She used to entertain rich men in Dutch night clubs. But 26-year old Lenneke Meulenkamp now helps street children in Kampala’s Kivulu slum. An internet dating site and a performance by a Ugandan children’s choir in an Amsterdam church changed her life.
By Arne Doornebal, KampalaA small bridge crossing a sewage outlet marks the beginning of Kivulu slum. Young boys run past burning heaps of garbage to greet Lenneke,. “Aunty Lenn!”, they shout before getting a hug. “I am so happy I can go to school now,” says 14-year old Ali Lugwama. He used to sleep on a wooden bench between two shacks and had never seen the inside of a class room before.
Lugwama and five others are now going to school. Lenneke persuaded the headmaster to allow them to attend classes although their school fees are not yet paid. Lenneke hopes good Samaritans will donate enough money to her organisation ‘Hearts Vision’ in order to keep the boys in school. She is also trying to find proper accommodation for Ali and his friends. Good time with the girlsLenneke is a strong woman but in the past she was less self-confident. “My stepfather used to sexually abuse me,” she says in a small restaurant on Kampala road, which separates Kivulu slum from the Hilton hotel. “When I started living on my own at the age of seventeen I got a boyfriend who took advantage of me. He allowed his friends to sleep with me.” Later Lenneke learned how to stand up for herself. She threw out her ex-boyfriend and his buddies and managed to get her stepfather behind bars.
She then moved to Barneveld, a conservative Christian town in the middle of the Netherlands. “I needed money and decided to go into prostitution. I travelled to the city of Rotterdam by train where I worked in private clubs.” It didn’t last more than a year. “Sometimes me and the other girls had a good time together. I needed a lot of attention and I got plenty of that in these clubs. But I wasn’t happy. I started internet-dating to find a nice partner.”
Sleeping between ratsShe met a Christian man on the web. “He told me what Jesus could do for me. So I visited a church in Amsterdam. There was a performance by a Ugandan children’s choir called ‘Watoto’. I loved their show. Tears came running down my cheeks. There and then I realised God loves me. It was going to be my duty to help street children.”
Lenneke’s conversion seems serious. She even split up with the man who initially got her interested in religion. “Although he believed in Jesus, he did want to have sex before marriage. But I don’t want that anymore. I think it is better to wait for my future husband.”Lenneke soon realised a lot of people need help in Uganda. “I give the children of Kivulu love and attention. Sometimes I spend the night with them.
I’ve slept with ten children on the floor while rats and cockroaches were all around us.” The young woman is hopeful about the future: “I am sure God will provide us with money to help these children.” She walks back to Kivulu. Tonight there is a dance in the church and she is taking eight street children along. Their clothes have dried after being washed in the sewage-polluted stream. “Let’s go!” she calls out to them.
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By Arne Doornebal, KampalaA small bridge crossing a sewage outlet marks the beginning of Kivulu slum. Young boys run past burning heaps of garbage to greet Lenneke,. “Aunty Lenn!”, they shout before getting a hug. “I am so happy I can go to school now,” says 14-year old Ali Lugwama. He used to sleep on a wooden bench between two shacks and had never seen the inside of a class room before.
Lugwama and five others are now going to school. Lenneke persuaded the headmaster to allow them to attend classes although their school fees are not yet paid. Lenneke hopes good Samaritans will donate enough money to her organisation ‘Hearts Vision’ in order to keep the boys in school. She is also trying to find proper accommodation for Ali and his friends. Good time with the girlsLenneke is a strong woman but in the past she was less self-confident. “My stepfather used to sexually abuse me,” she says in a small restaurant on Kampala road, which separates Kivulu slum from the Hilton hotel. “When I started living on my own at the age of seventeen I got a boyfriend who took advantage of me. He allowed his friends to sleep with me.” Later Lenneke learned how to stand up for herself. She threw out her ex-boyfriend and his buddies and managed to get her stepfather behind bars.
She then moved to Barneveld, a conservative Christian town in the middle of the Netherlands. “I needed money and decided to go into prostitution. I travelled to the city of Rotterdam by train where I worked in private clubs.” It didn’t last more than a year. “Sometimes me and the other girls had a good time together. I needed a lot of attention and I got plenty of that in these clubs. But I wasn’t happy. I started internet-dating to find a nice partner.”
Sleeping between ratsShe met a Christian man on the web. “He told me what Jesus could do for me. So I visited a church in Amsterdam. There was a performance by a Ugandan children’s choir called ‘Watoto’. I loved their show. Tears came running down my cheeks. There and then I realised God loves me. It was going to be my duty to help street children.”
Lenneke’s conversion seems serious. She even split up with the man who initially got her interested in religion. “Although he believed in Jesus, he did want to have sex before marriage. But I don’t want that anymore. I think it is better to wait for my future husband.”Lenneke soon realised a lot of people need help in Uganda. “I give the children of Kivulu love and attention. Sometimes I spend the night with them.
I’ve slept with ten children on the floor while rats and cockroaches were all around us.” The young woman is hopeful about the future: “I am sure God will provide us with money to help these children.” She walks back to Kivulu. Tonight there is a dance in the church and she is taking eight street children along. Their clothes have dried after being washed in the sewage-polluted stream. “Let’s go!” she calls out to them.
Lines On The Upper Mount Of Mars प्यार को पाने a fish sign in travel line palm Sunny leone indian dress
indian palmistry marriage line imran khan cricketer hand HOT INDIAN HIJRA PHOTO serial killer / palm reading palmistry marriage lines for girls kamla rekha palmistry Children line palmistry palmistry business line analysis Mariah carey sex image Indian pronstar karen malhotra naked pics indian palmistry marriage line
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