‘We’re all family’
Humber-Bay of Islands MHA assists Ugandan orphanage
Eddie Joyce won’t soon forget where and how he spent Christmas
2021.
This past December, the independent MHA for Humber-Bay of Islands, boarded a flight to Africa. On Dec. 13, he landed in Uganda, where he spent Christmas with a group of children at an orphanage who have touched his heart.
“I always said I want to spend one Christmas with the kids,” he tells West Coast Wire. “Just to say, ‘Okay, I’ll come down here with you now and we’re all family.’”
It was Joyce’s fifth trip to Uganda since 2019, where he has been helping the efforts of St. John’s-based HOPE (Helping Orphans Prosper through Education) NL in sponsoring and providing for children at this orphanage and school in Uganda.
This trip was his longest one to the country, lasting until Jan. 4.
On Christmas Day, he took 27 children, ages seven to 20, from the orphanage to a buffet where they were treated to a delicious Christmas meal. They children were allowed to eat whatever they wanted with chicken, meat, rice, potato and more all available.
Meanwhile, there was a bouncy castle and other activities for the kids throughout the day.
Seeing the joy and the relish with which they enjoyed the food and activities alone would have made the whole experience worthwhile for Joyce.
“It’s amazing,” he comments on the experience.
But that was just one part of Joyce’s eventful stay. He also helped deliver Christmas gifts, clothes, about 100 pairs of shoes, food, and 21 handmade baby dolls, announced a new clinic for a nearby village in the Kamuli District of Uganda and was presented a goat as a thank you gift by villagers.
DELIVERING GIFTS
Joyce brought five suitcases of items with him for the children.
One of those suitcases included 21 baby dolls handmade by Linda Berberick of Boise, Idaho.
Berberick’s daughter, Kristi Bane, is a veterinarian practicing at the Humber Valley Veterinary Clinic in Corner Brook.
Berberick knitted the dolls more than four years ago. Bane’s daughter, Deven, had been volunteering at an orphanage in South Africa and the plan was for her to deliver the dolls the next year. But Deven didn’t return to Africa and the dolls waited at Bane’s house until Joyce was able to deliver them for her last month.
“Those dolls were a hit,” Joyce says. “One little girl came back from a walk and washed her doll’s face and she had it out in the trees to dry. It was just heartwarming.”
Another suitcase contained gifts for all the children at the orphanage. These were purchased from the proceeds of a fundraiser organized by Catherine Bailey in St. John’s.
Joyce also delivered 75 pairs of shoes donated by Jodi
Basha, owner of Island Orthotics, as well as other items, including medical supplies.
Joyce felt the impact receiving these items had on the children was “unbelievable.”
“It puts a smile on their face and they’re so proud, they feel so good,” he says. “It’s a winwin for everybody.”
Joyce also raised money to provide 150 families with enough food for about two months.
Through a summer walk fundraiser, he was able to raise money for shoes and to establish six jigger clinics in Uganda and Kenya, where children can have parasitic jigger worms removed from their feet.
A NEW CLINIC
Joyce had good news to share with a nearby village in need of improved health-care access.
During a previous visit, he had been asked to visit this village by the oldest youth at the orphanage, Nelson, to deliver some shoes.
Joyce spoke to doctors and elders of the village and the lack of health-care access was their biggest concern. The village is remote and in the event of a medical emergency, or if a pregnant woman goes into labour, they must travel about 20 miles, walking or travelling by bicycle.
“Many of them have lost babies along the way,” Joyce says.
He continued to have conversations with the doctor and they got an engineer and the community involved. They determined the cost for materials and construction and Joyce started looking for local support in Newfoundland and Labrador.
He sent a letter to Corner Brook ophthalmologist Dr. Justin French, seeking support for the initiative. He was floored by Justin and his wife Ginelle French’s donation of $25,000.
Meanwhile, Bev and Craig Allen provided $1,000, Steve Carey gave $1,000, and Joyce and his wife Heather Allen-Joyce contributed $5,000.
The project was off the ground and Joyce was present to help lay the first brick in December.
On the occasion, he was presented a goat by the villagers as a thank you for his efforts in getting them the clinic.
Construction is underway and Joyce says the clinic is expected to be finished in the next month. He says it will be named after Dr. Justin and Ginelle French for their generous donation.
FUTURE VISITS
This won’t be Joyce’s last visit to Uganda. He intends to continue visiting the orphanage twice a year.
He says he will go back later this year once the school year finishes for the children and the pandemic quiets down.
“If things are quieted down for their break, it’ll be good,” says Joyce. “I’ll be going.”