See Me? #poetry #uganda #children

I lost my place

my finger couldnt hold

the place in the book

the story that it told

can’t count the days

my fingers arent enough

I play in the dirt

instead of learning stuff

teach me anything

I listen from my heart

I love when you read

we all enjoy the art

dont leave me in the dirt

my clothes begin to stink

challenge my mind

teach me how to think

So many children have been held back from education. In Uganda school is such a privilege. Education helps men and women achieve their dreams.

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Never the Same #Uganda

beauty is always changing

bold colour, broad lines

expect the unexpected

a raindrop fills your hands

smiles big as the horizon

and I wonder

why I ever leave

Cream Meeting Place #photography #Uganda

business meeting

It’s noon

sun radiates on cars and people

place to meet

swamp flower

radiant beauty like the sun

lovely Uganda

I marvel at the beauty of Uganda. Her people are also very industrious. The cars (top picture) are used for meeting places out of the sun. Children also get out of the heat and pretend they are driving even when the cars are stacked on top of each other – think of the view.

Thank you Cee Neuner for a community where photographers share beauty and life… This week’s prompt is cream or white colour.

Clear Weather #unexpected

blue skies

ten boys played soccer

taken by surprise

We never know when disaster will strike. My dear friend was hit by lightening several days before and survived. Sadness mingles with gratitude.

School Daze #children #school #poetry

sharpen the pencils

eraser dust flies

line all the chairs

awaiting new smiles

desks stand empty

no laughter in the air

quiet and lonely

no scrape of a chair

This year there are many classrooms that stand waiting in lonely anticipation for the voices of children…

The Road Before Us #poetry #uganda

Looked over my shoulder to yesterday

time passed in the blink of an eye

the people and memories faded

I never bid them goodbye

I look to the left on this day

all that there is to do

wrap arms around you dear

memory’s time, make a few

I look at the road laid before me

tomorrow’s a wide open land

promise me you will go with me

orange love covers our hands

The unedited photo of Northern Uganda shows a panorama that is rich with children, mamas, papas, grandmothers, grandfathers.

A Dark Day #goodfriday #bethanyandjudah

 

I am Bethany. In the Uganda village I am called  la fofo (is that the right way to say it Lawrence?) Judah was a very lonely lion. All of his pride (that’s a family of lions) had gone looking for water. They must have forgotten to tell Judah where they were going.

Judah wanted a friend, but all the animals would swiftly run away in fear.

Judah was out one morning on his regular walk when he found a most unusual thing. Judah you must tell this part.

“A hmm. I found something that looked like a package or a big seed. It looked dead and that made me sad. I could tell it had fallen from the tree above me. Then a voice whispered in the breeze “take it with you.” It’s hard to argue with the wind. I carried the dead seed back to my cave and set it in a safe place.

Each time I walked past the seed I said, “I will remember you as you should have been – alive and beautiful.”

“That reminds me, this is Bethany again, We are celebrating a day that was the saddest day in history. It is the day that God’s son Jesus gave his life as a ransom (that means payment) for my sin and your sin. The ground shook on that day. The sky was very dark. All of nature mourned his death. They placed his dead body in a tomb and rolled a big stone in front. There was no hope on his friend’s faces. Their master and teacher was gone.”

“How would you feel if you had been there?”

“I would have roared very loud with sorrow and then I would have laid down in front of the tomb to protect it. ”

“I think I would have tried to sing a song to him but it would have been through big tears.”

“As many of us spend some time today thinking about Jesus dying for us, please pray for people who are also suffering (many dying) from this Corona Virus. I have had many friends who have gotten sick and they are not feeling better yet.”

 

“Dear Jesus thank you for loving us so much that you died for our sins. There is nothing we can do but ask for you to forgive us and clean us up from our unrighteousness. What you did on the cross was the greatest gift anyone could ever receive. ”

 

We will be back on Easter day to finish the story about Bethany’s rebirth.

 

This is a continuation of a story that we told (with the Ugandan children helping) about a lion named Judah and his friend a butterfly named Bethany.

 

We wish you God’s grace on this day of remembrance.

 

 

Side Effect of a Pandemic #covid #lackofhealthcare #uganda

Our friends in Uganda already have difficulty having access to healthcare. What is needed in the village centers are midwives and nurses.

People are dying and more will die because they can’t get to a regional hospital.

Women in labor are dying – no transportation available.

Edvard Munch, “Two Women on the Shore,”

Photo credit:

Copyright Munch Museum/Munch Ellingsen Group/ARS, NY 2009″ (too long for Merlin)

Edvard Munch, “Two Women on the Shore,” 1898/c. 1917 or later (1920)

 

Inspired #children #education #africa #ourcall

We  put our heads together to determine the best colours for the Sun.

“It’s hot you will burn up.” He teases as he drops the hot red ball.

“Now this circle is blue and cool to touch.” He holds the ball over his head. “There’s alot of water around Africa.”

“Is it floating?”

“Certainly not.” He moves on with his explanation. “And then this grey circle is the moon. We only have one but some planets have so many.”

“How old did you say you were?”

“I’m 8 on the earth, but I’m 34 on Mercury.” There it is again that teasing smile that says I know stuff.

We have completed our prototype. As he spins the moon around the earth he tells me, “the moon completes one orbit in just under 28 days.”

“Okay, how long does it take the earth to go around the sun?”

“Hmm…”

I mouth – 3 hundred

“300 days”

I hold up 6 fingers

“306 days”

“Close. How long is one year?”

“I know. It’s 365 days.”

“Yes.” I also know that he is teaching me how to make these science lessons come alive.

So now my friend Micah has the facts as he orbits around our classroom/ workroom.

“You sure you aren’t really 34?”

He laughs and runs off with legs that didn’t work several months ago.

“Did I mention you hands are going to be famous!!!” I call out from the porch.

“Yes, I know.” He calls over his shoulder.

*****

I can’t smile enough at the joy that radiates as children learn and thrive in East Africa.

 

10 Years on WordPress #blogging #Thankyou

 

Its a wild ride

this blogging thing

with just a pen

hopefully a brain

we hope and pray

for some success

with all these words

it’s just a mess

I wish you well

as you begin

tales and fantasies

for children spin

 

*****

 

 

Moondustwriter celebrates 10 years of  blogging on Word Press. This poem celebrates the years and the people I have met in the Blogsphere.

As this posts, I will be in Africa doing what I love – teaching the children I write for. 10 years ago this was only a dream now this is an amazing reality.

Thank you Word Press for giving artists, writers, poets a place for venting, a place to fly…

To those of you who have encouraged me to not give up (you know who you are) I’m sending a bouquet of Thank Yous!!!