Trip to Uganda, Grateful to Generous
11 July 2023
In June, I joined a service trip to Uganda in Africa with a group of College students. Wars, HIV and social injustice have torn Uganda. Many children became HIV orphans. Women have been mistreated. The trip was guided by staff from an NGO named “Watoto”*, which has been providing care and education for these children and equipping women with work skills. Among the places we visited, I was particularly impressed by the students and Principal of the “Tweyanze* School of Excellence”.
When we arrived at the school, the students put up a dancing performance to welcome us. They were overwhelmed with joy as we gave them a suitcase full of old storybooks we brought from Hong Kong. Their gleaming eyes reflected how grateful they were. The Principal is a woman who received assistance from this NGO previously and is truly grateful for the NGO’s help. As she saw the needs of the children in the village of Tweyanze, she decided to give out as much as she could to help as many children as possible by starting a school from scratch. Her generosity comes from her gratefulness.
After returning from Uganda, I reflect on how grateful I am for all that I have received (e.g. a home, necessities, education and employment) and how I may be generous to those in need. A big thanks to the partnership of the members of the SHHO Service Team (Yan, Ocean, Frank, Chole, Echoes, Anson, Ray, Hannah, Hilary, Anna, Jamie, Victoria and Vinci) and Watoto Team (Sunny and Ison) for making this trip to Uganda possible!
*Watoto and Tweyanze mean children and gratefulness in English, respectively.
