“While I was in Honduras shooting for Silent Images, I was serving
Orphan Helpers. www.orphanhelpers.com
Orphan Helpers cares for the children in government orphanages and
juvenile detention centers, meeting them where they are. Orphan
Helpers is on the ground caring for orphaned, abused, and incarcerated
children and helping them realize their potential and purpose in life.
We served in all of those areas in the city of Tegucigalpa. We visited
various orphanages, including where the physically abused and
trafficked girls took residence. Detention Centers were often visited
and were very encouraging to see how far they have come after being
involved in gangs, robberies and other various crimes. Our main goal
with Orphan Helpers is to share a love and care that they have never
seen or felt, and to point them to their gifts, purposes, and their
need for education. We experienced much fruit from what God was doing
in and through us for these kids. Sometimes it’s a question of who was
touched the most, me, or the orphans?”

Seth Snider
Silent Images, Team Photographer

The people of Uganda do not want to be known as the home of the invisible children, they simply want to be known as the home of a land that is being restored…not by foreign aid, not by missionaries, but by the people of Uganda…and that is what we hope and pray that our documentary film will tell. It will not be a documentary about 2 cool white guys that go to Uganda, partially because we are not all that cool, but mostly because we want to allow the documentary to offer the Ugandan people a voice to tell their own story. It will be several months before we release the film, but we can not wait for you all to view and reconsider the people of northern Uganda and our role in assisting them as they restore their land.

Robert is a Ugandan soccer player who originally set out to teach kids soccer, but quickly noticed that there were dozens of children who would sit on the sidelines uninterested in playing. He wanted to find an alternative and inexpensive sport to teach them to sharpen their minds…so he chose chess. Two years later he has found himself running a daily chess camp and mentoring program for kids in the slums of Kampala, Uganda. One might think that the kids would just play for fun and not actually excel, right? Wrong. Meet Fiona…

Fiona’s father died from AIDS when she young, and her mother struggled to earn enough money to buy food and pay rent in the slums. In order to help feed her family, Fiona ended up quitting school in order to earn money. After receiving some assistance from Sports Outreach Institute (the organization Silent Images served in Uganda), Fiona was able to return to school.

Fiona’s family still struggled to pay for her meals, so she searched for any free food she could find. She heard that a chess camp in the slums provided a meal to children who attended the the class. So she showed up in search of a meal…but discovered her passion.

In a game that is normally dominated by boys, she was not expected to perform well. However, after some training from Robert, she was able to enter a tournament in the slums knowing that the winner would receive a duck. Maybe it was because her family was always hungry, or maybe it was because she was just that good, but Fiona set her mind to win and walked away with being the slum champion. And that is just the beginning…

Robert recognized something special in Fiona and thought that he would enter her into the Uganda junior chess championships. Ugandan officials laughed at the thought of a young girl from the slums trying to compete, but Robert convinced them to let her enter, and he found a sponsor to pay her entry fee. With no duck on the line this time, Fiona still won! And it gets better…

Since she won the Ugandan chess title, she qualified for the African championships, and for the first time in her life, she left the slums and went on her first plane ride to Juba, Sudan to compete against the best chess players in Africa. “Everyone told me that the best player came from Kenya, and I drew her in the first round. I was very nervous but defeated her. I knew after that, I could win the whole tournament,” Fiona says with a shy smile on her face. And that is exactly what she did. She went on to win the African chess championship at age 10…the youngest champion ever.

So what is next for Fiona? The world championships, of course. In mid September, she will fly to Siberia as the youngest player ever to be invited. “Do you even know where Siberia is?” I ask Fiona.

“No, but Robert tells me that I will need a jacket,” Fiona says as she glances at Robert sitting across the chess board from her.

Needless to say, this is an inspiring story that is quickly gathering attention. There is an author ready to write her life story, and Silent Images is partnering with others to compose a documentary film on Fiona. After spending the day with Fiona, her mother, and Robert, we hope and pray that telling her story raises enough funds to pay for her university education and assist her mom with new housing. Just as important, we hope that her story inspires others to consider the hidden potential in children in developing countries… particularly those who live in the slums.

Santo volunteered to fight for the LRA, in hopes of defending northern Uganda. However, the intentions of the LRA turned against its own people, and Santo quickly made his escape. The LRA captured him and imprisoned him for one month. After his release, he put on his uniform and loaded his gun…this time for the government army (UPDF) For 10 years, he fought heroically as a staff sergeant for the UPDF and defended the women and children in the Gulu area. When peace was restored and he was able to return home, he was shocked to find out his wife, Christine, had become a Christian. He was furious. “I did not trust Christians and I wanted to go and kill Christine’s pastor. If I would have known his face, I would have shot him dead,” says Santo.

“Did you ever find him?” I ask.

“I did not find him…he found me!. I fell sick and was rushed to the hospital. Aloysius, her pastor came to visit me and I did not have the energy to kill him. So, instead, I just listened to him as he shared the love of Christ with me. He knew I hated him, so I could not believe that he still wanted to come and visit me in the hospital. My heart completely changed and I told him that instead of killing Christians, I would like to become one,” he tells me with a slight smile on his face.

Today, Santo and Christine and their 2 children have returned peacefully to their home…both are now members and leaders of Aloysius’ church and volunteers with Sports Outreach Ministry.

“No. What I did was very bad, but I was hurt that my own village would not allow me to return. “

“So what did you do?”

“I went to a nearby village and started life over there. I have not told my new village that I am a former child soldier. I am afraid that they would also not accept me. “

“Has anyone forgiven you?” I ask him hoping to be introduced to someone who can give this young man a second chance.

“Yes, God has forgiven me. And because of that, I now take the love and grace of the Gospel of Jesus to all of the villages around me, so they can also know of God’s grace.”

“Even to the villages that have not forgiven you and will not allow you to return? I ask.

“Yes. That is what Jesus did. He was persecuted and went to the bring the good news to the people he knew had rejected him and hated him.”

“You are a modern day Paul, Richad,” I say as my eyes begin to water from hearing of his boldness and faith…and embarrassed as I think of how often I cower in fear when faced with people who might reject me.

His eyes catch mine and for the first time in the interview…he smiles.

There is another person who has forgiven, Richard…his wife, Ajok. Even though she was beaten on her back by the Rebel group, she has forgiven the Rebels and has forgiven Richard.

“Her forgiveness, has reconciled our family and given me hope,” says Richard as he sneaks a glance at Ajok, smiles, and pulls her hand close to his.

Today, the two have started their lives over and live peacefully in the village with their two children.