Greetings from Wisconsin! We’ve been in our seventh state for a couple weeks now and have so far enjoyed our time immensely. Over the Labor Day weekend we were able to spend a few days at Lake Waubesa Bible Camp in McFarland, WI. We had an incredible three days playing in the water, tackling the obstacle course and zip line and still managed to get in some relaxation time. We thank the camp hosts for providing us with everything we needed for our stay and for coming to visit us a day later at our performance (shout out to Katie!).
We are on the downhill slope of our tour with only 3 months remaining! …And three months to write about seven more awesome kids. I’d like to introduce the fourth child in our Meet the Choir series (check out Henry, Daphine and Julius!) Nambogo Rose!
Rose is our oldest child on tour; she turned 12 on February 20, 12 days before the choir came to America! Rose has been a leader for the girls in the choir and we look to her to set a positive example for the others to follow.
Rose is an incredible dancer and loves to perform! She shines dancing Kiganda, a dance in which the girls shake their hips faster than I’ve ever seen. Rose can often be found dancing off the stage as well, with or without music. Rose also has several solos in the performance and she leads the group in the song, Asante, a ‘thank you’ song sung in Swahili, Luganda and English.
Rose loves waffles, ice cream, chicken and rice. Like most of our kids, she loves to swim and loves to go to school! Rose is in Primary 5 and works very hard to keep up on her studies often doing extra homework without any prompting from Alice (our teacher).
Rose has had the special opportunity to not only meet her sponsor, but to truly get to know her. Laura Wheeler, Rose’s sponsor, works for Childcare Worldwide in the Bellingham, Washington office. Rose has been able to spend the night with Laura and her husband Eric in their home and they were able to come and spend a few days with the choir in Spokane, Washington as well. Rose and Laura have made a habit of communicating via phone or Skype at least once a month. To this day, Bellingham is Rose’s favorite place in the US because it is where her sponsor lives. Laura says of Rose, “She has the biggest most joyful smile I’ve ever seen. We feel so blessed that we could meet our sponsor child—she has certainly changed our lives.”
The bond between Rose and Laura has been so fun to watch develop. The children in our choir love their sponsors whole heartedly and unconditionally. The majority of them have never met their sponsor in person and probably never will but it doesn’t matter. Rose knows that without Laura’s assistance she would be unable to attend school and therefore dream of a future.
Would you consider creating that bond with a child? Your sponsor child will love you simply because you took the time to love them first. Please check out Childcare Worldwide’s list of children waiting to be sponsored here and start making an impact today!
Also, to see videos of Rose and the choir check out our YouTube channel!
Choir
Rose stayed at our home in July… She is everything you have written about her and more! She tried to teach my husband Steve Swahili… That just made the rest of us laugh and we were able to see her infectious smile! God’s blessings on the rest of your trip!
By: Paula Nierengarten on September 12, 2011
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