Ross House

Rescued Puppies, Rescued People

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The Friday we were in the west, we were supposed to go to Rwakobo Village and do a walking tour of the several surrounding miles. This village is the poorest I’ve ever seen in Uganda, and is where Wells of Hope Primary School is located.

The best laid plans do go awry, and it POURED down rain that morning. The unanimous decision was to cancel the time at the village and go on to the lodge to start our “safari weekend” early. Cold rain, terrible roads, and herds of cattle trying to keep their feet out of the mud by standing on any hills in the roads made the drive take twice as long.

Then we came to a herd that just would not move. They stared at us, those huge Ankole horns pointed our way, and then William saw why: there was a small puppy in the middle of the road!

The puppy was huddled up and crying and very young, its eyes barely open, and there was no way I was leaving it. I hopped out of the car in the rain and the cows let me pass. I picked up the puppy but heard more crying – and there were two more in the ditch, completely soaked and shivering. Soon all three were in the car and they quickly found the warmest spot! And the cows parted for us to pass.

Even in a culture where dogs aren’t “man’s best friend,” the staff at the lodge jumped into action, started making phone calls, and found the owner of the puppies. Everyone thanked us for rescuing them. And of course we did — no one could have left them there to die of exposure.

Every day at Touch the Slum we rescue girls who are dying of exposure – exposure to exploitation, to malnutrition, to neglect.

Thanks to you, we can offer them a warm place, safety, food, reconnection with lost family, training and education, and — most importantly — HOPE.

We can’t thank you enough! Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Our clinic restock project on DonorSee is 78% funded and we just need $85 to complete it! We’d love your help to make sure we have the medication and supplies Nurse Sherry needs to keep our population healthy. Click below!

Clinic Restock

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International Women’s Day at Touch the Slum

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Sylvia is a 16-year-old mom of one son who lives at the Ross House. She came to us when she was four months pregnant and homeless. She’s worked very hard to become literate over the past 6 months, and will be learning a vocational skill in Skill for Life starting next term.

“I am smart” is not something she ever thought.

She’d never been to school. She’d never been cherished or complimented or taken care of.

But now, that was the sign she chose. We had others for International Women’s Day: I am Brave. I am Powerful. I am Worthy. I am Strong. The girls got to pick the one they wanted to have in their photo.

Sylvia chose I am Smart to describe herself, and that makes me incredibly proud (and a bit teary-eyed!).

For International Women’s Day (which is today as I’m writing, yesterday when you’re reading), I hope you’ll take a minute to check out our Instagram page (link at the bottom) and see the videos of these amazing young women taking charge of their own lives, determining their own destiny, claiming their own strengths.

Teen girls in Uganda are at the bottom of the social ladder, but slowly by slowly (mpolo mpola) we are changing that culture.

THANK YOU for making it possible!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We launched the ecobrick water tank project on DonorSee last week and just need $130 to get to 10% so it can be visible to the entire DonorSee audience. We’d love your help – just click below!

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Moms Helping Moms Is Key

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As an only child, I didn’t get to experience sisterhood. When I had my kids, my grandmother was there to help (and yell at doctors, but that’s another story). I never really minded not having a sister, although I did dream of having an identical twin so we could alternate school days… 😀

Most of our residential teen moms, like Kalunji and Leticia above, are either orphans or estranged from their families. They came to us totally alone, homeless, and either pregnant (Kalunji) or sick (Leticia). No one has prepared them to be a mom.

But at the Ross and Suubi Houses, we have girls in all stages of “new mom.” We have girls aged 15 to 19 in residence now — there’s a big difference in those ages, and it’s great to have older girls who can help the younger ones.

Mama Santa has been in the same situation our residential girls find themselves in. She had Ronald when she was just 14! As our House Mother and Cook she brings invaluable experience, empathy, knowledge, and a touch of “buck up” to our residential program. We all need all of those things!

Our residential program is completely donor supported. It costs us about $50/month for each teen mom and her child, and some of the girls are with us for 18 months. If you want to become a sponsor of our residential program, you can do it quickly and easily on DonorSee – just click the button! 100% of donations go to the program, so you are making a huge impact every single day.

Sponsor the Teen Moms

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Bounced Around…

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In early April 2022 we had a referral of a teen girl who was four months pregnant and homeless. (We’ll call her Angela.) Unfortunately, we had no available beds to bring her into Touch the Slum, but we were able to refer her to another program called Wamukisa.

Angela lived at Wamukisa while she was pregnant, and gave birth at Amani, who offers free childbirth to low-risk teen girls.

Unfortunately, Wamukisa doesn’t keep girls once they’ve given birth, and Amani only keeps them for labor, delivery, and a short recovery period.

