Prices have jumped on pretty much everything, including food. Fortunately, we bought at least 6 weeks’ worth of dry goods and charcoal last Monday! We had a friend bring matoke and bread by today, which will help so much!
Uganda is mostly looking at cases, not hospitalizations and deaths. Because they’re doing more testing, cases are going up. And yes, Uganda has a terrible medical system in general. (I can say that since my son was in a Ugandan hospital with pneumonia for 4 days!) But the president will be speaking again Thursday, and everyone is worried he will announce stricter lockdown measures since they are using the “cases” measurement. This would be REALLY bad.
Because of that scheduled announcement, we are waiting to start the new Skills for Life term. Meanwhile, the teachers are using the time to finalize their teaching manuals, and the tailoring class has presented their final design projects today.
The Suubi House landlord is stuck at Mulago hospital with his daughter, who has been diagnosed with COVID so now he can’t leave until the 14 day quarantine period is over. That means we don’t yet have the key! But we have ordered the furniture items that have to be built so we’ll be ready to get it done quickly once we can access the home.
We now have 8 girls from this last Skills for Life term working!! This is HUGE! (Youth unemployment is Uganda’s biggest problem.)
YOU GUYS ROCK!
Thank you to all who have donated to help in this crisis! We will keep you updated here but joining our newsletter and following us on Instagram and Facebook are the best ways to get up-to-date info!
That’s the best word for it. The president had addressed the nation several days before about rising cases of COVID19, but said they were not locking down. Then, Sunday night after 8pm, he announced that a 42 day partial shut down would begin on MONDAY.
To say there was shock, dismay, anger, and chaos would be an understatement!
Chaos in Kampala as people try to leave the city before the deadline
After a REALLY good week last week in our programs, with graduation for our first term students from Skills for Life just a couple of weeks away, new water filters for Wells of Hope School, students reporting in stages back to the two primary schools, and two of the hairdressing girls hired by salons, we were very… UPSET.
Here’s what we know so far:
Schools are CLOSED. They just started reopening in March, and several grades hadn’t even come back yet, so we are now at about 15 months without school for many students. Since our schools service extremely poor children, this also means they lose the food and supervision they get at school. In the case of Wells of Hope, they lose the only clean water they have access to.
Churches, mosques, and other houses of worship are CLOSED.
Important gatherings, such as burials and weddings, are limited to 20 people.
Inter-district travel is restricted starting the 10th. (He did allow a few days for people to get home, at least.)
The informal economy has effectively been killed again — the only markets allowed are government sanctioned ones.
WHAT WE ARE DOING:
The primary schools are closed, which left about 10 children who are true orphans once again homeless. The foster families who took them in last year graciously agreed to receive them again, so they have been relocated to those families. We will be providing them food as we did in 2020, and they all were given Wonderbags so that will help with charcoal costs.
The girls from Term 1 of Skills for Life are finishing up their final projects. We can distance them, and make sure to stay under the “3 people” limit so that they can complete the term. Our graduation ceremony will be held once the restrictions are lifted.
Term 2 of Skills for Life is on the drawing board. I should have some updates for that by the end of the week, as the staff meets to discuss our options.
Two of the girls at the Ross House have been there for four months, and are ready to move on once the S4L term ends. We have located a place for the Suubi House, and should have access to that by the end of the week. We have to furnish it, but we will have the girls and social worker eat at the Ross House to keep extra expenses down for now. (It’s very close by.)
We are brainstorming ideas to keep the kids in the various programs ENGAGED and BUSY during the coming 6 weeks. During the lockdown of 2020, teen pregnancies skyrocketed, child bride practices escalated, and drug and alcohol use increased. While we can’t have our Saturday Turning Point, we can continue counseling sessions and small gatherings, and we are working on ways that the teens can get involved in the community to keep them busy and out of trouble.
Prices have already gone up significantly on food and charcoal, because of the inter-district travel restrictions. We are cutting expenses where we can to prepare for emergency situations. Please consider setting up a monthly donation of ANY size ($3/mo is the minimum and even that is so helpful!), or a one time donation.
Let’s be honest, very many (most?) nonprofits define a mission first, then go do it somewhere. Very often, it’s NOT what the beneficiaries themselves think of as their most pressing need.
I have witnessed this first hand:
A group that painted a house — without asking permission — because “it needed it”
Groups that distribute clothing, shoes, and/or candy AFTER a presentation, and think all the desperate people waiting for the free stuff cared about the presentation
Building a clinic when there was no doctor, nurses, or money to pay for staffing or medicines (The organization wasn’t paying, they were just building!)
Okay, these are needs. (Well, not that first one!) These are “good works.” But they are things done TO people, maybe even FOR people, but not WITH people.
Uganda is poor, yes. Desperately so for most people. But Ugandans aren’t stupid. They can look around their communities and see what the needs are.
