A good day! (7/23/19)

Today was a very informative and emotional day for all of us! We started with mass at the oblate community chapel bright and early. Afterwards, we visited the mother’s milk program on the mission grounds. We heard many stories of how the program began from Father Kennedy. The holy cross sisters were the one’s that originally started the program in the 1940’s at the hospital. In 2002, it became independent from the hospital, and brother Max and Father Kennedy began running it until 2007, when the Loretto sisters took it over. It continues to grow to this day! The program helps babies for many different reasons, including mother’s who have sores on their breast, mother’s who have passed away and those who may be affected by HIV/AIDS. There are currently about 80-100 babies in the program, but they are continuously being admitted and discharged. All of the babies and parents were introduced to us, and there was one story that really impacted us. There was a father and the maternal grandmother that were caring for the baby. They walked 7 DAYS, there AND back. That is 14 days of travel to receive formula for their baby that would last them 3 weeks. They will have 1 week of rest before having to make the long, tiring journey again. Jess, Jenna, Emily and Claire spent most of the day in heaven holding babies. Thanks to our donors, mother’s milk will be able to continue helping hundreds of babies each year. This program will always hold a special place in our hearts! After lunch, we traveled to Kalambwe to see the church that was built by the mission team in 2015. We were greeted in the road as we pulled in! They sang to us and we all danced together. We were gifted with a goat and a chicken! We then traveled down the road to Simakumba, where we attended mother’s milk yesterday. We got to see the church that was built there. Recently, the Love for Lukulu donors helped provide a new iron sheet roof for this building. We were also gifted a chicken in this village! Steve got to accept it! Following this, we travel to our last stop for the day, Kayeo. This is a small village in the bush. The locals are currently building a church there and this is one of the more recent projects that our donors have sponsored. They are about half way done with the church and we can’t wait to one day see the finished product! The girls got to hold 2 different sets of twins from this village! Overall, it was a very touching day and we can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip has to offer!