SECRET MISSION!

L to R (Brian, Sweady, Oscar, Augustin
with Michael in the back)

I am blessed to have 4 young men that have been helping me out these last few months! I know I have mentioned Brian, but there is also Augustin, Sweady and Oscar who have, of their own volition, come up asking me how they can help. I have put them to work too! I have them walking with some of the disabled boys, doing ball drills with some and walking many of the boys to and from PT for me to allow me more one on one time with the little guys who need it.

Their help has been indispensable! NOW....just imagine 4 young 8-12 year olds coming up to you asking you "Can I help you???" They are sincere...they have no idea that their help is going to be rewarded in any way other than by BIG hugs and lots of "what would I do without you?''s coming from me! I don't believe I have ever experienced this kind of wanting to help from any child....they continue to teach me about giving and helping.

The drive out!

ADVENT was a time of fasting not only for the Brothers and Sisters, but for the kids as well...fasting from meat, fish, snacks and sugar. The children really didn't complain about this except they REALLY missed the Fish Fridays! Brian, in particular, would beg me to bring him a FISH every time he saw me. I could not, of course, but kept this tucked in the back of my mind.

I told them to "look cool" 

I remembered times WAAAYYY back when in grade school when Fr McNally used to take the kids on "secret missions". I remember always wanting to go on one and how much fun they had...Marty was lucky enough to go quite a bit and would tell me in great detail all the places they went...the best part of it was being pulled out of school to do this!

I decided to continue the Fr McNally tradition and told the boys to get their Sunday best ready to go the next day (12/27/12). I did receive prior approval from the Busega Brother in charge, Brother Sonny, who was very supportive of this. I told the boys I was taking them on a "secret mission". They were jumping around all excited until 30 min later when Sweady and Brian approached me with sad faces saying..."Augustin cannot go" I asked why and they told me "he has no clothes and shoes" I asked the boys to help him find some he can borrow and went to look for poor Augustin who I found sitting on a bench looking wholly despondent. I assured him he was going with us but he said so sadly, "But Sister Carol, I have no clothez or shoesez" I gave him a hug and said..."NO PROBLEM!".

Michael in charge of handwashing

The next day the boys were anxious and kept asking when they needed to change. I gave them the signal and they were all ready and waiting on the bench out front in 10 min flat clean and ready to go. Alex (our car driver) drove up and Michael (our Boda driver) came along as an escort. The boys were all excited trying to guess where we were going...I was taking them out for fish on the shores of Lake Victoria (where I took the PT's)

I asked them where they thought they were going...one responded " To Mango to visit the Good Shepherd Home" another said "dancing" and another said "to your home". I asked if they were hungry and they all shouted YES! Brian reminded me that I had asked them to be hungry so they did not take tea for breakfast. Brian then said "My stomach is paining me I am so hungry!

Smiles, Smiles....

I told them "GOOD! Because I am going to tell you where we are really going" They were on the edge of their seats...." We are going to the Cathedral to Fast and Pray"....there was the sound of stunned silence followed by a very weak.."yay" from the back seat. They knew we weren't going there when we passed downtown so their excitement again increased as they kept trying to guess where we were headed.

and more SMILES!

Just before we arrived, I said "OK...now I am really going to tell you were we are going!" They again got excited..."We are headed to the village to visit some sick Jaja's (grandmothers) and sing to them to cheer them up....hopefully they will feed us" There was still a weak "yaay" from the back seat....but just at that moment, they caught sight of Lake Victoria and knew I was pulling their leg....Sweady hollered out "Sister Carol, you lied to us! We'll NEVER believe you again!" of course he had a smile on his face.

We feasted on FISH as BIG as our plates, sodas and plates of chips (fries). I also brought along Christmas cookies I had made. Despite this, there was a cry for ice cream afterwards...I have no idea where these tiny boys managed to put all that food, but I can tell you the whole way home, they were giggling on a major sugar high...they arrived drunk on sugar and Brother Sonny just looked at me with raised eyebrows...."they had fun" I said and shrugged and smiled.

How they managed to "squeeze in" ice cream is BEYOND ME!

                 It was a GOOD MISSION! I only wish I could take all 200 along with me!