January 2023

New Desks at Wells of Hope

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Over the past week I’ve made a bunch of food for my very pregnant daughter to put in her freezer for after the baby is born. Today, as I ran bananas foster muffins, burritos, and smoothie packets to her, I got the video from Gideon with the follow up for DonorSee on most recent the desks project.

It occurred to me that we were doing the same thing, Gideon and I: delivering things that were hand made for a purpose. Things you might think you could just buy at a store. (Or from Amazon…)

In Uganda, in poor rural areas like Rwakobo Village, there isn’t a desk or school supply store. There isn’t a hardware store, a clinic, a supermarket, a warehouse store, a pharmacy, or a drive through. There’s no gas station or even a well.

Even in Mbarara, which is one of Uganda’s largest cities, you can’t just buy school desks “off the rack” — they are constructed to order. We ordered these desks last week, and today they were transported and installed in Wells of Hope Primary School, ready for the kids to start the new school year on Monday.

What’s exciting is that the kids know that these desks were made especially for them. In a remote, extremely impoverished area, this isn’t something that happens very often. This village, founded with refugees from “off over there” (Rwanda), has been forgotten by the governments large and small.

BUT YOU REMEMBERED THEM!

Because of you and partners like you, the 400 kids at Wells of Hope have desks, cement floors, blackboards, windows and doors, and panes of glass. They have mosquito nets, a water tank, a kitchen, dishes, and soccer balls.

Most of all, they have the knowledge that somewhere halfway around the world there are people that they don’t know, who they will never meet, who cared enough about them to help them get an education.

That’s more valuable than gold!

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS We have 2 urgent projects on DonorSee right now: the funding for the transport and burial of Teacher Justin’s murdered brother, and helping Teacher rebuild her tailoring business after a fire destroyed her shop and 8 other businesses. We’d so appreciate your support of our teachers as they deal with these tragedies.

Take me to DONORSEE!

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Fun at Mikisa Farm!

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While holes in the ground usually aren’t too exciting, this one really is! (No, really!)

Ronald is standing at our HAND DUG — yes, someone goes down in that hole and physically digs — well. They hit a rock layer which delayed them somewhat, but we are just about finished with the digging. It looks like we will soon have access to abundant, clear water year round!

Check out the banana trees behind Ronald, too. Those were just planted as 2′ high starts back in the fall! I’m telling you, you can literally throw a stick in the dirt and grow stuff in Uganda.

There’s a LOT going on right now, and Ronald will be spending all next week living in the farmhouse with Derrick, getting it coordinated. (God bless his gift of administration!) Here’s where we are:

  • Now that Derrick is moving in, we’ll get the glass in the windows and the water tank installed. Those are things easily stolen if no one is on the property.
  • The house and yard will be cleared and cleaned of construction debris.
  • Household furniture and goods are being purchased this week so the house will be set up for full time living.
  • The goat pen and chicken coop will be started and we’ll be sourcing the animals.
  • The gate and “Mikisa Farm” sign will be ordered and installed.
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  • We’ll make sure that Derrick has all the tools and supplies he needs.
  • The solar system, well pump, and irrigation system will go in.

Then we grow! (More…)

It’s thanks to you and your generous giving that has allowed us to get this far on the farm. We made the decision to go ahead and finish all our projects using money from Year End giving even though the project on DonorSee is at 85%.

We believe we will get the rest of the funding to backfill the budget, but we KNOW that we need that farm to be producing at capacity for our girls and their food as soon as possible. If you can make a donation today to help, that would be amazing — but if not, we are so grateful for all your support since 2009!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Our Board Member (and my daughter) Ryan is expecting baby #2 soon! We’d appreciate your thoughts and prayers. This Jaja can’t wait!

FOR THE FARM!

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Skills for the Future of Uganda

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In early 2022, we raised the funds on DonorSee to create a computer lab. One of the main drivers for this project was that the government had used the pandemic lockdowns as the impetus for moving many of its services online.

Things like National ID, medical service access, and more were no longer available in person — and thus no longer available to the large percentage of the population (about 50%) who are illiterate and the more than 70% who do not have access to computers or the internet.

So at the same time as we were creating vocational literacy through Skills for Life, and linguistic and mathematical literacy through the Literacy Program, we instituted Digital Literacy so that our girls wouldn’t be left behind.

