Graduation

We’re Back! Hello from the USA

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Dear {{contact.first_name}},

Hello from NC! I’m looking out of my sunroom at the bright green new leaves of spring, fighting off cats who are so happy to see me, and feeling enormously grateful to be home!

Our travels went well and Susan and I both slept “normal” hours, so we are hopeful that we won’t be jet lag casualties for more than a day or two. (You can’t recover from 28+ hours of travel overnight, no matter how much sleep you get!)

I got the above photo from Ronald while I was in the Brussels airport and I *love* it. There are a lot of things to love: the traditional gomesi that the Tailoring class made for me as a surprise, the uber successful 4th graduation of our biggest Skills for Life group yet, the fashion show where I was showing off the dress and my (questionable) Ugandan dance moves, Peace dancing in the background.

But what I love the most is that it captures why Touch the Slum has been so successful.

Genuine respect and partnership. Friendship. Fun and laughter. Hard work. Collaboration. Gratitude. Celebration. Cross-culture.

The whole team did a phenomenal job putting together the graduation. (You can see some videos at Instagram, icon below.) The speakers — the local Council Chairman, a pastor friend, a bishop, parents, students, and teachers — all spoke of the profound innovation and real changes they have seen. There were a lot of happy tears.

There’s a lot more to come. We have new challenges all the time, an unlimited stream of teen moms and teen girls who need help, the usual constraints and obstacles any nonprofit faces.

But we have YOU. We have the support of the local community. We have all the things that photo above sums up.

We can’t wait to see what’s next!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We’re going to be posting our new Large DonorSee project this week — a deep well for the Rwakobo/Wells of Hope Primary School community, which will serve 3,000 people with clean, fresh water every day. We’ll need to get to 10% quickly so it is visible to the wider DonorSee audience. We’d appreciate you thinking about what you might be able to give over the next couple of days so we can hit the ground running. If we can fund the well quickly, the students and residents of Rwakobo Village will have a deep well by dry season!

This photo is one of the “seasonal wells” (aka large puddle) where they currently must get water to survive – yeah, it’s as bad as it looks!

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Our Time Is Coming to an End

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I can’t believe we leave in just a few days! The time has flown by, but we’ve gotten so much done while we were here.

Last time I wrote about Susan’s art classes, which continue through today. She taught a group of boys (and Fauza) yesterday, and they painted funky chickens. Today I’ll assist on a class for the staff, who were feeling left out!

Our trip west was great. We had LOTS of dancing and singing presentations by the students at both Hopeland and Wells of Hope Schools. We filmed video for some upcoming projects – one of which is introducing “Sister Schools” to US elementary schools to try to connect and reinforce ties with kids the same age.

We didn’t get to walk Rwakobo Village with Gideon as it POURED down rain all morning that Friday, but we did get to do the boat and driving safaris… And saw a leopard! (Rare!) We were 10′ from giraffes as we walked along a trail, and saw everything from a huge croc to young zebra to an eland at the top of a hill.

Now all the focus is on graduation!

This is our biggest one yet, with 33 girls graduating Skills for Life on Saturday. (See the PS for more!) The ceremony starts at 9am and celebrations will go (literally!) until dark… My mom and I will bow out after lunch and let the girls dance and celebrate to their hearts’ content!

We’re so proud of the work they’ve done, the skills they’ve learned, and the effort they’ve exhibited. We are equally proud of the creativity, compassion, and playfulness they’ve shown –– these aren’t found in great abundance in the slum, but will lead to a gradual change in the culture.

Thank you so much for your encouragement here and on social media during our trip and for everyone at Touch the Slum. We’re very grateful!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings & Susan

PS The biggest graduation means the most costly one. We had to make more gowns, and while we’ve limited each girl to one guest only, we also have speakers and staff to feed as well as a very big tent to protect us since it’s rainy season. If you can help with our graduation celebration, click below – 100% goes to the project!

GRADUATION ROCKS!

Graduation Is Coming Up

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Yesterday was our first full day of work, and it included my mom modeling the cap and gown that the tailoring class makes for graduation. Since this is our biggest ever graduating class (33 girls!), they’ve been busy making more, along with doing their exam work.

We also walked several miles in the slum to visit the families of many of our Literacy class girls. Through very narrow alleys, across (disgusting) trenches, over broken bridges, and along the polluted canal we walked and slid. Trust me when I tell you that the slum in rainy season is even worse than normal!

A group from a new small community organization came to chat with the staff as they solidify their mission to work with girls and women.

My mom met with the social workers for a couple of hours, chatting about how they do what they do, what resources they feel like they need, and getting to know the challenges they face.

I met with staff about our media needs on this trip, budgets (always budgets!), and the upcoming staff retreat on Saturday.

In short, we had a long day!

Today, my mom will be teaching art classes to the Literacy girls while the rest of the girls continue with their exam projects. We’ll have another meeting on the retreat, eat Mama Santa’s delicious food, and maybe shop with her at the local produce market.

And tomorrow the farm!

Many of you have emailed and messaged me your well wishes, and we so appreciate it. It’s so great to be back at work here!

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS We saw Jenifer yesterday, who has started her own small business but is still struggling. I’ll be bringing back 6 bags to sell in the States, and will send her the proceeds. A lot of you have fallen in love with Jenifer and ask after her often, so stay tuned for photos of the bags to claim yours!

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

October Has Already Been Exciting!

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WOW!

October has been amazing!

Here’s what going on at Touch the Slum (and Wells of Hope Primary School) already this month:

GRADUATION

Our biggest-ever graduation happened on Saturday and it was amazing! I’ll be making a video to put on our YouTube channel this week, but for now, you can see the joy in the girls’ faces above as 35 graduated in Literacy, Tailoring, Advanced Tailoring, and Hairdressing. We had quite the fashion show thanks to the Advanced Tailoring girls — you’ll have to wait for the video or check out the Reel I posted on Sunday on Instagram.

