My first visit to Give Hope Ministries occurred in June of 2015 prior to my joining the Board of Directors. I had been involved with the ministry since 2012. My reason for that trip was God’s and Willy’s insistence that I needed to meet the children and teachers so that I would establish a relationship with the ministry. That happened! I came away from that trip knowing we needed a pure, permanent water supply for the children. That came to pass in 2016 with the drilling of a water well which has become a blessing to the Give Hope ministry and the local community.
This trip, I went as a Board of Directors member, to review the current facilities and look at possible future needs. We are currently at least two classrooms short of space, we are short of orphan housing and the Busia Community Church needs a bigger home.
For the trip, I took 5 suitcases of school supplies, exercise equipment including 24 soccer balls, clothing for 58 orphans and 150 Beanie Babies. I had taken the same amount of Beanie Babies in 2015 when the school enrollment was 150 but now the school has 305 students. They had been a huge success and I felt the teachers would figure out a way to use them to their best advantage. Little did I know they would cause a near riot.
On the 4th day at the school, my daughter Aimee and I unpacked the 5 suitcases so we could do a clothing distribution to the 58 orphans that are supported by the school. We divided up the materials so the teachers could see what other items we had brought. The Beanie Baby pile looked impressive and it drew the attention of the students as we did the clothing distribution in one of the classrooms. The clothing distribution went well with Aimee matching clothing sizes to the boys and girls. Every orphan got at least one new outfit. The students were very well behaved and patiently waited their turn as it took a while to fit everyone.
At this point, Willy Ouma, School Founder and Director, felt it would be great idea if we also distributed the Beanie Babies. Having seen what had happened in 2015, several of the teachers and myself strongly recommended he not do this. He was not to be dissuaded. He grabbed an armful and headed outside. Classes were over for the day, so you had children ages 4 to 14 outside. When Willy tossed out the first Beanie Baby pandemonium broke lose. Every student headed for Willy to get a Beanie Baby. After the first few minutes, I thought Willy was going down under the crush of children rushing him. It turns out he was trying to protect some of the smaller children. Aimee tried to follow Willy’s lead, but wisely stayed in a classroom doorway so she avoided some of the crush. God protected all, no one was hurt, but I saw some pretty amazing athlete feats by some of the boys jumping a fence trying to get to Aimee.
After the craziness died down, Willy had a comment that summed up the situation: “That was not one of my better ideas”.
God is good. We had an amazing visit that was richly blessed. God is doing great things at Proverbs Junior.
Richard Zander
Richard is one of the Board Members who went on the August 2019 trip to BUSIA with his daughter and the Founder/CEO Willy Ouma. This is his Joy as seen through his eyes on what GOD is doing. His favorite response to the amazing events is “God is Good” and that is a fact.