Literacy

Acclimation, Orientation, and Graduation

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It’s hard to believe we’ve all been home for more than a week! It was a great trip, and everyone who went has had a blast sharing their experiences with their friends and family. I think I can safely say “fun was had by all!” (And hard work and emotional growth and jet lag!)

At Touch the Slum, things are moving on apace.

The new term started on Monday with Orientation for all the incoming students for Literacy, Tailoring, Hairdressing, and Media. Today was Day 1 in the classroom, and it was all smiles!

Trust me when I tell you (and as my grandmother would attest, given her unsuccessful attempts at teaching me to sew) — it’s hard enough sewing a straight line with a fast electric machine. Sewing a straight line with a slow-moving needles while pumping the pedal with your feet… super challenging! So the girls start out on paper, making straight lines with a ruler and pencil, until they’ve mastered it.

In Hairdressing, they spend a lot of time with head dummies before they get to a real person’s real head — and this is definitely for the best! Braiding in straight lines isn’t much easier than sewing in them, and braiding fast? Forget it.

Media spends a lot of time on digital camera basics, and also on phone photography/videography techniques beyond point-and-shoot. Editing will come soon, as they learn what they need to be professionals.

And the Literacy girls jump right into (or back into, for the ones who’ve remained for the next term) the three-r’s, games, puzzles, and art.

We also have a dozen girls out doing internships, with our Community Officers following up and keeping track of how they’re doing.

In short, controlled chaos has resumed! And we thank you all for your support that makes it possible for us to welcome these girls, give them a free education and food, and a safe place to learn and grow.

Mwebele nnyo!

Jennings

PS Oh, I forgot about graduation! The girls who just finished up while we were there will be graduating on February 24th. As you know if you’ve followed us for awhile, this is a HUGE deal for these girls who have never been to school before. They get official Certificates, wear caps and gowns (make in-house), get tee shirts, local leaders come to the ceremony, and they have a feast and party. It’s such an important milestone and one we make as big as possible to celebrate girls who’ve never been celebrated before.

We have a project up to fund the graduation – we’d love your help to make it the best yet! Just click the button!

GRADUATION ROCKS!

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Week One in Uganda – TEAMWORK!

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Normally I put one picture at the top of these emails, but I really want to share a few from our first days in Uganda. The ladies are doing such great work and our staff and girls are so happy to have them with us!

Clockwise from the top left, Susan (my mom) teaching watercolor to the Literacy girls; Connie teaching paper clay modeling, also to the Literacy girls; and Harriet (from Karamoja) and Bertie unpacking new medical supplies for our Nurse Brenda.

Yesterday, Harriet, Bertie, and Connie did a community talk on hand washing and hygiene, and they gave out 50 mosquito nets. Connie also taught a class on making glass jewelry. On Monday, Susan did a drawing class.

(And Susan’s luggage is still lost somewhere... so you can say a prayer on that since it’s not just clothes but all her personal and student art supplies, too!)

Meanwhile, I have been doing very exciting things like working with our Finance Officer on accounting software and making spreadsheets for upcoming payroll tax changes (ugh), and putting together what we’ll need in March to renew/upgrade our organizational license (also ugh). We have a dinner meeting tonight with the attorney… I know, my part sounds like so much fun, right?!

I did, however, get one very important visit in — with Mama Santa! She is so appreciative of you all, who funded her surgery within an hour of last week’s email going out. She’s resting and doing well, while her daughter Charity fills in in the kitchen.

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This week we’ll have more community visits, more classes, more laughter, and (I’m sure) more dancing. Our nurses will be making time for individual chats, Susan will be doing a workshop for the staff on managing stress, and Connie will be making cassava mendazi for the girls.

In short – it’s pretty amazing over here!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We would love to have your support to move the residential program to a separate house just down the road — we’re at 21%! Life is already challenging for teen moms like Anita, who had a c-section 4 weeks ago. Giving them some peace and quiet would be amazing! Just click the button for easy giving.

MOVE Project!

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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 »

From Desperation to Independence – Gloria’s Story

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At 16, Gloria became pregnant.

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.

This is her story.

GLORIA’S STORY

Blessings,

Jennings

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!

DONATE NOW!

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Our Vision for 2024

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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!

Mwebele nnyo,

Jennings

YEAR END DONATION

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.

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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 »

When not owning knickers is the norm

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The trip coming up in January will be my seventeenth trip to Uganda. In January 2009, we funded the rent for a building for Ray of Hope’s outreach to women and children in Namuwongo. On our first trip in September of 2009, we made our first visits to the slum.

