Clinic

When going blind is normal

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Rose is 16 years old and a student in our Literacy program. As you can see from the photo, something is going on with her left eye — she is having pain and losing her vision.

While in Western terms, getting Rose seen by a doctor and diagnosed is a very minimal cost (under $200, including transportation to the specialty clinic across Kampala), to Rose and her single mother it has been an unrealistic dream. Her mother gave up because there was no way to raise the funds.

Fortunately, a regular donor on DonorSee funded 100% of the project yesterday and Rose, her mother, and Monica from our team will go to the clinic today (Thursday). Hopefully we will get a good treatment plan and prognosis.

Rose’s case is more severe than most, but vision/eye issues are endemic in Uganda and Africa. One of the most common causes, besides parasites, is vitamin A deficiency. We have three staff members who have eye problems from this, and it’s a tricky one to solve due to the diet and potential toxicity of supplements. For the most part, sufferers just get prescription glasses that dim the light and suffer with it.

(For those who have asked, we have contacted the Lion’s Club in Kampala, but their focus is not really on blindness and other eye issues anymore, at least with this club.)

So I will keep you posted on Rose, and hopefully we will get some good news. If not on the diagnosis, at least on the treatment.

Why tell you this, you might ask.

Well, it’s because of YOU, and donors just like you, that we can get Rose seen by a clinic and arrange for treatment. It’s because of all of you that our clinic is open every day offering free medical care to girls who otherwise would literally never see a doctor or nurse. It’s because of you that we can have hope for Rose and other girls. And we really can’t thank you enough.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Just heard from Ronald in time to write this post script – Rose was seen at the eye clinic and referred back to IHK (a private hospital near our compound), where she now has an appointment at mid-day tomorrow. I’ll report on that in next week’s email!

PSS We are buying a second Purifaaya water filter and replacement clay filters for our current one, and only need $115 to fully fund the project. With over 100 people at the compound daily, we go through a LOT of water, and clean water is vital for our girls’ health. Just click the button to contribute – as always, 100% goes to the project!

Purifaaya – Clean Water!

When going blind is normal Read More »

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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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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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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We Leave Friday, Mama Santa’s Surgery, and More

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I can’t believe it’s time to go back to Uganda already! Yay!

As you know, this time there will be 5 of us on the team: 2 artists, 1 writer, 2 nurses. But the artists have other skills, so we will all add chef and licensed mental health professional. Plus my problem-solving superpowers… Well, you get the idea! We’ll have a lot going on!

Anyway, 3 of us will start traveling Friday, one on Saturday, and one nurse is Ugandan and will be traveling from NE Uganda on Sunday. We’d appreciate your thoughts and prayers for safe travels!

Obviously, I’ll be updating on our work but won’t send many more emails than usual so as not to spam you. However, you can follow along on Instagram (even if you aren’t on that platform yourself) where I’ll be posting daily.

Secondly, Mama Santa is having a surgical procedure today after feeling sick for several days. I expect she’ll need a few weeks to recuperate. In the meantime, her daughter, Charity, who is also a cook, is filling in for her. The cost of the surgery is 850k shillings, and the cost for the scans and bloodwork was $250k. All that is a total of about $315 — if you’d like to help us with those expenses, we have a project up on DonorSee, or you can make a donation via Donorbox. (see below).

As always, THANK YOU…. You can’t imagine how much your support means. Without your ongoing help, situations like Mama Santa’s wouldn’t be resolved and would result in a much more unfortunate outcome. That’s life in the slum.

But for YOU.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS To donate for Mama Santa:

DONORSEE for Mama Santa

Donorbox

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So Many Updates, So Little Space

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I don’t usually do bullet-list updates, because I love to tell stories. But sometimes we just have so much going on that you should know about… Today is that day, so here we go!

  • Ronald is doing training with Plan International and one of their partner organizations, and has repeatedly been told that they can’t believe there isn’t a “hidden mzungu” somewhere funding everything because we get SO MUCH DONE on such a small budget. Y’all can take a bow, because that’s all YOU!
  • Ronald has also been asked to do a guest lecture at Mkerere University on our work with teen girls and children in the slum! Way to go, Ronald!
  • We had two sewing machine projects funded this week on DonorSee, one for resident teen mom Harriet for her new life in the village, and one for Husinah so she can support her family in the slum. It was all done in one day and both girls were so excited! Harriet is holding the sign, in the black and white strips. We’ll sure miss her!
  • On Sunday, Betty boarded a bus for a week-long intensive training with Neema Development, the provider of our Entrepreneur Training Course. This is going to enable us to expand this course to more girls, and also add the second half of it. Because you all have supported our Literacy program, we can move deeper into the training. Mwebele nnyo!
  • Our new nurse, Brenda, completed her time learning our compound Haven Clinic with Nurse Sherry and is now our full time nurse. We will miss Sherry so much, but we’re excited to welcome Nurse Brenda to the TTS family.
  • And last but definitely not least, we have now had 275 projects funded on DonorSee! That’s over $113,400! If you haven’t checked out our page there, just click here. We always have 10-12 projects up, and we have a new large project in the works which is super exciting. (Yep, that was a teaser… more to come!)

