I opened my Compassion website to find I had a Christmas present. It was another young woman who needed someone to write to her. Meet Miss Rosebell Nshemereirwe from Uganda.
She is 17 going on 18 - yes the Sound of Music was just on TV recently so that song started going through my head- ha. Her birthday is in Feb. She lives with her mom and grandma. Her father has passed away. She enjoys story-telling, singing and reading. Some of her chores include helping in the kitchen, caring for their animals, washing clothes and helping with the garden. The community center provides her with Bible teaching, health education, games, community service opportunities, educational field trips and group discussions while also offering adult literacy programs, health education and parenting skills workshops for her family. Adults that are able to find work in Rweibaare tend to make just $11 per month. I was so excited to add her to my little Compassion Circle that I sent her an email letter as soon as I saw her.
I also received an updated form letter from Purity that shared with me that she sleeps on a bed, gets her food from the market and washes her clothes in a basin. Her actual home is made of wood with a dirt "earthen" floor and has iron sheets on the roof. They have no electricity. In her letter the translator wrote,"Purity is very happy to get this chance to write to you. She is fine and hopes that you are also fine and healthy. She is very happy because in Kenya it is now a rainy season and the place is green and beautiful. She hopes that people will gain enough harvest which has not happened for the last five years. She loves you so much."
My heart was torn a bit by this letter. Though the words are happy the picture she drew for me was not. I asked some other sponsors if they had received drawings like this and was helped in my heart by their responses:
Purity's drawing
Kelli: That is a sad picture. :( Hopefully she will later draw happy people after she's felt your love. The realities of the situations our children are in can be hard to understand. Teresa: My boy in Ghana drew me a picture of a child with skinned knees, a bleeding forehead, and a missing shoe. I asked him what happened to the boy in the drawing, but it wasn't long ago enough yet to have a response. I thought it unusual too. (PS: my boy is 13 years old and quite good at art I think, so I told him that too) Kayla: As a preschool teacher, I know that child drawings are a huge way to learn how a child is feeling. Child psychologists look at drawings a lot to gain insight into what a child is thinking and experiencing in their lives. However, I also know as a preschool teacher, that some children just haven't grasped drawing a smile yet. Many of my students' pictures end up with a straight/angry/sad face, but that is just how they are drawing faces at that moment in their lives. Maybe you could ask why her drawing had a sad face.
So after their wonderful input, I've decided I'll write her and share that her drawing is good and ask her why the girl in the picture she drew was sad. And I think I'll also praise her for coloring so well inside the lines! (which she colored a pre-printed mouse as well).
With 2013 right around the corner, and me on vacation, I think I'll take some time and send cards to all four of the children to encourage them for the bright future God has planned for the New Year!
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