Saying Goodbye

The hardest part about leaving a place is saying goodbye to the people you've met while there! This week we've said a lot of goodbyes.

Drew's last day of work - saying goodbye to colleagues.

He's going to miss these people!

Saying goodbye to Byron.

Farewell dinner at Cafe Javas!

Saying goodbye to Shiphrah!

Eloise had fun crawling on the table from person to person!

Enjoying chocolate fudge cake (the manager gave it to Isaiah for free because he touched it on the shelf! Whoops! )

Goodbye dear friends!

Saying goodbye to Juliet, Drew's awesome boss and friend!

Saying goodbye to Beej.

More goodbyes!

Saying goodbye to Shiphrah and Wendy.

What makes saying goodbye even harder this time is that now we have an almost 3 year old who thinks of Uganda as home and his friends here as some of the most important people on earth. When he says goodbye this Monday he's not going to realize that it's for the last time ever. But I know that once we're back in the States he's going to be asking for his friends here and the reality will sink in. :(

Isaiah is going to have the hardest time saying goodbye to our house helper, Suzy! For the last year she's spent every day of the week (except weekends) in our home, doing the housework and cooking, but also spending alot of time with the kids. Both Isaiah and Eloise ADORE her! They both call her "chu chu", give her lots of hugs and kisses, and miss her when she's gone for the evening.

Suzy has been a wonderful blessing in our home and we will miss her also!!

Goodbye Suzy!

Goodbye kisses from Isaiah.

Goodbye hugs from Eloise.

Saying goodbye to one of our neighbors. These boys have lots of fun together!!

Packing, Prayer, & Future Plans

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Update from Drew and Amber Hutcheson Serving with International Justice Mission Kampala, Uganda

From Uganda to Boston: Hello Grad-School, Here We Come! Living in Uganda for this past year has been amazing. It’s been eye-opening, thrilling, and adventurous. At the same time, it’s been home. The friendships we’ve formed, the family we have here, and the experiences we’ve encountered all have made Uganda a place in which we truly feel comfortable. Our work with International Justice Mission has been stretching and fulfilling. We’re going to miss being here. Needless to say, it’s hard to even think about leaving. Nevertheless, the time is coming for us to board another plane and head back to the states. This chapter of our lives in ending... but another is about to begin! We leave Uganda in less than a month, flying out on May 28th and arriving in Florida on May 29th. We will be in Jacksonville for two weeks, after which time we will head to Michigan to spend the remainder of the summer there. Ultimately, however, our final destination is Boston, Massachusetts! Drew will be attending Harvard University (which is in Cambridge) for his masters degree. He will be going to receive his masters in business management with an emphasis in finance. These are exciting times and Drew is eager to be back in the classroom. While we look forward to this next adventure, we also realize as with any new adventure, there comes its own unique challenges. Would you join us in praying about the following? Prayer

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• That we would finish our time in Uganda well! We still have much packing to do, Drew has to finish up at IJM, and we still have many other things that need to fall into place before we can leave
• That transitioning back to the states will go well for both us and the kids
• Moving to Boston and that our finances will carry us through
• That Drew would be able to find a good job in Boston that will work well with his school schedule

And please PRAISE the Lord with us:

Praise

• We were able to obtain Eloise's passport and her U.S. visa is in process!
• We have found buyers for most of our furniture and appliances, as well as our car! A huge relief!
• That the Lord is faithful and is upholding us during this time of transition. So thankful for His peace!

We would like to mention that upon our return to the States we are looking to purchase a mid size SUV or minivan. If you are selling one or know of someone who is, please let us know!

Be on the lookout for one more paper newsletter with a special gift from Uganda in it once we get settled back in the U.S.

Thanks for walking this journey with us. We have been overwhelmed by your love for and support of us during our time in Uganda. You have helped make a difference for the vulnerable and oppressed here! THANK YOU!