You all are the lifeblood of Ten Eighteen Uganda and Touch the Slum, and the only reason we can do so much to change lives and culture in the Namuwongo slum. We honestly can’t thank you enough for your generosity and support. (Really, take that bow!)

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram where we have daily video of all that’s happening. When you get 100 people in a small compound every day, there’s always a LOT going on! We also have a YouTube channel with some fun video.

So Many Updates, So Little Space Read More »

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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Rainy Season in Uganda

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I’ve spent a lot of time with my Ugandan friends trying to explain the concept of seasons. (I haven’t been that successful!)

In Uganda, there are just rainy and dry seasons – two of each per year. We are coming to the last few weeks (we hope!) of this fall’s rainy season, which has been brutal.

  • At least 24 were killed in flooding in Eastern Uganda in August
  • Thousands were displaced by flooding and landslides in Western Uganda in September

Our own programs have been affected, as you can see from the picture above of Hopeland Primary School in Mbarara. Wells of Hope and the surrounding village in Rwakobo have had even more significant flooding. The work on the farmhouse was delayed significantly by rains.

You may not know it, but Kampala is about 3000 feet above sea level. I’ve only had one trip in 14 where I was hot — often I’m wearing jeans and a sweatshirt! And few windows have glass in them so the damp cold is hard to get away from when it never seems to stop raining.

We’ve had several girls struggle to control their asthma during this time, and about three times the usual number of respiratory illnesses. We’ve even had some cases of dysentery due to all the contaminated water girls have to walk through to get to class.

So… Did you know that you can sign up as a monthly sponsor of our Haven Clinic? It’s true! We are at 40% right now. There’s no minimum to be a sponsor, and it really helps us keep all our teen moms and teen girls healthy by paying Sherry’s salary and restocking the medications we use daily.

SPONSOR THE CLINIC!

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS Bonus picture of Sylvia with her new baby boy (no name as of yet) coming home from the hospital to lots of love yesterday!

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It’s Rainy Season & We Need Mosquito Nets!

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Last week we had 7 girls to come to the Haven Clinic with malaria. Nurse Sherry didn’t get her Sunday off, because she was tending to all the cases!

The treatment for malaria is a week-long course of IV infusions. It requires a temporary canula that is left in for the whole course of treatment, as well as the nurse to administer the medication. With 7 girls currently receiving treatment, that’s a lot of medicine and supplies!

Malaria makes you feel terrible, but left untreated it can cause brain damage, or lie dormant in the liver only to cause relapse and illness later. We had a boy in the basketball camp we held in 2013 who had been quite severely impacted by cognitive impairment due to untreated malaria.

Why now?

It’s rainy season, and that means lots of puddles, filled drainage ditches, and other areas of stagnant water. While we have mosquito nets in our residential houses, those do get torn, or mosquitoes can be trapped inside during the day.

Currently, the tailoring class is repairing all of our mosquito nets, but that still leaves all the girls in our program who go home to houses without. We have a project up on DonorSee right now for 25 nets, the first effort to get nets to 100% of our students and staff.

You can help – a donation of any size gets us closer to a net for everyone!

Let’s buy some nets!

It’s Rainy Season & We Need Mosquito Nets! Read More »

An Amazing Donation of Medical Equipment from MDF Instruments

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Back in January, another partner on DonorSee who works in South Africa contacted me. We have very similar (and not the usual) definitions and understanding of nonprofit work, and she wanted to connect me to a medical instrument manufacturer who had donated a lot of equipment to their clinics in SA.

This week we got the box from MDF Instruments in Puerto Rico, and it was Christmas in March! This is professional quality equipment: stethoscope, blood pressure cuffs in sizes from baby to large adult, and much more. (Stuff I don’t know the name of, for sure!) And a sweet note to our nurse, Sherry, about being a nurse.

I will be taking all this equipment over with me in May, along with SO MUCH more that has been donated over the past two years. (To be honest, there’s no way I can take it all in one trip!) We’ve got clothes, shoes, reusable sanitary pads, books, toys, laptops, iPads, tote bags, and first aid supplies… Lots of it.

This kind of generosity and commitment to people you don’t know and won’t ever meet is what makes Ten Eighteen Uganda successful. Whether it’s your money, your product, your kids’ toys and clothes, or handmade reusable sanitary pads, YOUR generosity makes us successful.

And we appreciate you more than you can ever know!

If you have things to donate besides money, do me a favor and hold onto it until June! After that, I’ll have some room to store it until the next visit. 🙂

Blessings,

Jennings

PS. Becoming a monthly donor of ANY amount helps us so much. We’d love to have you join us. 100% goes to the programs. Just click the button below!

I want to be a monthly donor!

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