I met this man, I now call one of my heroes, back in April of this year. his life story is that of a movie. He was born in Uganda and grew up in the devastating Uganda-Tanzania War. His family and him were taken to a concentration camp where he witnessed his father being killed, his sister was raped (is now infected with HIV/AIDS) and brother that was taken away and never seen again. when the war was over Hilary was only still a young teen. He desided to become a catholic priest. He studied here in America (along side Fr. Tom Kovatch our priest at St. Teresa in Bright, IN) After being ordained he was assigned a church back in Kampala, Uganda. There he dreamed of opening a school and building a better future for the children of Uganda. Darlene from chicago herd of his dreams and jumped on board! With the help of meny others they purchased a concentraion camp site and rebuilt it. Now it is St. Jerome Cove center! In only a few years the little school is now a boarding school that houses orphans and teaches them up to grade 5! also on the grounds is a medical center that treats everyone that needs help. a sisters house were nuns travel to pass on their knowledge of teaching and medicine. a kitchen that feeds the children and staff. in the future there are works going into building a high school, field for crops and live stock, soccer fields, and a guest house!
Not only did father Hilary start this dream he also worked on another dream of his, building his mother a home:
we met his mother and she is truely an angel! she raised her son and three other girls alone and they all are wonderful people!
while we were visiting we painted a tree of life outside one of the classrooms. this is were the children meet everyday to say morning prayers. all the leaves on the tree are the children's hand prints. Father Hilary is putting his hand prints up. the children loved seeing his hands covered in green paint!
We also completed a swing set for the children to play on and Father Hilary was the first to test it out. I love this picture because i can still see that little boy in him dreaming of a safe place for children to grow up and now here it is in front of him. i can't help but feel like this is his victory buzzer shot!
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