Author name: Jen

Seeing red…or maybe pink

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It’s probably hard to tell just how small our compound is from photos and videos (please follow us on Instagram!). Even this photo makes it look pretty spacious — and it is, if it was being used as the single-family home it was built as.

Alas, our single family is over 100 people strong!

And because everyone is from the crowded slum, it all works. Until we get an outbreak of an illness that spreads like wildfire — like pink eye (conjunctivitis).

I had a message on Telegram this morning that we now have 10 girls with pink eye. They’ve been given medicine from our clinic and told to stay home so we can minimize the spread. And to be honest, this is really the first outbreak we’ve had of anything since we opened in November 2020… but that doesn’t make it easier.

The staff has gone back to the “covid protocols” we used in 2021, and I’ve posted an urgent project on DonorSee to restock the medication Nurse Brenda needs to treat pink eye. We’ve got lots of handwashing going on, and we’re very thankful for the liquid soap we make in-house.

Our clinic operates because of YOU. When we opened it on Valentine’s Day 2022, we knew it would save us money in the long run. We really underestimated the huge impact it’s made every single day for every single person in our program.

We can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS If you want to help with this urgent project, click the button!

MEDS!

PSS You may have noticed you didn’t get a newsletter last week and I apologize! I was under the weather for a few days and totally forgot until Sunday. Hopefully you missed us! 🙂

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Q&A on Mikisa Farm

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Here in NC, spring has sprung! Apple and pear trees are blooming, the Carolina jessamine vines — beautiful yellow flowers — are popping up everywhere, and yes, the pine pollen has started to turn everything yellow.

In just the past few days I’ve had a lot of questions about our little Mikisa Farm in Uganda, so I thought I’d do a Q and A for you. Meanwhile, go out and get your hands in the dirt!

Q: What are you growing now?

A: We’re now in dry season, so the cabbages are finishing up and the wet season’s collards are done. Collards are great nutrition and easy to grow, so Farmer Derrick is putting in a new crop of them for “spring.” He’ll also be planting beans, maize, more eggplants, and some other types of greens. Our fruit trees should start bearing, and we can harvest cassava and matoke soon.

Q: What fruits do you have on the property?

A: We have papaya, mango, oranges, avocado, and sweet bananas. Matoke are a kind of banana but more starchy, like a tasteless plantain.

Q: How do you keep the plants watered during dry season since it’s, you know, DRY?

A: We have two irrigation tanks that are connected to a solar-powered drip irrigation system that waters the fields. The second tank is newer and will help us cultivate more of the property than we have been able to.

Q: Are you training any of the girls or staff on growing food?

A: Yes! Our staff loves (LOVES) to go to the farm and help with all the tasks, even hand clearing brambles and hoeing up the fields. We are going to run a pilot program for five students during the term break and a couple of months following to finalize a curriculum to add to Skills for Life.

Q: The farm cost a lot of money and you have to pay Farmer Derrick. Is it worth it?

A: YES! The farm has helped us tremendously since Derrick started as our full time farmer in January 2023. Every week he is able to deliver fresh produce to the Touch the Slum compound, which has kept our weekly expense for those goods at the market down at manageable levels. The Sunday deliveries are a highlight for the residential girls, who get a Sunday dinner with whatever has been added to our larder.

We want to thank you all for your ongoing support of Mikisa Farm. You not only helped us buy it, finish the farmhouse, dig the well, install the latrine, and hire Derrick, you have come through every time we have needs. It has made an enormous impact, and we honestly couldn’t do it without you.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS We have a project up to upgrade our solar at the farm. This will allow us to put in more lights, both for Derrick at the farmhouse and for security farther out into the property. We still need about $300 — if you want to help, just click the button!

Solar Upgrade

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Airplanes fly both ways

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Here in the US, we take travel for granted. Our roads (even the ones with potholes that we complain about) are great. Our interstate system lets us go to any part of the country with minimal effort (but maximum boredom). We have regional airlines that will fly us 700 miles for $17.

