Crisis

Bad Things Happen to Good People Too Often Sometimes

People ask me all the time if I am scared about going to Uganda, especially when I go alone. My answer is always, “No, but…”

Just like when we lived in Nicaragua, when you visit a developing nation, especially as a “rich American,” you have to not be, well, stupid. You don’t leave your cell phone on the table when you get a drink refill. You don’t leave your purse in the shopping cart and turn your back to examine the cereal selection. You don’t walk alone in the dark. You don’t leave your laptop bag in your car.

Petty theft is 100% going to happen when half or more of the population is living in staggering poverty. It just is. But most of the time, violent crimes are perpetrated on their own people.

Early Monday morning, thugs, hopped up on moonshine or drugs, broke down the door to Monica’s house. They broke everything they could find, stole some of the mattresses and slashed the rest, and tried to rape one of the girls. Their 13-year-old brother fought back and is now in KCCA hospital.

Neighbors caught and beat one of the perpetrators severely — he’s at the police station but Ronald said, “The police won’t do much for now.” To be honest, that should read “for ever.” Because the police in the slum basically just manage crowd control, not actual crime. It’s just how it is.

Meanwhile, Monica’s family is left with virtually nothing and a brave boy in the hospital with a bill they will not be able to pay.

We love the dancing and happy success stories and smiling kids, of course. But this is also the reality of working in Uganda. And yes, it sucks.

We have an urgent project up on DonorSee for Monica and her family, to try to help them get back on their feet. We have purchased mattresses and bedding and some necessities in the meantime, which came out of our operating budget. We could really use your help on this one! Just click – it’s super fast and easy to donate, and 100% (minus processing fees of course) will go to the project.

HELP MONICA!

Webele nyo,

Jennings

PS We’d love for you to forward this link to anyone you know who might be interested in our work in Uganda! And if you’re looking for someone to speak at your club or event, please keep me in mind.

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FOOD INSECURITY DRIVES EVERYTHING

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?

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

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COVID19 Crisis and Ten Eighteen’s Response

What a long 5 weeks it’s been in Uganda. In mid-March, when the Novel Coronovirus was coming on the scene everywhere, but before there had been any cases in Uganda, we sponsored a campaign with Guardian Angel Foundation to educate people on the virus, and on the basic hygiene needed to try to prevent or slow a spread in the slums. We were able to reach 20,000 of the 30,000 people in Namuwongo, and the campaign was written about in several newspapers and appeared on television news.

On March 29, when the number of cases was only in the low thirties, with no deaths, we received unofficial word that the president was going to order a complete lockdown of the country due to Covid19. We had expected some form of shutting down, but a complete lockdown, including all transportation, was not what we’d expected!

While this was still just a rumor, we felt that there was great risk to the people in our three programs, and immediately reached out to our partners. We sent over $7,000 on Friday to secure two months worth of food for 352 people (which became 368, and then 380…). Due to our quick actions, the food was purchased before crisis-induced inflation kicked in — by Monday, food prices had doubled!

Since that time, we have sent money weekly for charcoal, fresh vegetables, medicines, sanitary and hygiene products. Charcoal prices have gone from 60,000 shillings a bag to 130,000 shillings a bag — about $36 — in Namuwongo, although they have remained under 80,000 a bag so far in Mbarara. To date we have sent nearly $15,000 for almost 450 people.

Uganda is experiencing severe food shortages, people are starving to death, the government isn’t handing out food (as they’d promised to do), and parents are trying to give away, or are killing, their children because they’ can’t feed them. In short, it is a huge crisis, and sadly completely self-inflicted. As of today, Uganda has had 74 cases and no deaths.

We’re also now incurring additional costs for security, because the situation around the country has gotten so dire. However, we have been able to distribute smaller amounts of food around during the night hours, or to individual homes in small packages, so that we have avoided problems so far. We pray that continues to be the case, as there are at least 2 more weeks of lockdown ahead.

