Our hearts are filled to the brim after witnessing Innocent return home for the first time in 8 years and be reunited with his family! This is his story:
Innocent grew up with his parents and 3 siblings in a small village in Arua about 375 miles from Kampala. In 2000, when Innocent was 6, his parents separated. His dad decided to move to Kampala to find work in the city and told their family that Innocent would come with him to go to a good school. But Innocent was never enrolled in school. Instead, he was abused at home by his uncle and after 2 years, Innocent fled to the street. He lived on the streets of Kampala for 6 years.
This February, Innocent moved into our Transitional Home, where he was counseled and loved by our social workers and House parents as we searched for his relatives.
Upon finding Innocent’s mother, we discovered that she was never told that Innocent ran away. For the past 8 years she believed Innocent was away at school. You can only imagine the pain she felt when we told her the truth.
But her pain was soon replaced by the greatest joy! With the approval of our social workers, Innocent was reunited with his mother and her family in Arua! Friends and neighbors flooded their home as news spread that their son has returned!
We are overjoyed to finally see our dream of family restoration taking place! Innocent is the first of many children whose families we will see restored! Thank you for believing in this dream and helping us make it a reality.

Flu strain A, B, C, XYZ and everything in between has littered my Facebook feed this winter season.  It's everywhere.  I've watched as people lament getting it, their kids getting it, and a hundred home remedies to stop it or make it better.  Influenza can be deadly in a small portion of the elderly and very small children in the USA, but for the vast majority of people who get the flu, they feel like trash for a few days, then start getting back on their feet.

Where we live, in Uganda, Malaria is everywhere.  It makes up nearly half of all diagnoses and treatments from hospital and clinic visits.  It is the single highest cause of death, making up 1/3 of all deaths, globally.  Forty-two Ugandan children die every day due to Malaria.  In fact, during the time it will take me to write this blog, a child here will have taken their last breath because of a disease that is preventable and easily treatable.
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