In Uganda, there are major artery roads between cities – the Jinja Road, Entebbe Road Bypass, the road we take west to Mbarara. They’re two lanes and have rumble strips and speed bumps in every town you drive through, but you can get, sort of, where you’re going, over a whole day (or two). What they don’t have is regional airports that will get you there for $17 in 55 minutes.

While we were there in January, I told Ronald that he should go ahead and get a passport. (Then it turned out he needed one for the NGO application — for some strange reason! — anyway.) Last week, he got it.

In our meeting this week, we talked about the possibility of him coming here next year instead of me going to Uganda, and the more I sit with it, the more I like the idea.

I’d love for some of you all to meet him in person. I’d love for us to be able to talk to your group and for you to hear from him the hows and whys of our program.

This is still on the drawing board. Ronald is hoping to get married in November (I’ll have to do a whole post on the intricacies of Ugandan courtship and marriage practices!). We’re thinking the first quarter of 2025, so there’s no rush to decide.

What do you think?

Because you are the ones who make this program flourish, and we can’t do it without you. (Y’all are pretty darn amazing, if I do say so myself!)

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We’ve got 3 projects partly funded at DonorSee, and several more, which aren’t in Staff Picks, to choose from. You can also become a monthly donor, either on DonorSee or Donorbox, which helps us so much with our budgeting. Remember: 100% of your donations go to the program, always!

DONORSEE PROJECTS

MONTHLY DONOR SIGNUP

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An extra day of sunshine

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Happy February 29th! If it’s your birthday, aren’t you so glad it’s finally here?!

The past month (except yesterday!) has been hot and dry in Kampala and at the farm. While that’s not so great for the last of our cabbages, it’s been wonderful for our heat-loving veggies like the eggplants Ronald is picking in the photo.

We’ve got more seeds going in almost every day for new produce and the girls at the compound have been excited by the changes in their diet — which is also a great nutrition boost!

We have a new project in the works, which we’ve been talking about for 2 years now:

Adding in a Farming class to Skills for Life!

We will be starting with a shorter course with 5 girls, timed for weekends and the term break to work out the kinks — like housing and feeding them for days at a time, who will be the chaperone, what Derrick will teach them exactly, etc.

But we are VERY excited that the farm is at the place now where we can bring this skill to our girls. For, while some grew up in the village, many were born in the Namuwongo slum and have never grown the first thing. The Rotary Club in the area has built a greenhouse in the slum… but hardly anyone uses it. What if our girls develop the skills to use it, and can provide fresh produce for their families?

GAME CHANGER!

We’ve also had the neighbors of Mikisa Farm coming to ask Derrick how we’re growing so much — and so differently than the traditional (inefficient) way. This will give us an opportunity to bring in some of them to learn, too.

What do we say? Go deep to change a culture!

We are so appreciative of all your support and encouragement.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Our project to make liquid soap for the next couple of months is 84% funded – we just need $40 to finish it and buy the materials. If you’d like to donate today, here’s the link!

LIQUID SOAP!

PSS Last year, either the IRS or our accountant made a keying error on our address and it currently shows we’re in Butner NC (27509) instead of Raleigh (27609) in their database. We thought we’d fixed it with a new filing, but it is still showing incorrectly, so searches in their database for 1018 using the correct zip or city aren’t showing us. Rest assured we ARE still a registered 501c3 — you can just put in our EIN of 26-3867682 and NC and find us. We’re still working on getting it corrected!

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When your bed is dirt

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The older I get, the more I appreciate a good mattress (and grumble about a bad one!). One of the things I appreciate about Kampala Forest Resort, where I always stay when in Uganda for work, is that they have *real* mattresses, and not just large pieces of cut foam. Quality sleep is underrated!

As you can see from the photo, our kindergarden class at Wells of Hope naps on the dirt floor of the classroom. These kids go to school for TWELVE HOURS! (Yes, at 3, 4, and 5 years old!)