Meanwhile, on the positive front, we have partnered with Wonderbag to provide 30 of their Wonderbag non-electric slow cookers to our program participants. Wonderbag has a co-op of HIV+ women out of the Alive Clinic in Namuwongo, just 10 min from Guardian Angel Foundation’s offices. On Friday, we will be able to pick up the bags, buy pots, and distribute 23 of them in Namuwongo, as well as send 7 to Mbarara for our foster families. The cost of a medium Wonderbag plus pot is 140,000 shillings — only 10,000 shillings more than a single bag of charcoal — and will save us a LOT of money over the next couple of months as the country tries to get back on its feet. Check the bags out — they’re really amazing!

So there has been lots going on, and none of it what we’d planned! (of course) We still plan to build the well in the Rwakobo village, and have a donor who wants to fund it once they are back to work. We hope the children can get back to school, and parents back to their jobs in the informal economy that makes up most of Uganda. We’d love to have you partner with us on these projects, as well as the ongoing COVID19 crisis.

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WATER CRISIS IN RWAKOBO VILLAGE, LAKE MBURO

There are times when you find yourself horrified at what you don’t know…. This is one such time.

I have been to many villages in central and eastern Uganda, largely with Hospice. I’ve been inside tiny slum homes: 8×8’ where 9 people live. I’ve been in traditional round homes with thatch roofs, and regional hospitals that are best not remembered. But this village… It takes the cake.

We knew we were there for a reason as soon as we got there. We have focused on food and education, and our primary goals remain — but we have realized that if the people of the village are barely surviving, are, in fact dying of diseases brought on by contaminated water or lack of food — we also have an obligation to those people who surround the school.

We were able to get the kitchen built in record time, and on Monday, March 9, began feeding the children of Wells of Hope Primary School. It was a great day!

First day of FOOD!

But on Friday, March 13, we couldn’t feed the children. Why? There was no CLEAN WATER. Anywhere.

Over the last few days, we have been gathering information on the water situation. I learned what a “seasonal well” actually is: a depression in the ground that’s dammed up and fed by muddy trenches when it rains. The animals use it. The people use it. It’s contaminated and full of disease, amoebas, and parasites. Not even the survivalists on Naked and Afraid would drink it!

Seasonal “well”

Yesterday, they were able to catch enough rainwater to use for the meal, but today they had to fetch it from this “well.” This video shows the collecting of the water that was used to feed our kids…. That’s just NOT OK. Yes, they boiled it. It’s still not OK!

We have begun an EMERGENCY FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN to get both a cistern for the school and a well for the village. The cistern will allow a clean catch of water during rainy season so that the porridge and any drinking water will be free of contamination. A well will give the entire village of 2700+ people fresh, clean water ALL THE TIME. During dry season, the school will use it for their daily needs, and everyone will benefit.

IN FACT, IT WILL QUITE LITERALLY CHANGE THEIR LIVES! TODAY, WE SENT THE FUNDS FOR THE CISTERN. WE DIVERTED MONEY FROM OTHER PROJECTS BECAUSE WE DEEM THIS TO BE URGENT IN THE EXTREME. YOUR DONATIONS WILL HELP US “REPAY” THE OTHER PROJECTS, AS WELL AS FUND THE WELL.

WHAT: $7500 FOR A CISTERN SYSTEM AND A FULL BORE-HOLE, DEEP WELL IN THE VILLAGE
WHEN: IMMEDIATELY
HOW TO DONATE:

  • Use the Text to Give info in the photo above. Put in your own amount!
  • Use this link to our Water Project donation page. If you can select to pay the processing fee, that would be amazing!
  • Mail a check to us — please use the Contact page and we will send you our mailing address.

If you want more information, please reach out to us — we give 100% of your donations to the work, and anything we collect above the $7500 cost of this project will go to our main programs: food for 456 kids daily, education, and vocational training for teen moms in the slums.

For more day-to-day information, please FOLLOW US on Facebook and Instagrams (links below) — our social media is always the most up to date on what’s going on. Thank you for praying and partnering with Ten Eighteen as we take on this huge — but doable — endeavor!

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