I’ve been down in the “community” (the slum proper) at least a hundred times, conservatively.

And I can still be shocked.

Many of our girls have one outfit and one pair of shoes, usually knock-off cheap “Crocs”. I know this. I’ve known this. It’s a challenge.

But what I’ve learned since launching Touch the Slum is that many have no knickers (underwear) at all, and that their families often don’t consider it their “responsibility” to provide them.

Let’s be real for a second: teen girls have periods.

Even girls who can’t get sanitary pads need to use rags during their cycles. Practically speaking, underwear is pretty vital at least a week a month.

Owning zero or just one pair of knickers is a problem. They can’t come to class one week a month. They can’t go out of their house one week a month. They can’t launder their one skirt or dress without being left unclothed while it dries, which obviously leaves them completely housebound.

I don’t know about you, but I find that completely unacceptable. (To be honest, very few things make me actively angry… but this is one of them!)

Each term, we do a project to supply girls in need with underwear, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. Each term, you come together to help us fund this, so that no one misses class due to a lack of knickers. Together with our monthly sanitary pad distribution, you keep girls in class and active their community. And you help them keep their dignity.

It’s amazing how such a small thing can completely transform a life! To help, just click the button.

Knickers Project

Tweyanzizza nnyo, tweyanzeege — we are so grateful, thank you very much!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS If you’ve missed our My Story series so far, you can always visit our YouTube channel to see those and other great videos on our work in Namuwongo.

When not owning knickers is the norm Read More »

Creativity and Confidence

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The slum is not a nice place.

You probably thought, “Well duh…” to that, because obviously it wouldn’t be called a slum if it was somewhere lovely.

But seriously. Beyond the obvious (filth, muck, abuse, drugs and moonshine, starvation, illness… SMELLS), everyone there operates in survival mode 100% of the time.

In survival mode, you’re not creative. Your body is flooded with cortisol and adrenaline. Your immune system is terrible. Your brain is a weird combination of hyper-alertness and fuzzy thinking.

This is how our girls live all the time when they’re not at the Touch the Slum compound. In the community, they can turn to little baggies of waraji (moonshine made in 50 gallon drums that makes turpentine seem like fine wine) or marijuana to try to ease the stress. If they escape that, they turn to young men who promise some stability but just leave unclaimed babies after they disappear.

One of our missions at Touch the Slum is to create an atmosphere where the girls can not only learn but also RELAX. Feel safe. Laugh. Dance. And create.

In March, my mom, Susan, introduced the girls in the Literacy class to drawing and painting. They loved it! Ever since, we’ve made it a regular part of the curriculum and it’s one of their favorite things.

When the team goes in January, we will have my mom again, who will continue to teach drawing and painting to the girls and staff. Connie is a glass and pottery artist so she’s going to teach those skills. And I’ll be bringing creative writing to the girls with some fun activities to help them have fun with their newly learned English words.

Much of life involves creating: outfits, artwork, stories, hairstyles. Once they can envision the small stuff, they can see the project that will be their masterpiece:

A life.

Thanks to you, these girls are learning to think creatively and expand their dreams. That’s an amazing gift and we can’t thank you enough.

Mwebele nnyo,

Jennings

PS Are you following us on Instagram yet? We’ve had some great reels there, and the media team is doing a great job with our content. Click the icon below or here to check it out!

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13-year-old Joyce is on her way to her own small business!

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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!

This is Joyce’s story.

Joyce’s Story

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!

DONATE NOW!

13-year-old Joyce is on her way to her own small business! Read More »

Neema is a refugee from the Congo – this is her story

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According to the UN, 8000 people a day are currently fleeing the violence in the DR of the Congo — a total of 6.3 million people have been displaced so far. Many end up in Uganda, who has a policy of accepting all refugees.

Unfortunately, accepting them doesn’t mean helping them, so many end up in areas like the Namuwongo slum.

Neema’s family — mom with six children — live in a ramshackle hut in a refugee heavy area there. But Neema has an advantage over most of the refugees who are her neighbors: she’s enrolled at Touch the Slum.

When she joined the Literacy Program in June, Neema only spoke French and Swahili. Now she can speak English and is teaching her siblings.

This is her story.

Neema’s Story

Blessings,

Jennings

PS $35 covers one month of Skills for Life at Touch the Slum. Can you make a donation today to help Neema and others like her? 100% goes to the program!

DONATE NOW!

PSS Have you wondered what life is like in the Namuwongo slum? Our great media team has just finished a video to show you!

Life in the Slum Documentary

Neema is a refugee from the Congo – this is her story Read More »

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