Faith, left, got pregnant during Uganda’s severe pandemic lockdowns, like so many teen girls who were struggling to survive. She was 14.
Her family were unemployed and unable to care for her. Ten Eighteen got her into Wamukisa’s program for pregnant girls, where she gave birth to Diana, but they can’t keep girls after childbirth.
She went to live with her mother who, while unable to care for Faith and Diana herself, was able to bring her back to Touch the Slum and the Ross House.
Diana is now learning hairdressing and looking forward to a sustainable future.
PS It costs $50 a month to feed, clothe, house, and educate the residential girls (and their children) in our program. By making a one-time donation or becoming a monthly donor today, you ensure girls like Faith are safe as they work towards their future!
Fauza grew up in a dysfunctional Muslim family in the Namuwongo slum. In her middle teens, she was in a dance group and using drugs, barely getting by.
She joined Touch the Slum in January 2021 and is now on staff as the Lead on our Media team and a documentary film maker.
This is her story.
Blessings,
Jennings
PS It costs $35/mo for us to take a girl like Fauza through Skills for Life, where they can become literate and learn a vocational skill that will allow them to earn a sustainable living. By donating today, you can impact these girls for the rest of their lives!
She was living in a tiny one-room house with five other girls, and had turned to drugs and informal sex work. She came to touch the slum for counseling and was later enrolled in the Ross House, Hairdressing, and Literacy. Now, she is on our staff and lives independently.
PS Girls like Gloria come to us every single day. It only costs $35 to pay for one month of instruction in Skills for Life, and $50 pays for a month in our residential program + Skills for Life. By donating today, you help girls just like Gloria get out of the grinding poverty and into a sustainable future. 100% of donations go to the program!
2023 has been a banner year for Ten Eighteen, at Touch the Slum and in the west where we provided the well for Rwakobo Village.
Over a hundred girls have learned to read, write, speak English, and do basic math.
They have learned a skill in Tailoring, Hairdressing, Photography/Videography, or Digital Literacy.
We were selected by Plan International to be one of only two nonprofits in their referral program in the entire (LARGE) district, made up of millions of Ugandans.
We introduced drawing and painting and unleashed creativity in both students and staff — NOT something that’s very common in Uganda!
Every day, girls were rescued, supported, treated, respected, and lifted up, in ways big and small.
And guess what? 2024 is going to be even better!
January marks our 15th year working in the Namuwongo slum and in Uganda!
Also in January, we are taking a team of four amazing women who will bring lifetimes of skills in art, writing, cooking, organic farming, nursing and public health, and psychiatric social work to our staff and students.
In the spring, our “community organization” status will be officially upgraded to a country-wide NGO.
With the funding of our newest large project on DonorSee, we will be able to move the residential girls to a separate nearby house. This will give them more peace and quiet and room to heal, and it will free up space in the Touch the Slum compound to expand our vocational skills program.
As our farm continues to produce, we will start taking teams of girls from TTS who are interested in learning farming skills to get hands on experience. (You can’t grow much in the slum!)
All this and more is thanks to generous donations like the one you made last year. Will you consider making a year end donation to help us again?
As always, 100% of your donations go to the program, and we SO appreciate your support and encouragement!
PS If you aren’t following us on Instagram, now is a great time to start. Our home-grown media team does amazing work, and we have new content up every day. It’s a great way to keep up with all we’re doing in Namuwongo and to see all the fun we have on the team trip next month.
15-year-old Justine moved to the Namuwongo slum to live with her father. Unfortunately, her stepmother was abusive from the start, beating her and eventually throwing her out. The father did not intervene, so Touch the Slum was granted custody of her.
Now living in our dorm, Justine is doing great!
This is her story.
Blessings,
Jennings
PS $50 pays for a month for a girl in our residential program. All of her needs are covered, from clothing and food to medical care and vocational training. Your gift today will keep girls like Justine safe and in the program!
Brenda is 16 years old and has lived at the Ross House for a little over a year with her son Elijah. She lived with her mother, who is a vendor in the market, when she became pregnant.
A week after giving birth, her mother kicked her out in the middle of the night, but fortunately a neighbor brought her to Touch the Slum.
