Feeding Program

FOOD INSECURITY DRIVES EVERYTHING

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For the last week, we’ve been posting photos on social media that don’t include faces. Since we love our beautiful girls, we’ve gotten some questions as to why we stopped showing them.

One word: SAFETY

With the imposition of the total lockdown a couple of weeks ago, the government has made the slum a dystopian nightmare of roving gangs robbing and even killing for food.

People are choosing between rent and food if they do have any money, and starving beats being homeless – so they are starving.

Even one meal of porridge a day seems like a luxury. People are showing up at our gate regularly who haven’t eaten in days, and the last thing they ate was a thin posho (ground maize) gruel.

ONE OF THE HARDEST FACTS WE FACE IS THAT WE CAN’T HELP EVERYONE.

We started our Adopt a Girl (AAG) program to provide food to those in our program who are the most at risk of being sold as a “bride;” or of voluntary or forced prostitution. Even within our program, we can’t provide food for everyone… But we CAN remove the single biggest factor for teen “marriage” and pregnancy at the moment, and that’s FOOD INSECURITY.

FOR $50, WE CAN FEED A FAMILY OF 5 FOR A MONTH. WILL YOU HELP?

YES! I WANT TO HELP!

AS ALWAYS, 100% OF YOUR DONATION GOES TO THE PROGRAM! THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THESE VULNERABLE TEEN GIRLS.

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WHY THE GATE MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM?

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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.

WHY THE GATE MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM? Read More »

2020 IN REVIEW – THE YEAR THE COVID MADE

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WHAT YOU HELPED US ACCOMPLISH IN 2020:

  • We opened the Ross House, a halfway house for teen moms in the country’s largest slum of Namuwongo, and have our first two residents. The Ross House is also serving as the office for Guardian Angel Foundation; training facility for Skills for Life, GAF’s vocational training program; and counseling center for high-risk youth.
  • We provided 150,000 meals to the kids at Hopeland and Wells of Hope Schools, the Arise Africa Babies Home, and the elderly and children during the lockdown.
  • We gifted 30 families with Wonderbags to enable them to cut cooking fuel costs by 4/5.
  • We built a kitchen and cistern at Wells of Hope School.
  • We funded a Covid19 Awareness Campaign in the Namuwongo slums that reached over 20,000 people.
  • We funded the P7 Candidate Class at Hopeland School, even while schools were closed so that those children didn’t lose their chance to pass the exam that determines whether they can continue on with their education.
  • And more!

Serving breakfast at Hopeland School, before COVID

When we returned to the US on February 9, 2020, no one knew that the world was about to be turned upside down. Lockdowns and fear have caused economic hardship everywhere, but countries like Uganda have been hit hardest, with extreme lockdowns for nearly four months. Hunger and unemployment, as well as skyrocketing teenage pregnancy and forced marriages, caused huge growth in the number of those facing extreme poverty.

Ten Eighteen, Guardian Angel Foundation, our partners at Hopeland and Wells of Hope Schools, and Arise Africa International, all pivoted to feeding people to keep especially children and the elderly from further harm. It was a huge mobilization effort! But thanks to YOU, we have been able to continue.

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