That left Angela homeless once again, and she’s spent the last 6 months bouncing around between friends and evictions.

Unfortunately, this is commonplace.

Angela is homeless now and came to the compound today. Fortunately, we have a bed this time and are arranging for an at least temporary stay as we work out if she has any family she can return to.

Girls like Angela face a huge amount of fear and uncertainty. They have not been to school and have little or no family (Uganda has a huge population of orphans and the youngest population in the world, with 65% under 18). This leaves them open to exploitation and abuse, disease, and potential death on the street.

While we don’t know yet if Angela will stay with us, we try to minimize the stress and anxiety of a life of homelessness for our girls. Our residents are with us an average of a year, and don’t move out until they have the skills necessary to earn an income they can live on. They have access to Touch the Slum forever – the clinic, the daycare, even dropping by for lunch.

They have a safe place to call home, and a safe community in which to thrive.

I’ll keep you posted on Angela’s story – you are the reason girls like Angela can have a safe place to come for help, whether during an emergency or for a year.

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS You can help us help girls like Angela by becoming a monthly donor today! Just click the button – it’s quick and easy.

BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR

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Brenda Needs Your Help

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When 15-year-old Brenda’s baby was just one week old, her mother beat her severely and threw them both out into the street in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes they were wearing.

Fortunately, the local LC lady knew about our program and brought her to us in the early morning hours. Brenda got shelter, clothing, food, and, in the morning, medical treatment from Nurse Sherry at our clinic.

Next term, Brenda will start in Skills for Life, and she’s taking part in the Literacy program, too. All at no cost to her!

We have had several dozen teen moms in our residential and vocational programs. Some come to us homeless, desperate, and ill, like Brenda. Some live with a parent, an auntie, or a friend and have a somewhat stable (if challenging) home life.

All have little hope of a future outside of a cycle of sex work and unplanned babies, probably with HIV/AIDS thrown in at some point.

Until Touch the Slum!

We are the only organization in Namuwongo — home to over 30,000 people — working with teen moms. We are the only organization in the slum that offers free vocational and literacy training. And we are the only organization that has a free residential program for both teen moms and for Skills for Life students who become homeless while enrolled.

How do we do it? YOU!

Your generosity impacts the lives of these destitute teen moms every single day. It creates a safe harbor, opportunity, stability, education, medical care, food, and hope.

Every dollar you give to Ten Eighteen — 100% — goes to teen moms like Brenda who just need a hand up so they can create a sustainable life for themselves.

Your year end donation will enable us to keep saving lives and offering opportunity — not with handouts, but with hand-ups.

Will you give today?

YES! I’LL GIVE TODAY!

Thank you so much!

Webele nyo,

Jennings

PS Please share this email with your family and friends and let them know why you support Ten Eighteen. Word of mouth is a precious gift that keeps on giving!

PSS As I wrote in the Subject line, last night we had our 200th project on DonorSee funded! The farm project is 85% funded and we have a donor who has said if we can “get closer” he’ll close it out by year end. Can you give a little extra to help us have a fully funded farm going into 2023?

FUND THE FARM!

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Tuesday is, well, Giving Tuesday!

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I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with family, friends, fun, and zero-calorie food! Jackline and the teen moms in the Ross and Suubi Houses celebrated too, just not with turkey. (There actually are turkeys in Uganda, but trust me, you wouldn’t want to eat them!)

Giving Tuesday is coming up and we’ve got a matching grant! This is the kickoff to Giving Season and a great time for you to make your year-end donation to Ten Eighteen – especially since your money will be doubled up to $5,000! You can also choose to become a monthly donor through DonorBox or a monthly sponsor for a project on DonorSee. (As I used to say when I had my bakery, I’ll take everything but wampum!)

2022 has been a HUGE year for Touch the Slum. Thanks to you we are now housing 12 teens and their children, we have 65-75 students at the compound daily, and we are growing all kinds of things at our farm. In our wildest dreams, we wouldn’t have thought that you would get us this far this fast.

Yesterday, what we were most thankful for was you.

Your support is truly astonishing!

Webele nyo,

Jennings

PS If you’re not already following us on Instagram, it’s a great way to see your support in action. We post videos every day! You don’t have to have the app or have an account – you can just visit on the web and check it out.

Tuesday is, well, Giving Tuesday! Read More »

Who do you know?

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Back before the social media days — and yes, there were days before social media! — there used to be a lot of talk about networking. In my (few) months of a misguided attempt to be a Real Estate Agent in the ’80s, it was alllll about networking.

Now days, I think we just assume everyone is connected all the time. And we are, in some ways… But are we really sharing the important stuff or just enjoying cat memes? (I love a good cat meme!)

With the Season of Giving upon us, I’d like to ask you a favor.

