Bringing Joy Never Gets Old

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This picture may be our Photo of the Year for 2023 – Monica captured the unadulterated, absolute joy in this family when we surprised them with food, mattresses, household goods, and shoes.

14-year-old Rachelle, one of the students in our Literacy program, lives with her aunt and 7 cousins in a pretty bad part of the slum. (Yes, there are bad parts even in the slum!) While it’s nicer in dry season because they have a little bit of space, it floods in rainy season, and the house is mud-and-stick and not secure or made to last.

The family has virtually nothing to their name. (You can see some videos on Instagram – click the icon below.)

But thanks to a quickly-funded project on DonorSee, we were able to get them things they need – NEED, not just want – and able to surprise them after Rachelle got home from Touch the Slum.

This project was only $375 – to bring food, mattresses, household goods, and shoes for 9 people.

And to bring JOY.

Tears. Running to the team with open arms, shouting thanksgiving, children dancing and crying and laughing all at the same time.

This is what you all do. I know you can’t feel it like my team, or see or smell or experience it. (I so wish you could!) But this is the WHY that you share with us, the simple yet profound ways we can join together to change lives.

Mwebele nnyo,

Jennings

PS We have a large project up for another irrigation tank at the farm. With large projects, they have to be 10% funded to show to the wider DonorSee platform. We’re at 5% — the project total is only $1274 total, so small for a “large” project! Can you help? $65 will get us full exposure so we can get the tank in to help with this dry season.

Bring the water!

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Dancing in the sun…

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“There’s a great joy in my giving. It’s thrilling. It’s exhilarating. It’s important to be a part of sharing.”  W. Clement Stone

Well, the well adventure is complete!

It may have taken Ssewak Engineering longer than they said to actually get out to the site to dig, but boy, did they hustle once they got there! Here’s the timeline:

Thursday, June 29 (a national holiday), they arrived at 2:00, ate lunch, set up, and started to drill. Drilling went on until 8:30pm, after dark.

Friday, June 30, they hit water! After letting the water run until it was clear, they stopped to let the bore hole dry.

Saturday, July 1, they built the bore, attached the filtration box and pump, and started the cement pad. My team didn’t leave the site until 11:30pm!

Sunday, July 2, we woke up a sign painter who created the sign. The cement pad and small adjacent wall were finished, with the sign cemented into the wall.

Monday, July 3, the well was officially handed over to the community! (And the LC asked Gideon if, since we’d built a well, we could now build a good road! hahahaha NO.)

Y’all… this was truly miraculous. As you can see from the photo, Gideon, the Wells of Hope students and staff, and members of the Rwakobo community celebrated and danced, even under the blazing dry-season midday sun.

WE DID GOOD!

All of us! The donors who made it possible, the supporters who sent prayers and encouragement and declarations of celebration, my team who walked the project all the way though despite the obstacles and setbacks, and everyone who has encouraged us on social media as they’ve seen the progress videos.

It was a team effort, and we all deserve an atta boy! We truly can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele mnonga!

Jennings

PS Yes, stuff was still happening at Touch the Slum, even while Ronald, Fauza, and Ritah were in Rwakobo documenting the well. We’ve got a number of important projects up on DonorSee, including a new irrigation tank for Mikisa Farm, some of our Literacy girls who are in truly dire need at home, and more. You can check out all our projects on DonorSee — as always, 100% of donations go to the program!

Take me to DONORSEE!

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We Have Water!!

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WE HAVE WATER!

The trucks arrived in Rwakobo around 2:00 yesterday afternoon with very little notice. Gideon quickly called Ronald, who got on a bus with Fauza and Ritah to head back west – it was 9 hours, since it wasn’t a direct bus. Villagers quickly cleared roads and the land where the drilling would happen.

After a quick lunch cooked on a charcoal stove, they started drilling.

And 30 minutes, as I was driving home from an appointment, Ronald Face Timed me (I pulled over!) and showed me the water!

Even as I watched it got cleaner and clearer. How we rejoiced!

