Touch the Slum

Fun Times, Strong Minds

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What’s your idea of fun? Everyone’s is different, of course, but for most of us it involves joy, laughter, maybe being scared (if you’re one of those haunted house/scary movie people), maybe the excitement of a big game, maybe a family outing for bumper boats… (One of our funniest family stories involves that last one!)

When life is hard, we often look for something fun, even if it’s just a 2 minute video we can watch on our phone for a laugh.

The girls at Touch the Slum live in a desperate place full of desperate people who are just barely hanging on. Caregivers are stressed beyond the breaking point, siblings are hungry or sick, the only ways to make money are dangerous or degrading.

There’s no laugh track in the slum.

But at Touch the Slum, one of our most fundamental beliefs is in the healing power of fun, of laughter, of dancing, of joy. It doesn’t matter if you have shoes or not when you’re dancing. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t had dinner or breakfast. It doesn’t matter — in those moments — that your father has died or your mother is sick.

I just found this quote on a quick internet search. This is universal among humans; you can find a lot of quotes saying the same thing:

Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.

Joseph Campbell

We can’t change the girls’ circumstances. Coming to class day in and day out to learn to read or sew a gomezi or braid hair isn’t a quick fix. A father killed in the war in the Congo or an auntie dying with HIV/AIDS can’t be forgotten.

But joy — laughter and hugs and dancing and a face turned towards the sunshine — helps our girls weather the pain they live in, and see that there is something worth working for, even in their hard world.

Anyone who has visited our compound — or Wells of Hope and Hopeland Schools, where they are beginning to understand the profound power of fun — will tell you first hand: the joy helps burn out the pain.

We thank you for all you do to keep the laughter and healing going!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS We are in need of diapers for all our (many!) babies. This project just needs $175 to be fully funded. We’d so appreciate your support!

Diapers!

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Spring Fever(s)

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So how’s Spring 2024 going for you? In the past 6 weeks over here with the Wrights, we’ve had one broken leg, one ruptured achilles tendon, and one “someone must accompany you and drive” procedure… And it’s not even May yet!

At Touch the Slum, we’ve seen an uptick in malaria cases with recent rains but nothing major. We are reminding our girls of the importance of using mosquito nets. Believe it or not, this is a cultural challenge:

  • Nets are valuable, so families who are given them free will often end up selling them for quick cash.
  • Nets can be used to pen in chickens, fish, and other creative things.
  • To most Ugandans (and others in Sub-Saharan Africa) malaria isn’t seen as a big deal. While it can cause brain damage, other organ failure, and is a leading cause of death in children under 5, the fact on the ground is that they have lived with it and will continue to live with it and they’re ok with that.

Providing a good meal for our day students and three meals a day for our residents, making and using liquid soap to help with cleanliness and prevention of communicable diseases, providing free medical care at our clinic, and regular seminars on health issues are all part of our daily lives at the compound. Our goal is not just that the girls learn a skill that can support them through their lives, but to educate them holistically (which includes health!) so that they thrive.

We can do this because of your support, and we can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS As you know, we have several girls in Literacy whose families are refugees from the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. All of them fled with nothing but what they could carry. Merevey’s family is in desperate need of basic household necessities — you can see her story by clicking the button.

Help Merevey’s Family!

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Airplanes fly both ways

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Here in the US, we take travel for granted. Our roads (even the ones with potholes that we complain about) are great. Our interstate system lets us go to any part of the country with minimal effort (but maximum boredom). We have regional airlines that will fly us 700 miles for $17.

In Uganda, there are major artery roads between cities – the Jinja Road, Entebbe Road Bypass, the road we take west to Mbarara. They’re two lanes and have rumble strips and speed bumps in every town you drive through, but you can get, sort of, where you’re going, over a whole day (or two). What they don’t have is regional airports that will get you there for $17 in 55 minutes.

While we were there in January, I told Ronald that he should go ahead and get a passport. (Then it turned out he needed one for the NGO application — for some strange reason! — anyway.) Last week, he got it.

In our meeting this week, we talked about the possibility of him coming here next year instead of me going to Uganda, and the more I sit with it, the more I like the idea.

I’d love for some of you all to meet him in person. I’d love for us to be able to talk to your group and for you to hear from him the hows and whys of our program.

This is still on the drawing board. Ronald is hoping to get married in November (I’ll have to do a whole post on the intricacies of Ugandan courtship and marriage practices!). We’re thinking the first quarter of 2025, so there’s no rush to decide.

What do you think?

Because you are the ones who make this program flourish, and we can’t do it without you. (Y’all are pretty darn amazing, if I do say so myself!)

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We’ve got 3 projects partly funded at DonorSee, and several more, which aren’t in Staff Picks, to choose from. You can also become a monthly donor, either on DonorSee or Donorbox, which helps us so much with our budgeting. Remember: 100% of your donations go to the program, always!

DONORSEE PROJECTS

MONTHLY DONOR SIGNUP

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Eight Days To Liftoff!

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We’re officially 15!

It’s so exciting that I’ll be in Uganda EXACTLY on the anniversary of our first work there, January 15th. Wow, time flies!