I know what you’re thinking, and (as a retired homeschool mom) I think that, too. But let me tell you why I don’t get too agitated by it:

  • These kids get a meal at school every day, but do not get a meal at home every day.
  • Their parents work in their fields or at another job from sun up to sun down, often leaving children as young as 2 at home alone or in the care of marginally older siblings for all that time.
  • Extreme poverty, rampant untreated diseases like syphilis which can effect the brain, and alcohol abuse with homemade waraji (moonshine) often lead to abuse.

So. Am I okay with kids this young going to school for twelve hours and taking naps in the dirt? In principle, no. In practice, based on the above issues in their homes… yes.

And remember, many of their homes look like this. See that little toddler in front? He/she was there alone… there were no adults around.

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All that is to say, we have a project coming up to purchase small foam mattresses for these children to sleep on during their naps. It’s going to be too large of a project to post all at once on DonorSee, which only allows one project of over $500 at a time. The mattresses are about $10/ea.

If you’d like to contribute to this project, please make a donation through Donorbox using the button below, and we will tag that donation for the mattress project.

Buy Mattresses!

We so appreciate all you do for the impoverished kids in our programs!

Mwebele mnonga!

Jennings

PS Did you know we have tee and sweatshirts available on our Bonfire store? Just in time for spring! As a registered 501c3, we get about 20% of the purchase price, so it’s a win win!

Bonfire Store

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Farming for food

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I grew up in a farming family — citrus growers in Florida — and am always growing something either hydroponically or outdoors. North Carolina, where I live, is a heavily agricultural state, so we have access to many wonderful farms and farmers markets.

But let’s be real… For virtually everyone in the US, we are growing for pleasure, for fun, for the taste of a fresh picked strawberry. But we can get food, any time, in any number of stores.

For the families of our girls in the slum, the cheapest things to buy are posho (finely ground maize) and beans. If they’re lucky, there’s one tomato and a small onion cooked into the beans, perhaps some semawiki (collards). But that’s “special” and doesn’t happen often.

We’ve always had a small “grocery” budget at Touch the Slum, which covers produce from a small local market. Like everything else over the last few years, the prices have gone up. You can’t grow food in the slum… so you have to transport it from villages, then the vendors have to walk or take a boda to get it from a Central market. All that adds to the cost.

When we started Mikisa Farm in last 2022, we did it to provide the nutrition that fresh produce brings, and that is so lacking in the typical diet of those living in Namuwongo. Now, thanks to your generous donations to get the farm, finish the farm house so we could have a full time farmer, and for seeds and tools and irrigation, we are getting weekly fresh produce.

It’s literally a life changing thing!

Ten Eighteen and Touch the Slum are not “rack up big numbers to get big grants” organizations. We are small, but we are deeply touching and changing lives every day. We don’t focus on one quick fix… We focus on deep change and education that will ensure a sustainable future for our girls.

We can do that because of YOU, and we can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS One of our Literacy girls, Anita, became homeless and her mom brought her to live at Touch the Slum so she could continue her education. The project for her entry package (toiletries, mattress, clothes, etc) is 65% funded and just needs $95 to be complete. We’d love your help!

Anita’s Entry Package

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Acclimation, Orientation, and Graduation

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It’s hard to believe we’ve all been home for more than a week! It was a great trip, and everyone who went has had a blast sharing their experiences with their friends and family. I think I can safely say “fun was had by all!” (And hard work and emotional growth and jet lag!)

At Touch the Slum, things are moving on apace.

The new term started on Monday with Orientation for all the incoming students for Literacy, Tailoring, Hairdressing, and Media. Today was Day 1 in the classroom, and it was all smiles!

Trust me when I tell you (and as my grandmother would attest, given her unsuccessful attempts at teaching me to sew) — it’s hard enough sewing a straight line with a fast electric machine. Sewing a straight line with a slow-moving needles while pumping the pedal with your feet… super challenging! So the girls start out on paper, making straight lines with a ruler and pencil, until they’ve mastered it.

In Hairdressing, they spend a lot of time with head dummies before they get to a real person’s real head — and this is definitely for the best! Braiding in straight lines isn’t much easier than sewing in them, and braiding fast? Forget it.

