My Cherish Experience: Kathleen Spillman
Kathleen with the girls of the Bulamu House
My ‘western’ mind could not prepare me for the wonder that caught me as soon as we stepped off the plane in Entebbe, Uganda. It seemed as though we were in another dimension altogether. Then, when we drove through the gates of Cherish Uganda, we began to see this new world through the eyes of hope and love, and I knew that my small-mindedness would never be the same. Spending a morning in the rhythm of one of the children's homes, helping peel the matoke that were picked that morning and later steamed and mashed for that day’s lunch, was just one experience at Cherish I will never forget. Observing how each house operates as a family with care and love, and none of them are related by birth, was powerful and the perfect model of what the bible says in Philippians,
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.”
I would sum up my short time at Cherish as saying life there is so simple- yet, it is not easy! I went to be a blessing, but really, I was the one blessed ten-fold! I experienced more joy in my time there than I can measure in a lifetime. I cannot wait to go back!
Written by Kathleen Spillman