Jerom

Jerom is a sweetie! He likes to crinkle his nose, he likes to play in the sand and he loves to laugh. I remember his sweet voice and the way he would be so eager to get approval. Of course all the kids would say "auntie jessica! auntie jessica! you see!" and hold up their art for me to see but for some reason I could always hear Jerom's voice above the rest! When we went on nature walks he would bring me dirt clots and rocks and weeds haha anything he could find that he could show me! I miss Jerom. He brings me so much joy.

Oscar

 

Oscar is a character! He has the best sense of humor and he is so sooo smart! He teaches all the aunties and uncles new Lugandan words and he loves to pretend he is the teacher. I remember playing school outside with the kids that Oscar would always be the bus driver or the teacher or the dad or basically any other person who got to make decisions or order people around. haha not that he was bossy or anything he just liked being in leadership positions! haha Oscar stole the show any time we did memory verses too! he is so smart and really good at memorizing things and spelling! Oscar could be so sweet too. He would lean up against me and say "I love you auntie Jessica." He was mischievous a lot of times but we all love him! and he pretty much has one of the best smiles I've ever seen.

Don

DONNIE!

Don has the best smile and the sweetest heart. He has one bottom tooth that is growing in and he’s just precious. He had his teeth removed because they were rotting but now the grown up teeth are coming in. until they all get here he uses dentures to help him eat solid food. The dentures are really white and perfectly straight and when the Go Now team came he had them in and they all said they were confused at how perfect his teeth looked before they knew they were fake! Haha Don is 3 years old and he loves to dance and laugh and sing. He is so happy of a little boy and he likes to sit in everyone’s lap and rub their arm hair. Haha Don will start going to school soon but I know he’ll do great because he is so obedient and nice to everyone! It took him a few days to understand the concept of sharing crayons but after a while he was really good at it! He also loves being a helper! Don is so sweet. I still remember his sleepy smile the morning I told him goodbye. Oh Don… You are the sweetest!

Joel

Oh Joel! Joel is a goofy kid. I remember one of the first nights I was there all the kids got new toothbrushes and they ran out of small ones so Joel graduated to an adult sized toothbrush! Haha he was ecstatic. His eyes were so wide and he was so proud it made my heart glow! It was as if he finally reached a sort of manhood. He is the second oldest boy at the Rafiki home and he, like Joshua, is becoming a leader for the rest of the kids. Joel likes dinosaurs and lions. He likes art too! He is really an artist! He is 6 years old and he already understands foreground and background. Pretty impressive! Joel is so sweet. I love tucking him in at night and hearing him say I love you. His smile is so cute. You can tell he is going to be a handsome man one day! Joel is really independent and he’s good at following directions so he was really good at all our art projects and activities. I miss Joel’s sweet curiosity. He would always be asking me more about the things I would teach them or about what I meant when I said something. He is such a sweetheart.

"Come on Come on Come on!"

"Our God is greater
Our God is stronger
God you are higher than any other
Our God is healer
Awesome in power
Our God..."

Joshua

Joshua is my friend. He is 8 years old and really smart. He laughs a lot and is really becoming a leader amongst the Rafiki kids. I love him so much and miss him dearly. That smile of his is so precious. And he likes to sing while doing everything so we get along great! What I miss most about Joshua is his laugh! It’s great. I loved seeing him at school. He is really eager to learn and to do his best and it was awesome seeing him interact with his friends.  Joshua is one of those boys who likes to play outside and get dirty but he also is a thinker. You can tell he really watches and listens to what you say to him. I miss Joshua so much. He is so special to me.