Media spends a lot of time on digital camera basics, and also on phone photography/videography techniques beyond point-and-shoot. Editing will come soon, as they learn what they need to be professionals.

And the Literacy girls jump right into (or back into, for the ones who’ve remained for the next term) the three-r’s, games, puzzles, and art.

We also have a dozen girls out doing internships, with our Community Officers following up and keeping track of how they’re doing.

In short, controlled chaos has resumed! And we thank you all for your support that makes it possible for us to welcome these girls, give them a free education and food, and a safe place to learn and grow.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Oh, I forgot about graduation! The girls who just finished up while we were there will be graduating on February 24th. As you know if you’ve followed us for awhile, this is a HUGE deal for these girls who have never been to school before. They get official Certificates, wear caps and gowns (make in-house), get tee shirts, local leaders come to the ceremony, and they have a feast and party. It’s such an important milestone and one we make as big as possible to celebrate girls who’ve never been celebrated before.

We have a project up to fund the graduation – we’d love your help to make it the best yet! Just click the button!

GRADUATION ROCKS!

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Home with a side of Kenya

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Dear {{contact.first_name}},

Hello from North Carolina! Where it is quite chilly and I’m thankful for Ugandan coffee this morning.

It’s hard to believe the trip is over, but wow, what an amazing job this team did last month!

  • Bertie and Harriet, our nurses, did an amazing hand washing campaign in the community, giving away 10 hand washing stations and conducting a very well received workshop on hand washing and hygiene. They also did a lot of small- and large-group work with our girls on baby care, hygiene, personal care, and more; plus helped Nurse Brenda in the clinic a LOT. my favorite story is one of the girls coming in with “arm pain” and wanting medicine. Turns out she’d been carrying heavy jerry cans of water the day before and she was just sore – it was a great lesson that every pain isn’t “bad” and requiring meds!
  • Connie led the enthusiastic girls in making really cute things with a type of paper-based clay she brought. When they were dry, the girls painted them and make 2 amazing collages in frames to hang up. She also had hand-made a bunch of beautiful glass beads which were made into jewelry and decorated picture frames. She worked with Charity, who has been filling in for Mama Santa in the kitchen, and made both mendazi (like donuts) and bolognese for the girls and staff.
  • Susan taught many classes in drawing and painting, and also led the staff in several workshops on stress and stress management.
  • Bertie, Harriet, and Connie went to the farm and were promptly put to work – and they had a blast!
  • I got all the paperwork, reports, and plannning done for our upcoming NGO application, which is now in progress thanks to our wonderful Legal Officer, Jimmy. This is an “upgrade” from our current community organization status and makes us a nationwide organization.

We finished out the trip with 2 nights at Lake Mburo for safari, where we were fortunate enough to be literally in the middle of (on foot!) over 30 giraffes – half of the total giraffe population of the Park! (Including a less-than-2-month-old nursing baby!)

The return journey for me was longer than expected, as my initial flight was cancelled due to technical issues. They put us in a hotel, then rebooked me on Kenya Air the next day. When we flew into Nairobi I was so shocked at how flat it is… Uganda is so beautifully green and hilly, I guess that’s what I expected! I had a long-haul (15 hour) flight to JFK, then home to NC on Tuesday. I’m now in post-trip recovery/regroup mode — and very thankful both for the going and the coming home.

Thank you all so much for your emails and comments on Instagram during the trip. It means so much to all of us! Your pre-trip donations helped us get supplies for art, get soccer balls for Wells of Hope and Hopeland Primary Schools (and have a fund to supply them for a year!), and make sure all the classes had what they needed for exams.

Now it’s back to work here, while missing there…

Blessings!

Jennings

PS. We have some great projects up on DonorSee, including moving the residential program to a separate compound. Check it out and see if something moves you — and also, you can become a monthly donor to either the clinic or the residential program, right there through DonorSee!

To DonorSee!

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Menu testing, picking collards, and my feelings about jackfruit

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Hello from the quiet Kampala Forest Resort, our next-to-last day in Kampala. Wow, has the trip gone by quickly!