It was very loud, and the team was getting other footage, but it was the next best thing to being there for it. I’ll have more soon, but by Sunday or Monday it should be DONE.

THANK YOU ALL for your kind support and encouragement – we hope you are celebrating with us in this historic moment for Rwakobo village.

Mwebele mnonga!

Jennings

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When the Ladder Has No Rungs

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14-year-old Rachelle, on the left, lives with her aunt and five other children in a bad part of the Namuwongo slum. (Yes, even in the slum there are bad parts!)

Earlier this month, Rachelle started in our Literacy program, the first time she has ever attended any kind of school. As you can see, she is now beginning to read simple books out loud! Hesitantly, with a little embarrassment, but still — she’s READING.OUT.LOUD. in less than a month!

When we were planning our Literacy program, we knew that most of the girls who came through would have never attended school before, and even those that had would have had only a few terms under their belts. Teen girls are not known for their ability (or desire!) to sit still and be serious — as my mom, Susan, said on our trip a few months ago, “They are JUST like giggling teenage girls everywhere!”

But they are consumed with a desire to learn, to speak English, to read and write and know how to use money (and not be cheated). To be MORE.

Without Touch the Slum, the girls in our program will always only be less-than. They are less than the boys in their family, who get to go to school if there’s the money for it. They are less than the younger children, who get food first because the teens should be able to “go out and get money” (meaning from sex work) if they need incidentals like food and sanitary pads.

They know they are at the bottom of the social ladder — and that, without basic literacy and a skill, that ladder has no rungs.

But YOU believe in them, and so they believe in themselves!

And that’s enough.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Our monthly sanitary pad project for June is 87% funded – we just need $44 to get sanitary pads to 250 girls. If you want to help, click the button!

JUNE SANITARY PADS

PSS The well contractors have still not shown up. (Don’t worry, we haven’t paid them anything except for the surveyor who came twice.) Apparently, they’ve been trying to line up multiple jobs in the region to do back-to-back, but didn’t tell Gideon that until Friday. Our Touch the Slum team took the overnight bus back to Kampala Sunday night, and will return once the trucks are ON SITE! This is Africa…

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Two Mondays in One

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The bus had a flat tire on the way to Mbarara. Because of course it did!

Having worked and lived in developing countries, I’m (reasonably) immune to the frustrations that come with the life: tons of bureaucracy, weird priorities (ie when we lived in Nicaragua, we could have built a 3rd story on our hotel with virtually no oversight, but if we didn’t add the mosquito pellet to our well in a timely fashion, the health inspector from MINSA would come sit with a police officer in our rancho until we did!), and lots and lots of waiting.

While patience isn’t my strong suit, I’m used to this kind of thing. THERE.

But when it’s on this side of the pond, WOW, do I lose my mind!

The good news:

They found a great spot to drill the well AND a cooperative land owner. The team from Ssewak Engineering Solutions is traveling to Rwakobo as I type this, and the drilling starts tomorrow!

The frustrating part was getting the money to Gideon to pay Ssewak, and getting the money to Ronald to be on the road at 5am this morning with the media team. It took ALL.DAY.LONG. (Normally, sending money to Ronald using the SendWave app is instantaneous, and bank wires aren’t supposed to take 8 hours to get sent!)

SO WHERE ARE WE NOW?

Ronald, Monica, and Fauza have arrived in Mbarara and are doing some filming at Hopeland School this afternoon. We are working on more video for our new Sister Schools initiative, as well as some DonorSee projects.

The bank wire is in cyberspace somewhere, but should be available by the time work starts tomorrow.

Our team will be out at the drill site for the whole process – including when they hit water and it shoots high into the sky. I would so love to be there for that!

By Sunday or Monday, we should have a complete, finished, deep water well providing clean water to the over 3000 people in Rwakobo village!!

Many of you helped us with project with your hard earned money, with encouragement, and with cheers of celebration. As the surveyor has traversed the village with community leaders, Gideon, and others, the universal sentiment is, “We NEVER believed this would happen for us! They forgot us…“

But the forgotten are our specialty and our heart, and we know they’re yours as well. We can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele mnonga!