In Christ's Love,

Drew, Amber, Isaiah, & Eloise

http://WWW.TheHutchesonHeadline.blogspot.com

A "boda boda" is how Amber gets to all the appointments she has had to go to in order to get Eloise her visa and passport. Boda bodas are all over Uganda. You flag one down and pay them to take you to your destination! Isaiah and Eloise in their Ugandan attire!

Working on the paper work to get Eloise's visa. Adoption requires SO. MUCH. PAPERWORK! The sorting, selling, and packing has begun!

Copyright © 2012 International Justice Mission, All rights reserved. You are receiving these e-mails because we think you may be interested in keeping up with our work in Uganda with IJM! If you wish to unsubscribe please see the link below. Our mailing address is: International Justice Mission Drew Hutcheson P.O. Box 70445 Kampala, Uganda Visit our blog at: www.thehutchesonheadline.blogspot.com Call us: 231-709-9633 E-mail us: Drewamhutch@gmail.com www.ijm.org   *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|* unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences

Meeting Daphine!

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!

More Photos From The Field

Perhaps this is not the most appealing photo to begin with, but this is what a bathroom out in the village looks like. Make sure to bring your own toilet tissue!

We were at a field function on this particular day. As I was heading to wash my hands after eating, I could see this black line in the distance. As I approached it, I could see it was moving! It was a herd of ants crossing the path.

We didn't finish our work in the field until late this particular evening. On our way back, I was driving us down all of these village dirt and bumpy roads. Along the way I was trying to  snap some pictures of the village nightlife and this boda guy made one of the photos.

You see a lot of cows out in the village, but usually only about one per a family. Cows are very expensive, but are one way people both feed their families and make money. When I saw this guy, only one thing came to mind: A spicy chicken sandwich from Chik-fil-a.

The night life, even in the village, can be pretty vibrant. This was a group of people who were cooking up some fried fish to sell. We couldn't resist, so we stopped to buy some.

This fish was delicious!

Here's part of the team I work with - some of our stellar IJM lawyers - reviewing some notes for the legal education program we were conducting this day.

This was at a church we were asked to speak at. On this Sunday, some of the youth did a dance a drama for the church.

This was at our last WMBR event for the year. Our office has team challenges each month called "WMBR" (We Measure By Results). We're on the same team for the whole year and our last challenge which would determine which team came in first place for 2012 was a couple of rounds of bowling. The team I was on came in second place. Maybe next year we'll take home the #1 ranking.

This is the team I work with everyday - great and amazing people! A couple of them were pregnant at the time and we were having an out-of-office lunch to celebrate their pregnancy.

Some more returning from the field late, more driving on Jinja Road at night. Jinja Road during the day can already make for quite the adventure while driving on. At night, it's nearly outright dangerous.

We are big believers in measuring our performance so we know if our work is making a difference. I see these graphs each day and they motivate us all the more to work hard for our clients and those we're serving. Our end results for 2012 are much higher than  what you see here as this graph was made half way through the year. We well exceeded our goals for 2012!

 

Sometimes you just never know what you'll find around the office. I walked in to the kitchen to make some tea and found our mascot, until he became someone's dinner.

Speaking of chicken for dinner, this is Uganda's best chicken! In our project area, there's a place we sometimes pass by called Namawajallo. They have several workers who cook all kinds of food and sell it for people making the long trip to Jinja. This chicken is always sauteed with salt or some seasoning and then grilled. It makes for some good and inexpensive eating.

Coffee is one of the main crops in Uganda, it's actually their largest export. On our way to the field on this day we passed a coffee harvester who had picked the beans and was now letting them dry out.

Although this photo is not from the field, I couldn't resist posting this amazing checkmate setup. For Christmas I asked Amber for a chess set and board and she found this amazing hand made soap-stone one in the local craft market. Although this was one of Amber's first times playing chess, she fared well. In the end, however, my Knight and Rook conquered her King. For those who know chess notation, Am's King is on G5 (the blue lion facing right).