Kisses from Katie

Water is something that people in the Western world take for granted, but in Uganda, where clean water is a precious commodity, it’s symbolic of hope. Many of Uganda’s most impoverished and sickest children are also the physically dirtiest. Without access to clean water, many children go without regular baths; this aggravates wounds towards infection and propagates skin infestations like jiggers and ringworms. Whenever Katie takes in a child or cares for them medically, the first thing she does is give them a bath. Although it’s a physical act that washes their skin and cleans away disease, it is also symbolic of a fresh start. Many of these children have never had a warm bath, so the comfort of the act also symbolizes that someone cares about their well-being.

Water is also symbolic of spiritual cleansing and rebirth. In the Bible, water, specifically the act of Baptism, is a symbolic gesture that demonstrates a person’s desire to turn from their former life of sin and embrace a new life in Christ. Likewise, when Katie washes a child in the warm water of a bathtub, she demonstrates for that child that there is hope for the future; many of the children whom Katie takes into her home and bathes no longer have to live in filth and illness. Just having that access to clean, warm water shows them there is hope and a better life ahead.