Smile Africa has found a place in the heart of AIM short-termer Rhonwen Hamer from Melbourne, Victoria. Rhonwen went to Smile Africa in Tororo, Uganda in November 2011 for a 6 week short-term ministry as part of a group of people from various AIM mobilising regions. Rhowen is 19 and is a dental nurse and attends St Alfred’s Anglican Church. She has just completed her second year of a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University in Melbourne. She hopes to do a masters degree in primary education from 2013.
She has a passion to disciple children. Smile Africa is a partner ministry of AIM with a long-term objective of caring for children at risk. They operate a drop-in or day center for vulnerable children in Tororo. The ministry was established by Ugandan, Pastor Ruth, and is open from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 4pm.
About 400 children are involved in the program which provides a safe place for children who would otherwise be on the street. “My first week here comprised of orientation with AIM. I was based in Kampala at the AIM guesthouse where I was shown around town and taught how to use the public transport here in Uganda. I was introduced to the work that AIM do throughout Africa and given an introduction to LAMP, which is a method of learning a language. The week was really helpful in giving me a taste of the different training that the longer term missionaries go through and it gave me a chance to rest before arriving at Smile.”
Rhonwen said after orientation she took the five-hour bus ride to Tororo in north-east Uganda, close to the Kenyan border. “It has been great getting to know the group of girls that are here with AIM, they have been fantastic, showing me around and helping me adjust to life in Tororo and working at Smile. The girls are all older than me and are from the US and the UK, and it has been great to have their support. The girls have been here for several months and have already created many relationships around Tororo.
“Because of this, it has been easier for me to develop relationships with the staff at Smile and the staff at the hotel that we live in. The other night we had a great opportunity to share our faith with the manager of our hotel. He is a Muslim and although he is committed to converting one of us to Islam, we chatted with him for several hours about God.”
Rhonwen said that from the minute you walk through the gate at Smile you are swamped by children. “Because it is the holidays there are less kids than usual, however there are still about 200 each day. This also means that there is no school, and so there is lots of chaos. Most of the children who attend SMILE are Karamojong people, an unwanted people group here in Uganda. Several of the children live at Smile, because they are orphaned, but most of the children live in the surrounding villages.”
January 2012