The project for graduation funded 100% on Sunday, which was wonderful! We ended up having to rent a tent because of the weather, and the regular costs add up, too. So we’re really grateful for the support!

WEBSITE

HUGE thanks go out to Board member Mikkel Thorup and his Project Manager Dom Alves (who lives in Brazil!) for a complete re-do of our website. We’d been on SquareSpace for a long time because, well, it’s easy! But it lacked functionality, and we were ready to be able to do some new things with it. It launched this past weekend, and we’re SUPER happy and grateful — check it out and let us know what you think!

SHOW ME THE WEBSITE!

WELLS OF HOPE PRIMARY

Some of you will remember from my last visit that Wells of Hope had gotten a loan to build a second brick building, but didn’t have the money for the concrete floors, blackboards, windows or desks. We’ve been chipping away at that on DonorSee, funding the blackboards, and going one class at a time for desks and windows.

A local donor funded the cement floors, which was amazing. Then last week, we got the first 5 windows put in. That so inspired someone that Gideon knew that they donated the remaining 19 windows! Now all we need is 12 sets of the glass inserts, and we’re rain-proof.

We also funded the 3rd classroom’s desks! The order went in for those yesterday, so we’ll be installing them in a week or so. Then on to classroom #4.

This is HUGE for the incredibly poor village of Rwakobo – who didn’t have a school EVER until Wells of Hope opened in 2019. (And then closed for 2 years thanks to government pandemic policies.) Gideon and everyone out there is amazed by the generosity shown to their little school, and we really are so grateful.

And y’all – it’s only October 4th!

Thank you so much for following along with us on this great journey.

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS We are planning our holiday cards EARLY this year! (I know, it’s a shock!) If we don’t have your physical address, we’d love to add you to our mailing list so you can get the occasional greeting from Ten Eighteen. Just hit Reply – we won’t share, spam, or visit, we promise!

Another Graduation Is Happening Soon!

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Graduation photo time! Don’t they look great?!

Our Advanced Tailoring class made these caps and gowns, which are not only amazing, they save us the cost of renting them each graduation. And more importantly, they’re special. They’re uniquely ours, just like our philosophy that no girl should be excluded just because she’s never had the opportunity to go to school.

They’ve never done graduation photos.

They’ve never been celebrated or had anything to celebrate.

They’ve never done something that they and their families were proud of.

Until now!

Now, no matter if they’ve gone to school, no matter if they are teen moms, no matter if they’ve done things they wish they hadn’t in order to survive, they can be proud. They can party. They can dance and sing and ululate and laugh til they cry.

Because they did this. It’s all theirs. No one can take the accomplishment or knowledge from them.

That’s why we make it a really big deal! And YOU have helped us get these 35 girls here, you’ve helped us put on the past graduations, and you’ve supported the girls’ journeys from start to finish.

It’s really a team effort, and you’re the starting lineup — we can’t thank you enough!

Tweyanzizza nnyo, tweyanzeege! (We are so grateful, thank you very much!)

Blessings,

Jennings

PS To help put on the graduation shindig, just click the button. 100% goes to the graduation!

GRADUATION TIME!

Our Next Graduation Is Almost Here!

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Mildred, above, is still our youngest graduate. She was 12 when she started Skills for Life in Tailoring, and 13 when she graduated. Her family was so impressed with her that they all pitched in to buy her a pedal-powered sewing machine – a big investment for a family in the slum. She was also offered a place at a school!

Now she attends school and makes money in her off-time to help support her family.

This is what it’s about — Mildred’s LIFE was changed, her family’s CULTURE was changed, and Mildred has a SUSTAINABLE way to create income for the rest of her life.

The graduation for Term 2 of Skills for Life, including the first Literacy Class, and Advanced Tailoring (which runs on a slightly different schedule since it’s longer) will be happening on October 1.

This is a really big deal!

We made our own caps and gowns, because it’s a really big deal.

We have a big party with cake and guest speakers, because it’s a really big deal.

We have them walk up by name to receive their certificates, because it’s a really big deal.

These are girls that no one has ever celebrated. No one has ever expected them to “amount to anything” except to repeat the cycle their own mothers were cast into.

But we celebrate them, and we know you do, too. Because honestly, it’s just a really really big deal.

Thank you for supporting us in all the ways that make days like this possible. We can’t thank you enough!

Webele nyo,

Jennings

PS We have a project up to help us pull off graduation. We have 35 girls graduating this time around, a record!! If you’d like to contribute — any amount at all helps! — 100% goes to the project. Just click the button!

Graduation Rocks!

GRADUATION DAY!

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Graduation Day!

Imagine… you grew up in your country’s largest slum, desperately poor, unable to go to school more than just a few terms.

Imagine… you’re a teen girl with a single mother, living with 6 siblings in one room.

Imagine… your country has a complete lockdown and there is no… nothing. There is especially NO HOPE.

Now imagine that you’ve gone through free vocational training to learn a skill that can allow you to get a job or start a small business. The 2021 lockdown delayed your graduation by 6 months…

BUT THE DAY IS FINALLY HERE!

IT WAS AMAZING!

The current Skills for Life tailoring class made the caps and tassels. (The gowns were a last-minute borrow!) The hairdressing class did everyone’s hair so they looked gorgeous. Families and friends came, speakers encouraged and praised them, they danced and ate and had cake — and couldn’t get those grins off of their faces.

THANK YOU!

Your ongoing support and graduation-specific donations made this day possible!