What they lack are the things Ten Eighteen strives to provide:
OPPORTUNITY – Money, yes. Introductions to fellow Ugandans in other areas who are doing similar work.
ACCESS – Again, money helps. So does the technology that facilitates communication and research. Bringing in materials and training that can move their programs forward.
COLLABORATION – By forming strategic partnerships, instituting regular video meetings (and audio ones when the speed of the internet doesn’t allow video!), and taking advantage of our own life experiences and education, we can collaborate on programs that bring huge success without a huge financial investment.
In order to create lasting change, we focus on the change Ugandans truly want. We all know how being forced into change feels — who wants to be forced to give up caffeine, or live without power thanks to a hurricane, or put on bed rest?? We want choices, and we want to buy in to the changes. We’ve been able to achieve so much with so little over the last 12 years because we’ve trusted our Ugandan partners — and because you’ve seen the impact and wanted to make an difference!
THIS WEEK WE LAUNCHED THE GATE – FOR A REALLY GOOD REASON!
Uganda is a developing country with the world’s youngest population. Unemployment numbers are a joke* — even young people with university degrees can’t find paying jobs and usually “intern” (work for free, even for the government) for years before possibly getting a paying job.
In our programs, we are dealing with the extreme poor, the uneducated, the orphaned or abandoned, the homeless. Unemployment, other than informal self-employment, is literally 100%.
So outside of our regular budget, we have regular problems come up, like three babies in two weeks getting pneumonia. Transport to the clinic or hospital, medical treatment, daily transport for IV antibiotics… All that adds up. And while it’s very small compared to US standards, our budget is pretty small too!
By joining our passionate supporters together in the Gate, WE get a stable revenue flow, and YOU get to really see the IMPACT of your donations on a monthly basis. We want you to know exactly what your money is doing, who it is benefitting, and how we go about our work.
By joining the Gate, you get:
Monthly updates with behind the scenes information, stories and photos
Quarterly LIVE video meetings with our US and UG staff where you can ask any questions and get to know us
For the first 100 members, you’ll become part of our Founding SUUBI ALLIANCE with extra perks
Nothing changes on your end — you choose your monthly donation and set it up on Donorbox. But you get all the access above so you get to know the people whose lives you are changing and be part of our life-changing community!
JOIN THESE SMILING FACES!
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO WITH ALL OUR PROGRAMS – WE’D LOVE TO HAVE YOU JOIN US IN CHANGING LIVES TODAY!
*Unemployment numbers for Uganda are all over the place, depending on who is reporting it. Government numbers can be as low as 1.84% (an absolute farce which anyone who has ever been to Uganda knows), to as high as 80% – a much more likely number. The truth is, MANY millions of Uganda’s 43 million population have no employment, no way to gain employment, and no safety net to help them.
Gloria is 16. Her son Imran is 6 months old. Before she got pregnant, Gloria was using drugs and alcohol, and trading sex for basic necessities like sanitary pads. She lived in a one-room home with 5-6 other girls, who have all now had babies, where the rent was paid by one or other of the girls’ boyfriends.
UNTIL IT WASN’T. NOW THEY’VE ALL BEEN EVICTED, AND GLORIA HAS NO FAMILY, AND NOWHERE TO GO.
Since January, Gloria has been participating in Guardian Angel and Skills for Life programs. She has been in the morning hairdressing class, working extremely hard. She has practiced during breaks and days off, coming in to learn not only hairdressing but also basic reading and writing in Luganda and a little English. She was the subject of our first documentary-style film.
When Ronald messaged me, we were able to have an immediate video meeting – man, do I love modern technology!
These are the daily challenges of working in a slum that has a HUGE population of teen moms who are largely uneducated and unemployed. And let’s be honest, it’s tough.
It’s tough to turn away girls in need. We get multiple calls a week from authorities and other organizations about teen moms in crisis. It’s just HARD. But we could have a house the size of a city block and still have to turn people away…
We do as much as we can and make sure to really invest in each girl we CAN take, making them a part of our family.
So we did the only thing we could do: we moved Gloria into the Ross House.
SO THAT BRINGS US TO THE “QUARTERWAY” HOUSE.
A couple of weeks ago, we realized that Sharon and Shadia, our two Ross House residents, had no family to go to when their stay was complete. Many (most?) of the teen girls in the programs don’t – they are either orphans, were kicked out when they got pregnant, were raped or abused by a man in their home who is not their father, or their family is in a village and unwelcoming. Our previous residents didn’t have this issue, though, so we hadn’t yet figured out the next step.
But by mid-June, we MUST have one! And now Gloria has come to the Ross House, and the need for “the next thing” (we’ll call it TNT) is even more urgent.