So speaking of the upcoming trip… We leave on January 12th, arriving the night of the 13th. And that’s SO CLOSE!

We will have a team of four coming from the US, and will be joined by a Ugandan nurse, Harriet, who lives in the northeast Karamoja region. This is the first team I’ve taken to Uganda since October 2015, and we’ve got some great stuff planned: painting, drawing, clay and glass art, writing, hygiene workshops in the community, and more! I’ll be posting on Instagram, so make sure to follow us there. (Icon at the bottom!)

In other news…

We exceeded our year-end fundraising goal by 21%! I know times are tough and donations for all small nonprofits were down in 2023. So seriously, you all are THE BEST! You’re the fuel that makes everything we do in Uganda possible.

Some housekeeping…

If you donated via Donorbox or DonorSee, you always have access to your giving records and receipts via your account there. I have already sent year-end receipts to everyone who gives on Donorbox – check your spam folder or just download it again from the site if you didn’t receive it Tuesday.

If you gave via check, I will be sending you a receipt by email for 2023 before I leave on the 12th.

We really can’t express how much all your support and encouragement have meant to us, and how confident you make us feel going into this new year.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

Eight Days To Liftoff! Read More »

Last chance to give in 2023!

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2024 is almost here, but you still have time to make a donation before the champagne corks fly!

Your support keeps Touch the Slum going, providing crisis care, vocational skills training, literacy, medical care, and more each and every day.

100% goes to the program – your money makes a huge impact!

YES! I’LL GIVE TODAY!

2023 has been great — we can’t wait to see what 2024 brings.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

Last chance to give in 2023! Read More »

It’s almost our birthday! We’ll be 15 next month

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Just before Christmas in 2008, I got the news that my 501c3, called Ten Eighteen Inc., was approved by the IRS. To be honest, I didn’t have a really clear idea what I was going to do with 1018… We had missionary friends in India and others in Zambia, so I had a vague idea that I would help them raise more money.

I got sick over Christmas and was on bedrest — which is SO boring and most especially at Christmas! But I reconnected with a friend who was living in Uganda and also homeschooling her kids, so we chatted a lot on Facebook. (I mean, how many times can you watch that movie with kid with the glasses and the air rifle before you just can’t take it anymore?!)

In mid-January, she sent me a message and asked if I could help a community organization in the Namuwongo slum called Ray of Hope to rent a building and pay for a full year up front. My American mind said, “Uh NO!” because that sounded like a LOT of money.

But it was only about $1200 — as long as Suzanne didn’t negotiate and get the much higher mzungu price — so we did it, and I started learning more about Ray of Hope and Uganda and Namuwongo.

We visited for the first time in September 2009 — the photo above is of my then 13-year-old son getting his first slum experience. I say “first time” because that became obvious in hindsight. But when we were planning the trip, we assumed it would be a “once in a lifetime” trip.

Surprise!

On that trip, we started sponsoring kids’ school fees.

On the next trip, in late February 2010, we began working with Hospice Jinja and ended up paying for 100% of their fuel costs for four years.

On the next trip, in July 2010, we began working with Arise Africa and ended up building a primary school in Bukaleba.

And so it went until 2016, when my husband and I moved to Nicaragua. There had been some changes in management in the organizations we had been working with, and had found some financial irregularities, so I had a strong suspicion that we were done in Uganda.

But surprise again!

Fast forward to 2018 and we were back in NC, and I had a bakery. I started a Pound for Pound program with our granola, helping fund food at Hopeland Primary School run by a long-time friend of mine.

In January 2020, my son (now a lot older!) and I went back to Uganda, thinking we might be saying goodbye for good. Instead, we came away with a new purpose and a new focus… and a new partner in Ronald, who we had known for 10+ years.

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Here we are, sheltering in Mama Santa’s stall in the slum during the rain.

And that’s how Touch the Slum was born. We moved to the current compound to start the Ross House in October 2020 and have grown from there. Now, we focus on our work at Touch the Slum and the two schools in the west.

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We’ve grown exponentially thanks to YOU – your donations, your encouragement, your engagement, and your love. We can’t thank you enough for getting us to 15 years!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Like all nonprofits, we depend on year end giving for about 30% of our annual budget. If you haven’t given yet, will you please give today? 100% goes to the program!

DONATE NOW!

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Fauza’s Story – from drugs to the head of our media team

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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!

DONATE NOW!

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Amazing matching grant opportunity starts NOW!

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I feel about as excited as Neema is in this photo, because a regular donor has offered an amazing matching grant opportunity:

They will match all donations dollar for dollar up to $3,000 — AND, if we meet or exceed $3,000, they will donate another $1,000!

That means that your donation is at least doubled, and maybe even more! Since 100% goes to the program… well, it’s hard to make a much better investment than that!

The match runs from today, December 14th, through Christmas day. If you’ve been thinking about giving to our work in Uganda, now’s the time to really make an impact!

We do what we do with vulnerable teen girls in Uganda only because YOU give through us to do the work. We can’t thank you enough!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

DOUBLE MY DONATION!

Amazing matching grant opportunity starts NOW! Read More »

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