We woke up in the EARLY morning to a huge thunderstorm, with pounding rain. With metal roofs, that’s loud! Connie, Bertie, and Harriet were supposed to leave for the farm at 5:00, but those of our staff living in the slum who were also going couldn’t get to the compound, so the departure was delayed.

Then, of course, we had stragglers… But the team eventually took off for Mikisa Farm at about 6:40. As you can see from the above photo, the weather at the farm has been good for them, and they were put right to work harvesting collards and other fresh-picked food to take back to Touch the Slum. They also picked and ate a jackfruit — a fruit I have strongly negative feelings about! (I also have strongly negative feels about collards, which may get me kicked out of the Southern-ladies club, but what can you do?!)

Thursday is our last day in Kampala, and everyone will be playing to their strengths: Bertie and Harriet will be doing Q&A health seminars in the am and pm, where the girls can ask anything. Connie will be making bolognese sauce to serve with their choice of rice or pasta — a previously unknown meal that I know they will enjoy. Susan will be doing her final art classes, in which I’ll likely play assistant, and I will be having a few final meetings.

Friday morning we head west, driving 4 1/2 to 5 hours to see the well that YOU helped construct in Rwakobo village. I am SO excited to see it, and will have some photos and video for you once I get back. We will also stop (briefly) at Wells of Hope School to say hello and donate some soccer balls.

And that’s the end of the work! We will go into Lake Mburo National Park from there to do a boat safari on Friday evening and a driving safari on Saturday morning. On Sunday, we head back east and, for three of us returning to the US, to the airport. By Monday evening, we’ll all be back home!

It’s been a great trip — great to introduce the work to three new people, great to have my mom along again, great to work and play with some of my favorite people on the planet. It’s always such a blessing to be in Uganda, and to see how well our program is growing and maturing. I’ll have a more “businessy” update next week, but until then…

Tweyanzizza nnyo, tweyanzeege â€” we are so grateful, thank you very much!

Jennings

PS If you want to follow along (or backtrack) on our trip, just go to Instagram.com via a web browser and search for Ten Eighteen Uganda and also for Touch the Slum. You can see the videos we’ve been posting every day and don’t have to have an account!

To find great projects to support, click here!

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Week One in Uganda – TEAMWORK!

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Normally I put one picture at the top of these emails, but I really want to share a few from our first days in Uganda. The ladies are doing such great work and our staff and girls are so happy to have them with us!

Clockwise from the top left, Susan (my mom) teaching watercolor to the Literacy girls; Connie teaching paper clay modeling, also to the Literacy girls; and Harriet (from Karamoja) and Bertie unpacking new medical supplies for our Nurse Brenda.

Yesterday, Harriet, Bertie, and Connie did a community talk on hand washing and hygiene, and they gave out 50 mosquito nets. Connie also taught a class on making glass jewelry. On Monday, Susan did a drawing class.

(And Susan’s luggage is still lost somewhere... so you can say a prayer on that since it’s not just clothes but all her personal and student art supplies, too!)

Meanwhile, I have been doing very exciting things like working with our Finance Officer on accounting software and making spreadsheets for upcoming payroll tax changes (ugh), and putting together what we’ll need in March to renew/upgrade our organizational license (also ugh). We have a dinner meeting tonight with the attorney… I know, my part sounds like so much fun, right?!

I did, however, get one very important visit in — with Mama Santa! She is so appreciative of you all, who funded her surgery within an hour of last week’s email going out. She’s resting and doing well, while her daughter Charity fills in in the kitchen.

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This week we’ll have more community visits, more classes, more laughter, and (I’m sure) more dancing. Our nurses will be making time for individual chats, Susan will be doing a workshop for the staff on managing stress, and Connie will be making cassava mendazi for the girls.

In short – it’s pretty amazing over here!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We would love to have your support to move the residential program to a separate house just down the road — we’re at 21%! Life is already challenging for teen moms like Anita, who had a c-section 4 weeks ago. Giving them some peace and quiet would be amazing! Just click the button for easy giving.

MOVE Project!

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