Jennings

PS With the Term 2 now underway, we have several new projects (and some older ones that still need funding!) on DonorSee. Check them out, forward the link to people you know, and/or say a prayer for them to be funded. All it makes a difference!

CHECK US OUT ON DONORSEE

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“Hope fills the holes of my frustration…”

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Can you remember a time where something you longed for was finally about to arrive, and then, for no apparent reason or fault of your own, it didn’t? Frustration, anger, perhaps a few muttered words (the kind we call “magic words” in our family)… until you accept your disappointment.

But then something happened that you didn’t expect, something even better than the thing that threw you for a loop. And looking back, you realize that this — had you known about it — was the thing you needed all along.

So it is with our well at Rwakobo. Last week, my email contained the exciting news of a spot with an 80% chance of success. Everyone was ecstatic! Cue the marching band!

Until the landowner decided we were trying to “steal” his land and demanded nearly $6,000 to use approximately 1/15 of the an acre for the well. (For the record, for $7,000 we bought 2 acres of farmland in a more accessible and desirable place than Rwakobo!) No assurances by the LC (local councilman) or Gideon made any difference. Appealing to his “better nature” and community spirit was a dead end. (We think he knew a mzungu was involved, but can’t say for sure.)

So we are back to square one, with the surveyor/engineer returning and the quest for a good spot starting once again. This time, several of the LCs are getting involved, though, and the whole community is taking ownership of the project to see it through.

And this is actually better!

It’s not Ten Eighteen Uganda’s project, or Wells of Hope School’s project, or Celebration Tabernacle Church’s project. Now that one man said no to clean water for 3,000 people, those 3,000 people are invested in making it happen! It’s now Rwakobo village’s project, and that is the hope filling the holes of our frustration. We are more optimistic than ever!

We’ll keep you updated on the progress this week, and I expect to have big news soon. We appreciate your support and encouragement!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We have a project up for resident teen mom Leticia’s hairdressing supplies. She’s 1 1/2 weeks into the Hairdressing course and loving it! The project only needs $145 to be fully funded – we’d love your help! Webele nyo.

Leticia’s Project

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New Term, New Skills

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Do you remember your first day of a new school year? Even if you knew most of your classmates from the year before, it was nerve-wracking! New teachers, new expectations, a different schedule and flow, the feeling of starting from scratch…

Term 2 started on Monday with 75 students — up 10 from last term — and a lot of nervous excitement. Half the girls from Literacy moved up to a vocational skill, which involves a lot fewer games and a whole lot more equipment!

We also expanded our literacy class so that we have 30 girls, divided into two sessions of morning and afternoon. (No more showing up for both – we don’t have the space!) More than half of these girls have never been to any kind of school in their lives.

THEIR LIVES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!

In other news –

In case you missed it, we have now funded over 250 projects on DonorSee since we began on the platform in September 2021. We are so grateful for those of you who have given there (and through DonorBox!). If you’ve never checked out our page on DonorSee, click here to see what it’s all about.

Unfortunately, as I’m writing this on Tuesday afternoon, Ronald has emailed me to tell me that a would-be thief knocked him off a boda and tried to rob him on his way home today. His phone screen is broken and his laptop won’t start. Other than a bruised knee, he seems to be okay — I’ll know more tomorrow. We may need to do a project to replace or repair his vital equipment. (He’s using the media team’s basic phone at the moment.)

And also on Tuesday, I got confirmation from Gideon that they have found a location for our well in Rwakobo with an 80% chance of water. (They won’t mobilize until they have a 75% chance, so 80% is great!) The surveyor stayed several extra days and scoured the area all around the school, going above and beyond, and we are SO thankful. They are negotiating with the landowner for the right to use his land, and we should be ready to drill very soon!

We can’t thank you enough for your support and encouragement. You really have no idea how many lives you are changing every single day!

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

Blessings,

Jennings

PS Resident teen mom Leticia has just started in Hairdressing and we have project up for her supplies. You can see it by clicking the button!