Teachers Justin and Gloria make sure their students can type (preferably with more than two fingers!), use Word and Excel at their most basic, and navigate the internet to access services and information.

The girls use the computers when they are preparing for exams, to research designs in African braiding and fashion.

The Photography and Videography students use the computers to edit their work.

Some girls are planning to use their skills to earn money by typing forms and documents for those in the slum who can’t do it for themselves.

The computer lab is an integral part of our Holistic Literacy philosophy and it was funded 100% by YOUR donations. We can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele nyo!

Jennings

PS The computer lab was a Large project on DonorSee. We’re allowed to have one Large project (over $500) at a time on the platform — our current one is the farm, which is 85% funded. We have several Large projects ready to go once the farm is fully funded. Can you help us get there? 100% goes to the project! Just click!

FOR THE FARM!

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Welcome Two New Girls to the Dorm

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After the lull over the holidays, things have exploded into laughter, light, sounds, dancing, and music at Touch the Slum — and we couldn’t be happier! While everyone enjoyed their time off and it was much needed, having the girls back in the compound causing controlled chaos every day is magic.

Last week also brought us two new residents in the dorm. I wrote previously about 15-year-old Helen, above, who was sent from the village to work as a housemaid in Kampala. She wasn’t paid, fed, or allowed a phone, so it was several months before neighbors became aware and concerned enough to involve us and the authorities.

It turns out that the auntie sent her to Kampala to keep her from being married off by her guardian, and if she were to return to the village, this is what would happen to her. The auntie has agreed for her to stay with us and learn a skill, which will at least delay any marriage. Hopefully, it will instead allow her to stay in Namuwongo at a job or her own business.

Our second new resident is 16-year-old Evelyn, also an orphan, who came to Kampala and the Namuwongo slum from the North of Uganda at the urging of friends who thought they’d find a better life. (Spoiler alert – they didn’t…)

After not being able to find a job, the friends turned to sex work. Evelyn was being pressured into prostitution but says she didn’t go that far. (We usually find out they did but deny it out of shame — either way, she’s safe now.) One of our teachers, Linda, found her and brought her to the compound. Evelyn’s guardian in the village has agreed for her to stay with us and for Teacher Linda to be her temporary guardian while she is at Touch the Slum.

Both girls have settled in well and joined the Literacy Program. Neither speak much English and both are illiterate, so a couple of months in Literacy before the next term of Skills for Life starts the next term will stand them in good stead once they are in a vocational class.

We can rescue these girls because of you!

You all gave sacrificially at the end of the year which put is in a very strong position for 2023. Since 1018 is donor-funded, we can’t do it without you, and we are so grateful for your support!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS One of the best things you can do to help us is to become a monthly donor! This allows us to budget well and plan for the future. You can do that on Donorbox or DonorSee – buttons below.

MONTHLY DONOR SIGNUP

SPONSOR THE RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM

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Look How We Grew in 2022!

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Dear {{contact.first_name}},

Y’all are the best!

After a whirlwind giving season, which I actually started in August with a Masterclass through Donorbox, I just sat down and got the books caught up. (Just as an aside, I really hate bookkeeping! Anybody else?!)

Here’s what I discovered – and it was even better than I guessed:

Y’all donated $83,332 in 2021 and $125,367 in 2022….. Um HOLY COW.

You:

  • purchased a farm
  • provided desks, windows, and blackboards at Wells of Hope
  • started a Literacy program, computer lab, Advanced Tailoring program, daycare, and clinic
  • helped treat countless illnesses
  • bought water bottles
  • funded graduations
  • gave a home to homeless teens with our dorm
  • provided for funerals and burials
  • created a safe place for rape victims
  • provided opportunities for 150 teens in Skills for Life
  • and allowed us to serve over 25,000 meals!

That’s not even all of it, because your generosity pays for the $1.50 a month trash service, water bills, septic pump outs, salaries, certification renewals, community outreach programs, continuing education, and more. It’s all day, every day, 365 days of the year.

Tweyanzizza nnyo, tweyanzeege — we are so grateful, thank you very much!

We’re so excited to see what 2023 brings and so thankful that you’re on this journey with us.