When we first realized we need a TNT, we began to plan. We have a lead on a 2-room place close to the Ross House/Guardian Angel/Skills for Life compound. It’s supposed to be available in May, so we are following up on that today.
We planned the HOW:
a resident social worker
a micro-savings program
continued financial/business literacy training
small contributions to the house to build the skill of budgeting
We applied for a grant to fund it – but with our accelerated schedule, the expenses will come before the money (if we’re blessed with a yes!).
BUT OF COURSE WE HAVE TO DO IT. THERE’S NOT EVEN ANY QUESTION…
Our goal isn’t a pleasant 3-4 month stay for a young, sick mom, and then to push her back out on the street to be in a worse state than before. Our goal is holistic.
Medical care for physical wellness
Psycho-social counseling for mental wellness
Sexual trauma counseling for emotional wellness
Vocational training for financial stability
The girls may not have a family — or a good family — to lean on, but they have us.
WE’RE ALL FAMILY NOW!
To help with the cost to establish the Suubi House , please make a one-time or recurring donation!
We got a call from local authorities in early November about a girl who had just given birth who was living under the small roof of a video shanty. Esther and her baby were very sick.
We got her and her baby to a clinic, where she was diagnosed with a bad infection due to childbirth complications, and the baby was also ill. Both were treated, and we moved them temporarily into a small garage of a now-closed nonprofit who allowed us the space for a short time. Mama Santa visited and brought food several times a day, and made sure that Esther and the baby took their medications.
When we opened the Ross House in mid-November, Esther was one of our first residents.
She cried for an entire week.
After just a month, Esther had gained weight, gotten well, and was full of smiles.
She enrolled in our first Skills for Life, choosing hairdressing. She also learned a “small skill”, how to make samosas, and was given the tools she’d need to start a small business while she learned her “big skill” over four months.
Esther graduated from the Ross House at the end of January, having completed our Sexual Trauma Workbook and our basic financial and business literacy training. When she moved in with her sister nearby, she took a month of food with her for the household, as well as all she would need to run her samosa business in the morning and attend the hairdressing class in the afternoon.
While her brother-in-law eventually decided he didn’t want Esther and Ella living with them (we moved her in with a family from church), Esther continues to thrive. She is excelling in the advanced class, and working extremely hard on her skills and creativity.
ESTHER IS NOW ALMOST UNRECOGNIZABLE!
She’s the one on the left… To be honest, when Ronald sent me this photo, I didn’t realize who was in it!
This is real change, and thanks to S4L, lasting change.
The Ross House family expands with every graduate — and they remain our family, with access to medical care and food, continued counseling, and opportunities.
MAY 26, 2021 UPDATE
On Saturday, Esther taught a skills workshop on how to make and sell samosas to 15 young people!! She did an amazing job, earned some money, and gained a huge amount of confidence. AMAZING!!
THIS IS OUR WHY!
AND THIS IS YOUR IMPACT!
Thanks to you and donors like you, we are able to create dramatic, deep-rooted change that will affect not only girls like Esther, but their children, their extended families, and their community.
AND THAT’S TEN EIGHTEEN’S MISSION: TO CHANGE THE CULTURE OF EXTREME POVERTY FOR THE YOUTH OF UGANDA.
Thanks to our generous donors, with the administrative support from Equal Aqua Uganda, and construction by The Ichupa Upcycle Project , our first ecobrick water tank is up and running with harvested rainwater!
Check out this video for the whole story:
Now, the kids at Wells of Hope School AND the residents of Rwakobo Village have access to safe water!
WHAT’S NEXT?
This was the kick-off project for our WASH Campaign. Our 2021 goals are ambitious – but that’s good, right?
Ecobrick Water Tanks
Pit Latrines with Handwashing Stations
Deep Water Well
Gideon, school Director, checks out the growing tank
Ten Eighteen has 3 missions in Uganda: vulnerable girls and teen moms, water/sanitation/hygiene for Rwakobo, and food for three schools. In short, FOOD, WATER, SHELTER, AND EDUCATION.
It’s supporters like you, and our partners in Uganda, that allow us to accomplish this big mission, one small step at a time. We are so thankful!!
Yesterday was the official KICK OFF of our multi-year WASH Campaign. A WASH Campaign brings water access, sanitation, and hygiene to a community — and we are kicking off with a 10,000 liter water tank made of upcycled ecobricks for Wells of Hope School in Rwakobo Village.
Created in partnership with Equal Aqua Uganda, the Ichupa Upcycle Project, and Celebration Tabernacle Church in Mbarara, this project is exciting in so many ways!
It brings ample clean water to the students and staff at Wells of Hope School for washing, cooking, and (with purification like boiling) drinking.
It shows our commitment to this extremely poor and isolated village of nearly 3,000.
It involves the students and community by showing them how to fill the bottles with sand and use them to construct a tank.
