Have I mentioned....

So I realized that there are some things that have become so normal to my daily life that I haven't talked about them here.  So now I'm going to.

Street Kids

They are all over the place.
Just walking down the street, small children (I've seen some as young as 2) come up to you and put their little hands out and look at you with begging eyes.  When you don't give them anything they walk right next to you still begging for a couple blocks before finally giving up.  It's extremely sad and the thing is that giving them anything will just perpetuate the circumstances.  We've been told "do not give the street kids any money" because it just encourages them to keep begging and not get help from the few organizations who have set up programs for them.  But it's so hard.  One dollar would feed them for two days yet it would also encourage them to stay out of schools and out of programs.  It's a lose-lose situation.

The other things is that there is apparently a specific region in Uganda where parents are actually forced to sell one of their children or the children have to leave to try and find a better life.  So they come to Kampala.  They don't come by themselves though, I've heard, from reputable sources, that there is a man/group of people who get the kids, bring them to Kampala and force them to turn in the money they received at the end of the day.  For this they might get a little bit of food and avoid a beating.

This horrendous cycle keeps the kids out of school and robs them of the innocence and childhood that they should have.