Leticia’s Project

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A Quick Exciting Update

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Last evening we had our 250th project funded on DonorSee!

That’s 250 projects in 20 months and almost $104,000 that you have donated to Touch the Slum, Hopeland Primary School, and Wells of Hope Primary School + Rwakobo village.

We can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele nnyo and mwebele mnonga,

Jennings and the team

PS If you’ve never checked us out on DonorSee, just click the button to visit our page.

DONORSEE PROJECTS

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Well, Well, Well… We’re Getting a Well!

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You won’t believe this…!

We (YOU) have funded the deep well for Wells of Hope Primary School and Rwakobo village in FIVE WEEKS. That’s $10,134 raised with only 9 donors in 5 weeks.

You know that word “gobsmacked?” Well, that’s what we are, especially Gideon.

I texted him last night after I got the email that the project had funded, read it about 6 times to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, and then cried a little. (True story!) Here’s what he said:

“Crazy crazy! It’s unbelievable! Thank yooooooou [yes, all those o’s!] so much, I didn’t see this coming through, I thought it was way too expensive. This is the biggest project we have done here, I’m super excited — I hope I get sleep!”

After that, he actually called the engineer in Kampala (11pm local time)! The engineer has sent a surveyor to Mbarara already (writing this on Tuesday). He will arrive tonight, and will start surveying the area Wednesday and talking with the local leaders tomorrow about where to place the well.

Y’all, this is SO amazing! This is what happens when people see what a difference they — YOU — can truly make in this world. This project will bring water, year-round, to over 3000 people. Three thousand people who currently have to collect water from ditches, compete with animals for it, and who get sick and die from typhoid on a regular basis.

It doesn’t take big corporations or big nonprofits. It just takes all of us, the average, ordinary people, coming together to accomplish something we could never do alone.

I’m so, so grateful!

Mwebele mnonga,

Jennings

PS If you didn’t see the project and original video with footage of the school and village, you can visit it by clicking the button. It was filmed in April when we were staying at Rwakobo Rock.

WATCH THE VIDEO

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Oh, Hey! (Yes, I Forgot!)

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Let me apologize for forgetting to write this blog yesterday… When you work both from home and 7 days a week, sometimes keeping track of the days is a problem!

But lots is going on as we get ready to start up Term 2 next week. Here’s a recap:

  • The Literacy girls did not have a break, and they’ve been working and playing hard with fun activities, games, and puzzles that Teachers Fortunate and Moreen have given them. Some of the girls are moving on to Skills for Life next term, but over half are staying in Literacy.
  • Literacy will expand from 20 to 30 girls next term, thanks to our friends in the Expat Money community.
  • We’ve expanded and updated the clinic during this time between terms, and we’re ready for the new term. We do have a project up to help with this expense, so just click here if you’d like to help!
  • We’ve had a TIA experience on the clinic re-registration. (“This Is Africa” – said when people who work for the government get… creative with their job roles.) First we had 36 hours to find an autoclave, which we will NEVER need since we use pre-sterilized and packaged supplies and instruments and send difficult cases to the hospital. Second, he now wants to hold up the registration over not having a poster outside the door, which he never mentioned before. Ronald reports that he is (so far) remaining calm!
  • Sylvia is mostly back to her normal self after the loss of baby Alpha 6 weeks ago. Obviously, grief is like a wave, and nights are hardest, but she’s fully back to activities and I get video of her laughing and joining in, which is good to see. Thank you for helping us give them a proper ceremony and burial.
  • The crops at the farm are growing like gangbusters – check out the reel I posted on Instagram last week to see the beans and maize in particular. We are so thankful for our little farm!

The new girls will come next week for orientation in Skills for Life – we’ll have an update on the new “class” next Wednesday! (And yes, I’ll remember! haha!)

Thank you for all your support and encouragement!

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS Bridget is joining the Literacy class next week. Her project for supplies is over 60% funded and we just need $50 to close it out. Can you help? See her story and donate by clicking the button!

Help Bridget with suppli

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