It is a step towards a culture of upcycling and recycling the enormous amount of plastic waste in Uganda.
Equal Aqua will also be providing some Skills classes to the community.
We will have more updates, and are so thankful to YOU for your donations that have been this possible!
Almost exactly a year ago (March 12, 2020), we built a small cistern at Wells of Hope School in Rwakobo Village. Nearly 40 kids were out of school with typhoid due to contaminated water, we didn’t have the funds for a well — but we DID have the funds for a small 200-liter tank that would at least provide cleaner (and on-site) water for hand washing and cooking.
Almost as soon as the work was finished, the Covid19 lockdowns started. I don’t know if the community was able to use this small bit of clean water during that time, but I hope so. It’s still there, and will still be collecting water for the BACK TO SCHOOL students. (School officially started back on March 1!)
BUT NOW…
10,000 liters!
Starting on Monday, March 8, Equal Aqua Uganda will be building a new additional tank holding 10,000 liters of rainwater captured from the roof of the new school building! We’ve written about ecobricks before… They’re made using recycled plastic bottles, filled with sand, and cemented into a large structure to give it strength. The tanks have spigots at the bottom, are fed with rainwater, and covered to prevent contamination.
While technically, that small 200-liter tank was the (unofficial) start of our WASH Campaign for Rwakobo Village, THIS TANK is the official kick-off of a multi-year, ambitious plan to bring tanks, wells, new pit latrines, handwashing facilities, and a hygiene campaign to this village.
OUR GOAL FOR 2021: 1 DEEP WATER WELL 2 PIT LATRINES 3 ECOBRICK WATER TANKS
Access to clean water and sanitation is the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”
In Rwakobo Village, this goal is 100% a dream right now.
BUT THANKS TO YOU, WE’RE GETTING STARTED NEXT WEEK!
Today we welcome Gideon, Director of Hopeland and Wells of Hope Schools, and our liaison to Rwakobo Village. I’ve known Gideon for about ten years when he was a teacher/tutor at Father’s House in Kampala. We’ve been working together on the schools since May 2019, when my bakery began a Pound for Pound program to provide food for Hopeland School and the Arise Africa Babies Home. I’m so glad to have a chance to chat with him about Rwakobo Village!
J: When and how did the village at Rwakobo come to your attention?
G: We visited it in 2018 when our church [Celebration Tabernacle Church in Mbarara] was doing outreaches to the poorest and most needy areas in our region.
J. What was the first thing Celebration Tabernacle did in the village?
G: Together, the church fed the hungry, built a few mud houses with iron sheets for those who slept in grass huts or were basically homeless, and talked to the parents about the dangers of forced child marriages and other associated vices.
J: How many people live in Rwakobo Village?
G: Almost 3,000 now!
J: What is life like for those living there?
G: They live hand to mouth, well below the poverty line [so below $2 per day]. They hardly have any clean water, getting food is a struggle, and they have no health facilities so they depend on herbs for the treatment of illnesses.
J: What impact has the school made on the lives of the villagers?
G: They have seen the importance of education! Forced early marriages have been reduced, as well as the behaviors associated with that [like abuse, early pregnancy and related complications]. The value of girls has been resurrected!
J: How will the new school building and the reopening of the school after the Covid lockdown affect the children who attend Wells of Hope?
G: Their lives were being threatened over the last year! Not only were schools closed, but churches were also closed so they began to lose hope. They fell back in their educational achievements [school had only just started its third-ever term], and were giving up! The news of the opening will be amazing to them!
J: What impact did the Covid lockdowns and the loss of the full school year have on the children. What negative effects did you see during the last year, and what negative impacts do you anticipate because of the “lost year?”
G: Some children were starving and malnourished. Some were abandoned by their parents in their houses and left alone. Others were forced into early marriage, early pregnancy, and some girls were exchanged for food. The girls who were forced into marriage will not be able to return to school [Wells of Hope only goes to Primary 6]. We also anticipate that the little tuition some parents were able to pay will be reduced, as the parents have lost what incomes they had during the pandemic. Additionally, the families had to eat any seeds that they were saving for planting after the rainy season, so there is little income on the horizon.
J: What difference would having access to clean water, as well as good sanitation and hygiene, have on the school and village?
G: If the village didn’t have to rely on seasonal wells [ponds] and had clean water, the incidence of disease and illness would be greatly reduced! Waterborne illness is one of the biggest problems in the village and the school and accounts for many lost days of class. Diarrhea kills many children in the village. Handwashing stations and clean pit latrines would also help a lot!
J: What is the greatest need in Rwakobo Village?
G: A bigger school so all the children can attend, and funds to pay the staff. Clean water and water easily available for washing. And improved homes for the families who live in grass huts or mud homes.
J: Thank you so much for all your work in this village — and for introducing us to it last year! We can’t wait to get back there as soon as Covid allows!