Webele nyo,

Jennings

PS Becoming a monthly donor really helps us with budgeting and it’s very easy! Just click the button!

I want to be a monthly donor!

Look How We Grew in 2022! Read More »

And They’re Back (at School)!

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While everyone needed and enjoyed their holiday break, school’s back and we couldn’t be happier! Laughing, dancing, sewing machines whirring, kids playing, huge pots of steaming posho… We love our jobs!

Of course, we exist because of the problems teen girls face.

Yesterday, concerned neighbors notified Ronald and the team of the plight of the 15-year-old girl in the photo above. (We’ll call her Rachel.)

Rachel is a true orphan (meaning both parents are dead) who is under the guardianship of an auntie. The auntie sent her from the village to work as a maid in a house, where she was supposed to be paid 10,000 shillings a MONTH. (That’s $2.69 at the exchange rate while I’m typing this.) However, she has never been paid anything. She was being abused. Many times she was denied food. And last night the woman she works for kicked her out.

For now, she’s safe with us in the dorm. Today we are notifying the LC (Local Community leader) and trying to find her auntie in the village. The LC may get the police involved, but — let’s be honest — it’s doubtful that the police will do anything.

Because teen girls are the lowest in the culture.

We have a second case, identified by one of our teachers, of a 17-year-old girl who is being forced into sex work by her guardian who lost his job. Teacher Linda is working with the authorities for now, but if we need to bring her into the program as an emergency admission, we will.

This is what we do thanks to YOU.

It’s very easy to look at the world and see so much need that we feel paralyzed and numb. There’s no way that we, by ourselves, can fix it, so we try not to look.

But together, we CAN make a difference, each and every day, for girls like Rachel and the others in our program. That starts the slow process of culture change, and small culture changes ripple out to create a better life for teen girls in the slum and beyond.

Thank you for your support and encouragement – you make it all possible!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS Thank you for your donations to the mosquito net project for Wells of Hope after our last newsletter! The project is 54% funded and we just need $220 to get the first 100 mosquito nets to these impoverished children. If you want to contribute even one net ($4!) that would help us so much! Just click below!

YES I’ll buy nets!

And They’re Back (at School)! Read More »

Looking Ahead in 2023

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Over Christmas, we lost two young students at Wells of Hope School to malarial fever. Gideon and Celebration Tabernacle Church, which oversees the school, have launched a campaign to put 400 mosquito nets into the hands of the students this month. We have the first of 4 projects up on DonorSee to help! Since there is no clinic in Rwakobo village – the nearest is 10+ miles away – and since the villagers are shockingly poor, malaria is rarely treated. Nets cost about $4 each, which is more than most villagers make in a week.

We will be expanding our Literacy Program starting with the next term to at least double the number of students in the program. (Thanks Expat Money Community!) We will be hiring a teacher this month who will help our current teacher, Fortunate, as we have more students than usual this term who are struggling.

Thanks to your generosity over the Giving Season, we are bringing our five our full time volunteers on board as paid staff. These great people (one social worker, our finance/accounting guy, our daycare manager, and two teachers) worked all of 2022 free because they believe in our program. We are very excited to be able to pay them what they’re worth in 2023!

My mom is joining me on my next trip to Uganda, March 19 through April 10. She’s a retired hospice social worker and mental health professional plus a great artist and teacher, so we’ll be using all her talents to bring new knowledge to our staff and students. She’s never been to Africa, so we’ll be going on safari at Lake Mburo so she can see all the beautiful native wildlife there.

The farm is 85% funded, and Farmer Derrick has moved into the farmhouse. The water project is underway, and we bought a slightly used boda (motorbike) for deliveries and errands. Next up will be chickens and new planting, plus continuing to harvest our current crops of fruit and veg. This year we’ll get the greenhouse up, a (sturdy!) goat pen built, and increase the volume of what we’re growing. I can’t wait to visit!

And, of course, every day we’ll have classes filled with enthusiastic teen girls learning new skills, our free clinic and daycare running, and Mama Santa’s delicious meals.

We’re so excited – and so grateful that you’ve make this possible. Thank you so much!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS Don’t forget to check out our social media – I post a lot of things there every day that you won’t see anywhere else. Links at the bottom!

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