can really see how much Watoto changes their lives.

Then it was back to downtown to the craft market for some quick shopping, but not before Paul spotted a guy following us and then reaching for our bags, but he saved us! Judith picked us up from downtown to take us back home. Judith had planned a film night that evening so once we got through all the traffic we went to a, what seemed like a slightly illegal, film store! Then we bought ice cream and popcorn before we headed back. It was a quick dinner before going to Judith's to watch Breakthrough, which is a Christian film based on a true story. We were finished late and then we had to check Felisha in for her flight and she packed quickly. Then it was off to bed for a much needed sleep.Read more