Good News!

I want to say a huge thank-you to everyone who was so generous and gave money towards Jackie and her family. We have raised enough for a plot of land, a house, a kitchen, a latrine, and then some! I haven't dropped of all of the money yet, but I'm going to tell the school to use the extra in whatever way will most benefit Jackie.

The school was so excited, and thankful, and even sent a special thank-you letter to us! We're expecting to hear more news about the family soon, so that will be good.. they might be sending us a picture of the family with their house once its built, so I'll keep you updated.

Another exciting note was that I recieved a letter from Jackie the other day, along with (first time ever!) a letter from her parents! I was very excited.

Jackie is so sweet, as always. I won't put both the letters on, but I will put a portion of each.

Jackie wrote:

"Hi, my aunt, Erin,
I sent you greeting in the name of the lord Jesus- I am your daughter Namulindwa Jackie whom you love very much. Let me frist thank you for the money you are paying for me in Kibaale Community Primary School.
I also thank you very much for a hand ring and letter that you sent to me. I gladly recieved the gift, and it was just so nice and marvelous!
...
It really feels too hot in summer here in Uganda. I have consulted and I have been told that the temperatures are about 42degrees C right now. In winter temperatures can fall to 5degrees C.
...
I appreciated the photo of you and the nice birthday card that you gave me. You are nice!
God be with your life,
Jackie"

By hand ring, she means bracelet- I'm assuming that was part of the translation, not her literal words. :) I love how she went and researched the weather for me.. I think I made a passing comment in the last letter, something like, "Here in Canada it is starting to get cold. Is it still hot in Kibaale?" She's so cute! :D

This is the picture she sent with the letter:

Her parents wrote: (I am writing exactly what they wrote, spelling and all...their English is actually extremely good, as they wrote this themselves, without the translator!)

"Dear Erin Wiebe,
It is high time now to appliciate for what you are doing for Jackie and the family. In fact you have written many letters without repply as a family. You have now written six letters since you started sponsoring Jackie.
We appliciate so much for the gifts you are sending Jackie...
We as a family, we were very excited to hear that jackie got a good sponsor like you!
...
We hope you family is doing well and we are praying for you.
May God give you what you like most and help you in all you are trying too achive.
It is now time to pen off may God keep you for ever and ever, hopping to heare from you as a family stay well
C. K.- father
N. H.- mother"

I love getting letters, and I hope to get more soon!

I have just sent a letter in reply, and a letter to Jackie, and Reagan. I also sent each of them an outfit (Jackie a dress, and Reagan a shirt and shorts) with a teacher from my school who is going out there.

Hopefully he will bring letters back with him!

Urgent Prayer Request for my Sponsor Child

Last night I was checking my email, and decided to check my "junk email". The one that I put for different websites, or online orders; the one that all my facebook emails go to. I only check it occasionally, although after last night, I realised I should probably check it more often!

I was going through it, deleting all the junk emails, when I came across one entitled "More about Namulindwa Jackie's living situation."

I was so excited, as I love to get news about my sponsor children, so I opened it immediately.

What I read horrified me. The following is the email I was sent by administrative assistant for Kibaale:

Hi Erin,

I wanted to give you an update on Namulindwa Jackies living situation.

A division of the Ugandan govenrnent called NEMA (National Environmental Management Authority)protects the wetlands, lakes and forests. They are are known to be very difficutlt to deal with.For the past two years, they have been issuing warnings to all residents of land near to swamps and Kibaale River. Many plantations have been destroyed by NEMA as they try to reclaim the swamps of Uganda.It has affected many of our KCF families.

Namulindwa Jackie's mother came in to KCF to tell them that NEMA came to their home yesterday and gave them notice that they have two weeks to get off the land and move somewhere else. If they don't move, then NEMA will knock down their home and put the parents in jail.

Because of this situation the family is now in need of a plot of land, a house, kitchen and latrine. The first priority would be a plot of land ($700). We are in no way expecting you to meet this need, but perhaps your family could keep her in prayer for this specific need.

Thanks,
H.S.

PAOS - Adminstrative Assistant

I'm so worried about Jackie and her whole family now, and I really want to be able to do something. I emailed her back, asking exactly how much time they have left, and how much money it would be to provide all the things she mentioned in the email (land, house, kitchen and latrine). Through my experiences with them in the past, I estimated that it would be about $1750 in total, which compared to here in Canada, is nothing.

I'm going to try to raise the money, through my church, and my parent's home group, and friends (and myself of course!). I really want to be able to help, and I know they need all the prayer they can get. If you could please, please pray for them, that they will be able to find land in time, and that I (and others) would be able to help provide for them, I would really appreciate it.
Thanks.

In Memory of a Special Little Friend

On Sunday the 9th, a little 7 yr. old boy from our church passed away. He had been very sick since the age of two, and was in the hospital for these last 7 months. He was in a lot of pain for the majority of the 7 months, but he was so brave throughout it all; he was a very special little boy, and he touched everyone he met.

He was very close to my heart, and I'm really going to miss him. I'm not going to give away any information, or names, because his parents might not be comfortable with that; I just wanted to give that special little warrior the recognition he deserved.

He's definitely in no more pain, which is wonderful, but those he left behind are grieving. Please pray for his parents, as they prepare for his "celebration of life" service, which is this Saturday, and get through this extremely difficult time. And also for all the rest of his family and friends who loved him dearly, and will truly miss him.