PS Emergency admissions and residential girls like Brenda cost us $50 a month to care for. Please donate today to help us care for the eight teen moms and their babies who are in residence! 100% of your donation goes to the program. Mwebele nnyo!
When Joyce came from the village to the Namuwongo slum last year to live with her auntie, she had never been to school. While her aunt is a tailor herself, she was unable to take the time to teach her niece the skills she’d need to earn a living.
But she did make time to bring her to Touch the Slum and enroll her into the Literacy Program, and that has made all the difference!
TODAY IS GIVING TUESDAY — please forward this to friends and family and ask them to help support Touch the Slum today! 100% of donations go to the program.
Blessings,
Jennings
PS Every day we have 75 students in Skills for Life, a FREE literacy and vocational program for vulnerable teen girls in Uganda’s largest slum. It only costs $35 per girl per month to learn, have a meal, receive medical care, and have a safe place to spend their time. Can you donate today so girls like Joyce can secure their future? Mwebele nnyo!
Martha, like so many teen girls, got pregnant during the pandemic lockdowns in 2020 at 16 years old. She moved to the Namuwongo slum to get a job to try to support her family, but was taken advantage of instead.
Now she’s learning Hairdressing at Touch the Slum and looking forward to a sustainable future.
This is her story.
Blessings!
Jennings
PS Martha’s education at Skills for Life costs us $35 a month. By donating today or Tuesday — on Giving Tuesday! — you help us keep Martha and the girls like her in the program.
After her father passed away, Harriet moved to the Namuwongo slum to live with her mother in a teeny tiny home. Her mother didn’t make enough to meet their basic needs, so Harriet “got a boyfriend” who could help provide some of the necessities of life, such as food and sanitary pads.
After she found out she was pregnant, the boy fled. Our social worker Sarah found Harriet in a squalid, bedbug infested, teeny tiny home with a one-week old baby who wasn’t thriving.
Harriet and the baby moved into the Ross House, and she moved through Literacy, Basic, and Advanced Tailoring. She is now running her own small tailoring business in the family’s home village.
This is her story.
It’s your support and encouragement that keep Touch the Slum open and providing such critical care and services to vulnerable teen girls in the slum. We so appreciate all you do for Ten Eighteen and Touch the Slum!
Mwebele Nnyo!
Jennings
PS Just $35 pays for a month for a teen girl at Touch the Slum! 100% of your donation goes to the program, always. To give today, just click the button!
Last week, we hosted Ray Majanga as he did a week long workshop for the media team on documentary filmmaking. It was a long 6 days for the team, as you can see from Fauza in the photo above (haha!), but they did an amazing job and soaked up knowledge like a sponge.
Our media team is “home grown.” Monica and Fauza were our first two students under Teacher Deo. They also learned a lot from Ray’s own mentor, Bob Ditty, when he came to visit. Monica and Fauza are now on our staff as our official photographer (Monica) and videographer/filmmaker (Fauza).
Monica and a few others who have gone through our course now have their own photography business called Hype Media — they do wedding and event photography, and do an amazing job!
We focus a lot on media, mostly video, and spend a lot of time and energy to create great content.
Why?
The world is now digital, and most people will never go to Uganda. People have short attention spans, too, thanks to the internet, and you have to capture their attention. Video is the best medium for that quick “HEY LOOK AT ME!” opportunity.
While we can’t bring you ALL the sensations of Uganda, like smell of the slum (bad) or the taste of the food (amazing), we can bring you sights and sounds so that you can connect with the people, the place, and the work. The genius of DonorSee’s founder, Grett Glyer, was exactly this: for donors to SEE both the need and the way their money was making an impact.
We use that in all our work, not just on DonorSee, because it is so impactful. This is why I encourage you to visit DonorSee and our Instagram page every day to see — actually SEE — the impact that you are making with your donations, your encouragement, and your thoughts and prayers.
We can’t thank you enough!
Mwebele nnyo!
Jennings
PS We now have TEXT TO GIVE in the US! It’s so easy! Just dial 801801 on your smart phone and put in the message TOUCHTHESLUM. It’s quick and easy, and you can easily give again later or even become a monthly donor via SMS.
For Canadian donors, use 1-855-575-7888 with campaign ID 505470.
