The Day I Met Namanya Daphine

In honor of {Throw Back Thursday}, this Thursday I am posting from our blog The Hutcheson Headline that we used while living in Uganda from 2012-2013. The post below was originally published by me on January 25, 2013. You can view it here if you'd like to see the original version.


For many years I have been sponsoring a little Ugandan girl named Daphine through Compassion International. Let me take you back to that wonderful day when I got to meet her for the very. first. time after years of letter writing.....


Last week we had the amazing privilege of meeting the little girl we sponsor through Compassion! I've been sponsoring Namanya Daphine since August of 2008, before Drew and I even got married. And since we've gotten married we've been sponsoring her together.

Daphine will be 12 years old in February and lives in a small town called Maziba, about 6-7 hours away from where we live in Kampala. Compassion gave us the option of either traveling to visit her for the day or paying for her and a companion to come to us for the day. With two small kids, 14 hours in the car didn't sound very appealing so we decided to have Daphine come to us!

She arrived early Monday morning and my first thought was "She is SO beautiful!!" It was an incredible thing to meet her for the first time after 4 1/2 years of writing to her and only seeing/sending pictures. We were so excited! Daphine does not speak a lick of English so thankfully she had a translator with her. The translator told us that Daphine had never been out of her village and was shocked by the big city of Kampala! 

Meeting her for the first time!!

Isaiah was so excited about showing her all his toys, especially his magnetic cars.

Daphine brought us a sweet gift of fruit and a basket.

After some tea and cake at our house we took Daphine to the big mall downtown and took her to see a movie in the theater! We also had Isaiah with us and it was his first time seeing a movie in the theater too. He and Daphine were both completely glued to the screen the whole time. It was awesome to see their faces!!! =)

We had some gifts for her as well.

Opening up her gift bag!

She was so excited!

She loved her new shirt, a hand-me-down from my sister, Adelynn.

We got her a handwriting book to help her practice writing her letters.

She said her favorite gift was her English dictionary!

When we returned from the mall we enjoyed an African style meal that our house help prepared. Daphine had no idea how to use a fork so she used her hands! All too soon it was time to say goodbye. We really enjoyed our visit with Daphine and feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to meet her! She is a beautiful girl inside and out and we look forward to our continued communication with her now that we know her more personally!!

Here I was telling her translator to tell her how proud I was of her for being such a helpful, studious girl who loves Jesus!

Saying goodbye after a wonderful day!

If you are interested in sponsoring a child through Compassion click here to locate waiting children. Your tax-deductible contribution of just $38 a month connects a child living in poverty with a loving, church-based Child Sponsorship Program.

Your support provides:

• Medical checkups, which often save lives
• Nutritious food
• Health and hygiene training
• Educational assistance
• Access to special services like surgeries and disaster relief
• Mentoring to help children discover their incredible value as God’s children
• Most important of all, your sponsored child will hear about Jesus Christ and be encouraged to develop a lifelong relationship with God.

When you sponsor a child, you'll receive your child's photo, personal story and a child sponsorship packet by mail in approximately 10 days.

When children find out they've been sponsored, the joy they feel is indescribable. Just knowing that someone across the globe cares means more than you can imagine. Sponsoring a child in need will profoundly change the future for your child, and will change your own life as well.

Madness at Mandela Stadium: Happy Birthday Drew!

In honor of {Throw Back Thursday}, this Thursday I am posting from our blog The Hutcheson Headline that we used while living in Uganda from 2012-2013. The post below was originally published by Drew on June 10, 2012. You can view it here if you'd like to see the original version.

Since today's Throw Back Thursday also happens to be my sweet husband's birthday, I thought it'd be fitting to post one of his old posts for today. Drew wrote this post after going to his first soccer game in Uganda almost exactly 3 years ago (June 10, 2012). 

I know Drew wishes he could be at a sporting event in Uganda for this birthday too. We all miss Uganda so much! But we'll celebrate here in Florida and hopefully have just as much fun.

Happy Birthday, Drew!! I'm so thankful for the blessing you are in my life and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you! 

Madness At Mandela Stadium!

This past Saturday, my father-in-law (dad), and Janae (one of Amber's little sisters) had an incredible experience: We went to a 2014 World Cup qualifier match at Mandela Stadium and watch the Uganda Cranes battle against the Senegal Lions! Some of my IJM colleagues joined us and we had an unforgettable time as it would be quite hard to forget an atmosphere as loud and electric as the below videos portray.