Way to go bud. You were the bravest knight of all, and you'll always be my special little hero.

I worked hard, tried out for Les Mis, and....

Got in the chorus. As did most of the other people who didn't get a main role. Haha!

But that's ok. I really wasn't expecting to get a main role, and being in the chorus will still be a lot of fun, especially as all of my friends will also be in the chorus with me.
There really aren't too many main roles for Les Mis, so its fine.

However, there are some areas of the casting that I have some issues with. Mr. J, Mr. M, Mr. R and Mrs. H (the teachers in charge of the musical, and the casting) have all said that the priority for roles goes Gr 12, then Gr 11, then Gr 10, then Gr 9. That way, the grade 12s, who will never have another chance again, will have a better chance of getting a main role, and the younger grades, who still have more years ahead of them to be in other musicals will still have fun, but give more of the grade 12s a chance. Well, this is what is supposed to happen.

So imagine everyone's surprise (kind of.. I'll explain in a minute) and disgust, when a grade TEN got the role of Cosette, one of the more major roles in the whole play. Now, this grade 10 is very nice, and does have a good singing voice, but she is also a known favourite of 2 out of 4 of those teachers (the 2 teachers with all the say in this matter- the other 2 are supposed to have a say in it, but everyone knows they don't!).. as were the rest of the people cast as main roles. I'm really not going to mention any names, as its not anything personal against those people.. I'm sure they'll all do a great job. And its certainly not because I didn't get a big part that I'm saying this.. like I said before, I wasn't expecting a main part. Its the fact that the teachers have favourites, and they make it well known to everyone who those favourites are that really gets to me.

I know its bound to happen, that teachers will pick favourites, but when that affects the entire school, I don't think it's right. There were several grade 12s who were excellent in both their auditions and their call backs, worked extremely hard for it, and are well known for being wonderful at both singing and acting, that not only did not get the part they were trying out for, but did not get any part at all.

All this to say.. I really don't think a school should run on favouritism. Having said that, I'm still really excited about doing it! It'll still be a really fun experience, and we'll get to sing the songs, and dance, and get cool costumes!! lol.. the only downside is the amount of rehearsals we have to attend. The first one is tomorrow, and its from 3-9:00! We also have October 4 and 5th off, along with Thanksgiving weekend, and we have Rehearsal ALL day on BOTH those days (not Thanksgiving.. the Pro-D days)! So that part kind of sucks, but oh well. It'll be fun!

And I just want to emphasise again that I was not complaining because I have a personal dislike against the people who were cast.. for the most part I like them, and I think they'll do great. And I was also not complaining for my own sake, because I wanted a role... I hope it didn't come across that way. Sorry if it did! :S

Oh, and on another note.. my brother also tried out, for the part of Gavroche, and I'm pretty sure he made it! They are going to have 5 young Cosettes, and 5 Gavroches (which is stupid, and makes it really hard for rehearsing, in my opinion), but Josh is most likely one of them, which will make it even more fun! They still haven't told them for sure, but all the teachers we've talked to have said that they're sure that Josh has a role, because the "judges" were all talking about how awesome he did! Aww, I'm so proud of him.. especially since I taught him the song (Gavroche's song- Little People), and all his actions, which they said were very well done! Yay for Erin and Josh.. what a team! :P

Egypt!!!!

Some of you might know that I applied to go on an outreach team with my school.. well, I just found out today that I'm on Team Egypt!! Yup that's right... in springbreak, I'm going to be going to Egypt!! I can't believe it, I really can't! Oh man, I'm so excited!!!!!

I've made a blog for my trip (already.. can you tell I'm excited? :P), so there's more details on there:

http://erin-egyptandbeyond.blogspot.com

Check it out! :D

My Cousin's Wedding

Here are some of the rest of the pictures from my cousin's wedding in 2002. I was 11, so I was a little old to be a flower girl, but a little young to be a bridesmaid, so I was a Junior Bridesmaid! :D I felt so important... but it was a lot of fun. Megan was another flower girl, and Josh was the ringbearer... Ayana and Moses weren't with us yet!
My uncle is a photographer, and these are some of the pictures from his website.
If you want to see more, I'll try to find the link to his site, and post it on here soon. But for now, enjoy!

Wasn't she adorable!!

My cousin Chris (younger brother of the bride).

Rachel, my cousin and her husband Jon.

The whole wedding party.


I love this picture.. its so cool! Look at Megan's face! :D


Josh hanging out.


Me, Megan, Josh, Rachel, and Jon.


I love this picture too... its just a cute shot!

Josh and another cousin, Scott (not brother to any of the wedding party)


During the ceremony.

My brother, always the comedian... Jon's full name is Jon Schmidt, so Josh went up during the reception and sang "John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt" a few times! :D


Jenna (my cousin, and younger sister of the bride) and Josh at the reception.

Something wierd is happening with my Blogger, so if the spacing in between the pictures is all messed up, I did not to it intentionally.. its Blogger's fault!!

Picture of the Week

We're on our way to Whistler (leaving in 2 minutes!), as our last little holiday before school starts. Before we leave, I'm just quickly posting this.

Ok, so it obviously wasn't from this week, but I found it this week, and I just like it so much. My uncle took it at my cousin's wedding in 2002. Megan and I were flowergirls (I still maintain that I was a Junior Bridesmaid!!), and Josh was the ringbearer. This was during the picture session, and everyone was taking a break. There's lots of gorgeous ones that he took, and I'll post more later this week.