Abby and I have been packing for the past 3 days, getting the most into the 3 suitcases, 50 pounds each. 49.7, 49.8 and 48.0 so far, - have to leave a little as the airline scales are slightly different than mine.
The first picture you have is of the matchbox/Hot Wheels cars, trucks, etc. that all of you donated to my kids. There were a total of 228 vehicles!!! Also, there were 102 stuffed animals (Beanie Babies and small teddy bears). These will be used as allowance prizes and incentives. Thank you all so much. I heard many stories of sacrifice, and wanted to tell you a couple:
one 3-year-old who was busy with TV, came over to see the pictures of my kids, and promptly left the room. After some time, he came back with his dozen or so favorite Hot Wheels and pointed out which car was to go to which boy in the picture.
3 children from one family went through all their things and gave some of their prized toys when they heard that the kids at Cornerstone don't have toys.
I am taking back many legos...we received 40 pounds of various sized legos. I will use these for special times with small groups of kids at my house. They will be great for beginning to teach critical thinking skills.
Many, many of you gave clothing for the kids. Thank you! You can see from the picture that we have a lot - way more than I can take back on this trip. What you can't tell from the picture is that many of the clothes are layered 20 deep on the table. The team that is coming in January will be bringing the rest of it.
I also received 4 world maps and 4 inflatable world globes - those will help so much as we teach the children at school about the bigger world - virtually no schools in Uganda have maps beyond those of their own country.
We got enough underwear for the kids, an ice cream machine for the restaurant, most of the movies I asked for plus many that I hadn't thought about. 31 tennis balls were given, enough for 1 for each child, until a certain little dog found them and took one for herself ;). We got swimming suits, shoes, legos (25 pounds!!), teacher planning books, prizes and toiletries. We actually had so many items donated that we had to use the E! church van to get them up to Washington - it wouldn't all fit in my car!
I'm excited, too, to go back with letters, pictures and videos from students in Texas and Oregon and adults and kids at several churches in Idaho and California.
Many of you bought craft items and calendars to help support the work. Some of you gave monetary gifts. Some of you welcomed us into your homes and families while we were home.
WOW! Thank you all for participating with me in this great venture in Uganda. I feel full and blessed by our Father through you.
Have a wonderful Sunday, and I will be back in touch next Monday from Mbale (unless the electricity is off, the internet isn't working, we can't get to Mbale, or a myriad of other Ugandan reasons ;-).
Love you all!
Laurie
(By the way, we have had to re-order calendars - a great thing! - so, if you didn't get a Cornerstone Calendar and want one, just shoot me an email and we'll make sure to order them for you. They are $20 each and have pictures of the Cornerstone kids, the church, the businesses, etc. They will make great Christmas presents.)
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