Jump Mzungu, jump!

*This is the penalty kick from dad's view*

This was the video taken by dad (my father-in-law), Mark. Feel free to laugh as much as I do each time I watch this video.

*This is the same penalty kick, but from my view*

I get a kick (pun, pun) out of this video each time I watch it.

One ticket was 25,000 UGX, which is a little less than $10 USD. Wow, a professional sports event where the seating is first come, first served and tickets are $10 - can't beat that!

IJM Colleagues

Colleagues and loyal Cranes fans reacting to a bad call.

At first I thought this was the team and I came to watch radical rugby.

Final score! A draw is always better than a loss.

A Boy And His Old Boo

Before Isaiah was born I bought him a soft and cozy blue blanket. And then, a few weeks later, I went back and bought him another of the same exact blanket, because I knew that if he ever became attached to it I'd want a back up.

And boy did he become attached to it. And boy was I thankful for that back-up!

Between 15 and 18 months old Isaiah really started to show an interest in his blanket. He started not being able to sleep without it, carrying it everywhere he went, and looping it on his finger while he sucked his thumb.

When he started being able to talk the word blanket came out as "boo". The name stuck. When he was two years old we accidentally left one of his Boos at a grocery store in Uganda. Uganda is not really known for their stellar "lost and found" and that blanket was never to be seen again. Good thing we had a back-up! The back-up wasn't quite as worn in but it satisfied him and he grew attached to it. When we got back to the U.S. we quickly got another identical blanket just in case anything should happen again. The new blanket got dubbed "New Boo" and the old blanket became "Old Boo." New Boo mainly just sits in Isaiah's bed most of the day while Old Boo gets all the love and attention! 

{Just as a side note, so you don't get wierded out, Old Boo is not an "it". He is a "he"! Don't really know how that happened but we always call him by "he" or "him". He's kinda like a person in our family.}

Old Boo and Isaiah are the best of friends. Old Boo is full of rips and tears, stained with dirt, and has a big hole right in the middle (Isaiah tried to iron him and then cried and cried because he "hurt" him!). To Isaiah, Old Boo signals hundreds of wonderful memories they have made together. His smell reminds him of the many adventures they have been on. His softness calms and relaxes Isaiah, bringing him comfort. 

Old Boo goes with us EVERYWHERE! He rarely gets a bath because Isaiah can't stand to part with him. He has been to Uganda, SeaWorld, and the dentist. Sometimes he eats food, sometimes he takes a nap in the car while he waits for Isaiah to get back, and sometimes he needs his own toys when playing. 

I don't know how long Isaiah will carry around Old Boo. We've been talking a lot about preschool starting in the Fall and how Old Boo is going to stay in his backpack all day. We'll see how that goes! For now we're letting Isaiah enjoy being a kid, and enjoy being a kid with one of his very best friends - Old Boo. 

Isaiah and Old Boo go way back.... back to when Isaiah was just a few days old!

And a few months old. 

Old Boo has been to Mackinac Island.

He has gotten his picture taken with Gigi.

He has snuggled with Daddy.  

He has been bowling. 

He has been to St. Augustine. 

He has been to the airport. 

And on an airplane. 

He has been to London. 

And to Uganda.

Where he got very very dirty almost every single day. Can you tell which Boo is the one Isaiah was using and which one was the spare?!?

On numerous occasions he has been a comfy pillow. 

He has eaten chicken on a stick. 

And read hundreds of books with Isaiah. 

He was there when sweet Eloise Ann join our family. 

Isaiah even allowed her a little snuggle time with him!

He has been in many many many family pictures. 

Old Boo has been through numerous car washes. 

He has even helped us cut down a Christmas tree. 

He has watched many movies with Isaiah.

Old Boo helped us celebrate the arrival of Baby Olive.  

And was with us when we moved to Florida!

Even Olive is a fan of Old Boo!

He has been shopping with us many times - along with a purse and Jenny Dog.

He has helped Isaiah fall asleep in lots of random places. 

Especially the car.

And he makes it into many pictures with friends. 

Old Boo has been through many trials and tribulations and has remained strong. After almost 5 years in our family, it's safe to say that Old Boo is VERY VERY well loved!!!

Here's to many more years with Old Boo!!!