Light on Uganda

Today I wanted to share the story of one of our Massage Therapists, Jillian Strobel, and her journey to Africa.  She left last year to pursue what she felt was her calling and now she is back in Kalamazoo. Here is a taste of her amazing journey.

"For the past 9 months I've had the privilege to do Missionary work in Uganda, Africa. I went by myself to Uganda and worked with two different organizations. One of them is called Amahoro Children's Home. This organization is focused on housing orphan children, educating them and helping them with any of their needs. I got to spend 5 months teaching the kids, playing with them and having one on one counseling with some of them. This group was amazing! I also got to work with another organization called Kyampisi Childcare Ministry (KCM) which focused on helping Children that have been victims of Child Sacrifice. I was exposed to a whole different world at KCM, not knowing much about Child Sacrifice, I learned a lot and got to be around the kids that have gone through these horrible experiences. I got to befriend them, help them, encourage them, etc. It was an honor being there, working so closely with them and I now get to help expose to the world, through progressively writing a book about what is actually happening in Uganda, the struggles and the hardships. Also to show the world that Ugandans are a people with more love, joy, strength and peace than you can ever imagine. There is something so special about them...there is something so special about Uganda. It was a very rewarding experience that I will never forget. I even got to use my massage knowledge/skills to help a little boy (a victim of Child Sacrifice) recovering from surgery, using techniques I knew for water physical therapy! It was so cool!
Moving forward, I am continuing writing, and also still working on projects with some of my Ugandan friends. My encouragement to you is if something has been placed in your heart to do, don't just sit and think about it. Do it. Your whole world can change just by taking a small step."
-Jillian Strobel

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