Would you “network” the old-fashioned way for us for just a few minutes? Could you:

  • Forward one of our emails to friends and family with a “Hey, I support this great work in Uganda and think you’d be interested?”
  • Like, Comment, and Share some of our social media posts, especially around Giving Tuesday next week? (buttons below)
  • Head to our Bonfire shop and grab a shirt or bag — then tell a few people about us when you wear it?

Word of mouth is THE most valuable tool in growing our work in the Namuwongo slum. There’s a lot of noise in the world these days, and your recommendation helps us cut through that.

We are so thankful for your support and encouragement! You’ve made 2022 such an incredible and impactful year for our girls at Touch the Slum. We can’t do it without YOU!

Webele nyo!

PS Cecilia is getting ready to move out on her own after over a year in our residential program. She’s in charge of our daycare and is going to continue that work plus keep her own small business. We’ve got a project up on DonorSee to bless her with an exit package (mattress, sheets, some household food, and food). If you can contribute $20 that would help her so much! Click the button!

Bless Cecilia with goodies!

Who do you know? Read More »

How Can You Make an Impact Today?

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When she was kicked out of the local councilwoman’s house, 15-year-old Sylvia thought she would be left on the streets to have her baby.

The LC had found her near her office, homeless and 4 months pregnant, and taken her in. But her husband didn’t want Sylvia around. Fortunately, the LC is familiar with our program and brought Sylvia to Touch the Slum, where she has lived for the past 6 months.

Sylvia is the newest teen mom living at the Ross House, having given birth just last month. She came to us with nothing but the clothes on her back, but now she and the baby are safe, cared for, well fed, and Sylvia has done really well in Literacy class.

Teen moms in the slum live on a razor’s edge, with disaster always right around the corner. The Ross House is a residential program for teen moms in crisis, just like Sylvia. It is an entry point into Touch the Slum, where teen girls receive emergency medical care, food, clothing, lodging, and vocational training.

We don’t know when disaster will strike a teen mom, but you can help us be ready! Your donation of $50 can pay for a month of crisis care at the Ross House. Click the button below!

Blessings,

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PS Make your year end donation today to give a safe harbor and a new start to girls like Sylvia!

Save teen moms in crisis today!

How Can You Make an Impact Today? Read More »

Meet Our Newest Teen Moms

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Clare, Brenda, Sylvia, and Leticia with their babies

When we started the Ross House in the fall of 2020, we put some parameters in place. We knew that the need for a crisis intervention residential program was far greater than anything we’d be able to “solve”, and we knew that we needed time to figure it all out.

Some of the criteria we’ve used over the past two years have been the mom’s age (usually 15 or above), no family members available to take them in (with added support from us), and a differentiation between a short-term emergency admission and a long-term full admission.

We also decided we couldn’t handle pregnant girls, and referred them to another local organization called Amani until after they delivered.

But things change!

Our first pregnant admission was 15-year-old Kalunji back in February, who was homeless after her grandmother died. Due to the rising rate of teenage pregnancy, Amani wasn’t able to take her in. Kalunji is still with us in the Suubi House and she’s doing great.

Our next was 15-year-old Sylvia, who was homeless and rescued by a local LC (community leader) and brought to us. Sylvia gave birth just a few weeks ago!

In the last month, we’ve also welcomed 17-year-old Leticia and her one-year-old son Chin-may, and 15-year-old Brenda with her newborn son Elijah. (We now have custody of Brenda because of the abuse she was suffering at home.)

And – many of you will remember “the girl in the chicken coop” story from my trip this summer – 18-year-old Clare with her one-year-old son Samuel was just evicted from the chicken coop and has now joined the residential program.

That’s four moms, two with newborns, in just a few weeks!

Because of the skyrocketing cost of living right now, teenage pregnancy is on the rise again all around Uganda. We can only take in eight girls with their children at a time, but we are committed to helping them learn the skills they need to create a fulfilling and sustainable life for themselves.

How are we doing this? YOU!

Your support means the difference between homelessness and a life without choices and a life of literacy, a skill for a lifetime of income, and the hope for a good future. We really can’t thank you enough for all your encouragement and support!

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS One of our Skills for Life students is teen mom Isabellah. After she collapsed at the compound, Nurse Sherry discovered that she had no food over the weekends and her only meals were those she received at Touch the Slum during the week. We have been providing ongoing medical support to get her over malnutrition and she is now receiving meals at the compound during the weekend. Her project on DonorSee is about 30% funded and we only need $185 to complete it. Any amount will help! Just click!

Isabellah’s Project

PSS Don’t forget to grab your free ticket and hear me talk about our work in Namuwongo!

Meet Our Newest Teen Moms Read More »