Touch the Slum

Clothes Everywhere!

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Packing for this trip is a little more complicated than usual, since we’re going in rainy season. Looking at the forecast, we’re doing to have nights as low as 59, with highs in the low 80s. And rain. And more rain.

As I was looking at my clothes and deciding what combination of spring and summer I was going to make, I got a file of photos of Sarah and Santa shopping for clothes with two girls in Literacy Class. Shopping takes place on the street, with clothes piled up on tarps and blankets in no particular order. There’s no trying on, no finding a different size. What you see is what you get.

We just had a project fund on DonorSee to provide clothes for 13-year-old Irene, whose mother makes less than $1 a day. She had one outfit, one pair of underwear, and her one pair of shoes were worn out. She’d only worn clothes given to her and never got a choice.

Now, thanks to you all, she’s gone shopping! She got to look through clothes and pick what she liked. She has undergarments so she’s not washing them every night and hoping they dry by morning. She has two pairs of shoes.

A lot of what we do every day is the small stuff. But all those small steps add up to confidence, to letting go of shame, to the beginning of dreams. All of those small steps change a life, like Irene’s.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS We leave on Sunday afternoon! We’re flying from different airports on different airlines, but *hopefully* we will land 25 minutes apart. We’d appreciate your thoughts and prayers on Sunday and Monday — you’ll be the first to know how it went!

PSS Long-time residential teen mom Christine will be graduating on April 8th from Advanced Tailoring! We’re so proud of her! We’ve got a project up for her exit package as she transitions to independent living, and it’s almost 50% funded. We’d love your help to set her up for success! Click below —>

Christine’s Exit Package

Clothes Everywhere! Read More »

Three Weeks Til I Get to Uganda!

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Ronald and I at Lake Mburo National Park, June 2022

WOW, in just three weeks I’ll be in Uganda!

The time has gone so fast since the last trip (and in other ways really slowly…), and I can’t wait to get back to hands-on work. Zoom is great, but it’s not THERE. And this time my mom will be joining us, which should be a great new adventure for her.

On the agenda:

  • Staff retreat where we will have the theme VISION, PASSION, SACRIFICE
  • At least one, and probably two, trips to the farm
  • A trip west to Mbarara and Rwakobo to visit Hopeland and Wells of Hope Primary Schools
  • Graduation (the first I will be there for!)
  • Art lessons for the Literacy class girls by my mom (who is an artist)
  • Community visits
  • Staff meetings
  • Dancing
  • And, of course, a short safari stay in Lake Mburo (above)

We so appreciate your ongoing support!

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS I just launched our next Large Project on DonorSee, a 10,000 liter ecobrick tank for Hopeland School. The tank is constructed using “bricks” made from recycled plastic drink bottles! We put in a similar tank at Wells of Hope in 2020 and it has helped enormously. Please visit the link and watch the video to see what it’s all about! The project is just $2,800 and we need 10% before it’s made visible to the wider DonorSee audience — we’d love your help to get us there!

Ecobrick Water Tank Projec

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If You’re In the Neighborhood…

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Dear {{contact.first_name}},

This week we welcomed Rebecca (Rosie) to Touch the Slum. She got in touch with us by way of an Expat Money friend I met when I was in Panama in December. (Gotta love networking!)

We love having visitors at the compound and get them quite often: students from Makerere University, groups from other organizations working in the area, and a few from the West who want to come check us out, like Rosie from Canada.

In this era of the internet and social media and even electronic missives like this one, it’s really wonderful to meet people in person. We post a lot (a LOT) of video online, and you get this newsletter twice a week, but there’s no way to truly understand the community of Namuwongo or the scope of our work without being there in person.

Obviously, you can’t all hop a plane and visit (although if you do, let me know and I’ll give you all the skinny on where to stay, going on safari, and more!).

My goal for this newsletter and our social media (Instagram mostly) is that you get a sense of our work. That you see where your donations are going and the difference they are making every day in the lives of the teen girls in our program. That you have confidence that we are using your hard earned money to its maximum potential to change the culture and impact individual lives.

If you don’t follow us on Instagram (or pop over there every once in awhile – you don’t need an account), I’d love for you to check it out. I post a Reel every single day (yes, every.single.day!): the farm, dancing, classes, DonorSee follow ups, visitors, day to day life, and more.

It’s the next best thing to being there!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We have a project up for 13-year-old Irene, whose mother makes less than $1/day. She is in our Literacy Program. Irene desperately needs clothes and shoes, and we only have $140 left to fully fund the project. If you can help, remember that 100% goes to the program! Click below —->

Help for Irene!

If You’re In the Neighborhood… Read More »

Big News About Managing Director Ronald!

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There are so many things I love about this photo. Mama Santa, who is our cook and house mother extraordinaire is also Managing Director Ronald’s mother. She had him when she was 14 years old, has never been to school, and has worked hard against staggering adversity and poverty the past 26 years.

She did her best to make sure her own kids got an education. She worked hard jobs, long hours, and made tremendous sacrifices so they could have a different life than she did.

This weekend, she prayed a blessing over her first born as he got ready to take the stage and graduate with a Degree in Women and Gender Studies from Makerere University in Kampala.

I can’t imagine the emotions she felt, but I know she danced and ululated and laughed and feasted on cake as she celebrated. It was beautiful — and what an amazing example to the teen moms in her care as they witnessed the miracle.

Ronald has accomplished so much, and still has a heart for the community he grew up in. He is the most administratively gifted person I’ve ever known, and I am very fortunate to be working with him to create Touch the Slum.

We are so proud of both Ronald and Mama Santa – hit REPLY to send them messages of congratulations and I’ll pass them on!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We have a new project up on DonorSee for resident teen mom Christine’s exit package. Christine has been with us for about a year, coming when her daughter was under a week old. She’s done wonderfully in Basic and now Advanced Tailoring, and will graduate when I’m there on April 8th. We’d love your help to get her home set up when she moves out (soon!). Just click!

Christine’s Exit Package

Big News About Managing Director Ronald! Read More »

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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