He is Eight Years Old
Posted on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 @ 19:34 Innocent and his ten year old brother Robert live in the bush with only a dog for protection to keep away the snakes, and the monkeys, and those who know they are alone.
Click
here to read more about Innocent and all you helped to provide for our Village2Village Project children this year.
Many blessings for a joyous Christmas, a wonderful holiday season and a peaceful New Year!
Laurie Kroll, Director, V2V
Posted on Sun, 23 Aug 2009 @ 17:32by Christen Kroll Sometimes people use the word "miracle" lightly.
This month bore witness to a head on collision between a tractor trailer truck with no headlights and our new van, carrying James Mutaka Kroll, V2V Program Manager and my older brother. The miracle? He survived.
My name is Christen Kroll, and I'm a Village2Village volunteer and Laurie's oldest daughter. I've traveled to our village three times in the last four years, lived in Uganda for a summer, visited a dying HIV+ mom in her last days in the hospital, and was present when we discovered little Sam and Esther helpless, starving and alone. However, never has an incident hit so close to home for me as to involve someone in my own family. I write you this letter today as a volunteer, a sister, a daughter, and a friend. My mother, Laurie, asked me to write on her behalf, as this subject is frankly very painful to write about.
The accident happened three weeks ago, and hit our family like a hurricane. James called Mom in the midst of grocery shopping and told her briefly that there had been a bad accident and that he needed a friend's number to sign him in to the hospital right away. We knew no more than that, and waited anxiously to receive more news. Eventually we learned James had sustained injuries to his head, ear, jaw, chest, knee, and foot on his right side. While options for surgery were taken on and off the table, we wondered if James would be able to walk again, and if he would have any long term issues from the impact to his head.
As time passed, more details came to light. The van was hit three times, by two trucks and a car. After the crash, bystanders posing as "Good Samaritans" robbed James of his phone, money, camera, extra clothing, and even bottled water intended for the departing Scottish Scout group—Village2Village volunteers. Trapped by the wreckage, and bleeding from his injuries, James could do nothing to stop them. Luckily for James, a man did step in to help, and took him to the hospital in his car. No one who is hurt badly waits for an ambulance in Uganda. Police that came by later took one look at what was left of the van and wrote in their report that James had perished in the crash. Mom immediately sent money for the surgery that seemed imminent. Our emergency fund was empty, but emergencies are never convenient.
Thankfully, none of the children were in the car, and no one else was seriously injured. While the van is damaged beyond repair, we are covered by insurance, and are doing everything that we can on our end to procure new transportation. While it certainly is a blow to lose our brand new van, it is very likely that this new van saved James' life—the old van was not as strong as this one.
After three rounds of x-rays and scans to make sure that he would suffer no long term effects from the impact, it was determined that James does not need surgery, though he is still quite sore, tires easily and is shaken up from the incident. He has been recuperating at the "House of Love", our home base in Kampala which is the residence for Sam, Esther and Jane, and hopes to visit the village in the next week.
So where does this leave Village2Village? Two visiting American volunteers helped the staff handle everything in the village while James was incapacitated. They continued the construction on the House of Joy kitchen building and worked with the primary school curriculum: evaluation and remedial tutoring of the kids. We are grateful that they accomplished so much and were such a support to Village2Village in a time of crisis…James said it relieved so much pressure to know they were continuing the work.
Sam and Esther are doing well, and the secondary students have three weeks of vacation before their next term and are heading back to the village for "Holiday Program." All are continuing with their studies, and visited James in Kampala for a few days on the way home, thanking God that he is alive. Transportation for all of these children from five different schools, James and our volunteers was handled by rental vehicles and public transportation. The van is in the insurance company garage, awaiting a decision on replacement. We hope it comes soon.
In order to manage James' considerable and urgent medical needs we are struggling to meet expenses at a time of year typically low in donations and high in expenses. If another emergency happened, we would not have the funds to respond as rapidly.
In the wake of something like this, all that I can feel is gratitude. I'm so thankful that James is safe, alive, though maybe a little worse for wear. It certainly is a miracle.
So thank you. Thank you for caring about us: our family and Village2Village. We appreciate your prayers and your support that we depend so much upon to get through circumstances like these.
May God keep His hand on you as He has on our family.
Christen Kroll, Village2Village Project volunteer
Project from Scotland
Posted on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 @ 10:26 
30 Scottish Explorer Scouts from the South Morningside Unit descended upon Serere, Uganda and have left the little village better than they found it.
July marked V2V's sixth anniversary in reaching out to orphans and vulnerable children in rural Uganda, and the teens from Edinburgh helped to make it a very special occasion.
The scouts, aged 14-18, who arrived safely back home in Scotland this morning after a three week visit, prepared for two years for this trip. Three weekends were spent home in Scotland building teamwork, learning construction skills and even how to shower and wash clothing with only a basin. There was also a lot of fundraising, and a very detailed logistical plan. They lived up to the scout motto, "Be Prepared"! The scouts divided their time between working hard at the Village2Village location in northeastern Uganda, and tourist activities around the country such as spotting wild animals in a national park, rafting on the Nile River and visiting the Ugandan Parliament. They had a wonderful time with the V2V children, who visited them after school and watched their progress in building a beautiful playground--perhaps the only one in the entire district. It was designed by one of the scout leaders with materials all donated and purchased locally by the scouts.
A two story wooden play castle is complete, and is the tallest building in the village! It will double in the evenings as a lookout for the V2V night watchman.
The playground is done and they have put plaster and two coats
of paint on our "House of Joy" kitchen building which was built through gifts from other V2V supporters. The scouts also built a banda style
conference building for the V2V staff--with a grass thatched roof and open
sides for private discussions away from the lively children's center. Thatching skills were taught to the scouts by one of the local professional builders/ thatchers. The group left many tools, a freezer and a gas cooker for V2V--all luxuries that will be greatly appreciated in the months and years to come a Village2Village continues to serve the impoverished community.
Even in scorching heat the group worked together with enthusiasm and fun, and they had a
local camporee with 40 Serere scouts on their final night in the village, presenting each with a new uniform. In the evenings, the group shared games and stories together, and there was even an
"international volleyball tournament"...victory went to the locals. Camping took place in tents on the V2V land, which was recently fenced and secure.
At a big party on July 21st, the Scottish scouts "handed over" the playground to Village2Village, and the Ugandan national papers covered their visit. At the end V2V kids, Serere scouts and visitors alike got to play on the playground and there was a flag parade down the street to celebrate. As in every Ugandan celebration, music and dancing played a big role in the fun. All the visiting teens had a homestay experience in grass thatched homes with V2V families during their stay in the village and it was a highlight for many. The Scottish troop departed the village on the 22nd for a few days of sightseeing and craft shopping in the city before donning their kilts for the flight home last night. Thank you, South Morningside Explorer Scout Unit for your wonderful gift!
