Amid all the enthusiastic yells of thousands of people, Pope Francis arrived to his meeting with Ugandan youth at an old Kampala airport.
There he listened to the moving testimonies of two young people who had overcome difficult battles.
Winnie, now 24, was born with AIDS. At seven, she became an orphaned and was left to battle life alone.
WINNIE
'As a young woman, I always found it hard to fall in love because I thought I didnâ??t have a right to love and be loved. I was always afraid of explaining my life. Thank God I developed a positive attitude towards this over timeâ?.
Emmanuel recounted how 12 months ago, him and 41 of his peers were kidnapped from school. During these three months, he was hungry and cold in addition to being burnt and tortured. Some of his pupils were murdered, but he was able to escaped. Emmanuel returned to school and some years later, he finished university.
EMMANUEL
'To those who tortured us, am glad my heart has found love, forgiveness, peace and joy. They are all forgiven because Jesus Christ broke the power of death by suffering on the Cross.â?
The Pope blessed them all. He reflected on them and assured them that their testimonies had moved him. Later, this was the basis of examples of overcoming hardships with God's help.
POPE FRANCIS
'For Winnie, life was like a wall, a brick wall for her. Jesus made her understand that a wall can be turned into a path towards the future. Winnie transformed her depression and bad experience into hope. This isnâ??t magic. This is the work of Jesus Christ because Jesus is God.â?
Pope Francis' discourse with the youth went from suffering to hope. He asked them to transform the negatives into positives, before getting the audience involved.
POPE FRANCIS
'Are you ready to transform hate into love?â?
YOUNG PEOPLE
'Yessssâ?
POPE FRANCIS
'Never stop praying. Prayer is the most powerful in the armory of a young person. Jesus loves usâ?.
POPE FRANCIS
'And as in the Church we are not orphans because we have Mary our mother, pray to our mother. And what's the name of our mother?â?
YOUNG PEOPLE
'Mary!!!!â?
He did not leave empty handed. A characteristic statue was given to him, so that when he returns to rome, he does not furget Uganda.
It was hard to leave, probably because of the masses running after the popemovil, who wanted to catch one last smile from the Pope.
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