Vocational Skills

What’s Going on with Literacy These Days?

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Y’all, this photo made me laugh when I saw it on the bigger screen. Jennifer, in the middle, is that one kid… The one making a goofy face or holding up 2 finger-antennae behind someone’s head or just overall looking fed up with the process. Raise your hand if you’ve ever sent or received a Christmas card with “that one kid” in it! (I really need emojis right now!)

ANYWAY, these are some of the girls from the current Literacy class. Now, you may be wondering what coloring has to do with Literacy, aside from writing their names on the paper.

Let’s call it “anti-traditional” education, and I’ll illustrate it with a story.

In 2014 we did a week-long basketball camp for 40 kids in the slum. We had some great ideas, one of which was to get a long roll of white paper, tack it to the wall in a continuous piece, and let each child write or draw whatever they wanted in a space of their own. We had markers and crayons and finger paints and were really excited to see how it came out.

How it came out was 40 individual spaces that all looked almost identical to each other… Each one had an airplane, a teacup, a house, and a tree. Each airplane was drawn in an identical style. Same with the other subjects. IDENTICAL. The only differences were colors or medium or finesse due to age.

Frankly, it was really depressing. These kids didn’t all go to the same school. They weren’t related. They shouldn’t be drawing the same four things. Yet there it was.

That sums up Ugandan education: rote learning, with no creativity or individuality allowed.

But not at Touch the Slum!

We believe in creativity. We believe in problem-solving. We believe that each girl is an individual and should be able to express herself. Our girls actually have an advantage over girls who have been to traditional schools, because they were never indoctrinated into the cookie-cutter sameness that their peers were.

Launching the Literacy program this year has been one of the highlights of our work in Namuwongo. The joy it brings to these girls when they find out they can learn, they aren’t stupid, they do have value… It’s truly amazing.

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We have a project up for supplies for the Literacy class. We’d love your support to keep them going full steam ahead for the duration! Click below!

SUPPLIES!

PSS You can still get your free ticket to see me speak tomorrow at the Expat Money Summit!

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Exam Time (No All-nighters required!)

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What do you think of when you think of exams? For me, it’s pulling all-nighters and going to the local truck stop at 2am to get greasy carbs and hot (bad!) coffee to stay awake.

Fortunately for our students, that’s not required. (I don’t think truck stops are a thing in Uganda!)

For the Hairdressing mid-terms, the girls have to bring in their own “client” and create the style of their choice. Some girls are fast, and some are slower — that’s ok!

Our goal is competency, not speed. These exams give the teachers vital information to make sure that each student is getting the help they need to graduate and either get a job in a salon or start their own small business.

Tailoring is having mid-terms, too, for the same reason.

Competency.

We don’t issue report cards. We don’t have a GPA. Some of the girls have been through our Literacy program and some are unable to read and write.

It doesn’t matter.

What matters is that, when they graduate from Skills for Life, they can create a sustainable life for themselves and their families. If it takes longer to learn? We’ll be there. If they’re fast learners? We’ll challenge them.

Really, that’s how education should be!

We couldn’t do this without your support, and we are thankful for you every day (and every braid!) along the way.

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS Did you know we have a Bonfire store with shirts and bags? Check it out below – maybe you’ll find some good Christmas gifts for family and friends. (Or you… just sayin’!)

CHECK THE MERCH!

PSS Don’t forget to grab your FREE ticket and hear me speak on the 11th!

jennings expat money show speaking ticket

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Past the Halfway Mark in T3 Skills for Life!

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16-year-old Husinah is having a stellar year! She was in our first-ever Literacy Class, and just graduated a couple of weeks ago from Basic Tailoring. (If you didn’t see the video from that EPIC graduation, go check it out on Instagram!)

But she didn’t stop there — now she’s in Advanced Tailoring, and look what this gal is doing: TAKING NOTES.

She’s TAKING NOTES, y’all… She was totally illiterate at the start of 2022!

I don’t know about you, but I find that absolutely astonishing. And how did this happen?

YOU!

Some of you donated to the Expat Money Community’s fundraiser at the end of 2021 which paid for the Literacy Program to launch and run through this year. Some of you donated on DonorSee for supplies for Skills for Life. Some of you are monthly donors who help us keep the lights on and the electric sewing machines running all day.

When I first saw this picture, I looked at the usual things – Husinah’s pretty dress, her concentration, the machine. And all of the sudden it hit me what a monumental win this is, because it seems so normal.

This isn’t normal for the majority of girls in the Namuwongo slum. Our goal is to change the culture one girl at a time until it is. Thank you for joining hands with us to make it happen!

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS We have a project up for supplies for this term’s Literacy class – they go through a lot of notebooks, crayons, pencils, pens, art supplies, and paper! If you can help, just click!

LITERACY CLASS SUPPLIES!

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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!

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We’ve Had a Great First Year on DonorSee!

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Meet Jenifer and her daughter Victoria. Jenifer originally came to the Touch the Slum office when she was pregnant and homeless, and we were a small 2-room place in the slum.

We referred her to an organization we work with that helps pregnant teens called Amani, who had room to take her in. Jenifer gave birth and for a little while after lived with friends.

But about a year and a half ago she became homeless again. And she came back to Touch the Slum — only now we had a program just for girls like her: the Ross House.

Jenifer moved into the Ross House with Victoria, got medical treatment and a good diet, and she began to blossom. She started Skills for Life in Tailoring and it was apparent from the start that she was gifted.

After graduating, she moved into the Suubi House and on to Advanced Tailoring. She’s just finished with that and will graduate on October 1. In the meantime, she’s done so well that both tailoring teachers have been getting her side gigs. She’s saved up a good nest egg!

And now she’s ready to move out into her own place! To begin an independent life that doesn’t rely on a friend who can take her in or a man who will give her food in exchange for sex. And she’s ready!

We couldn’t be more proud of her.

We have a project up to fund her exit package. When our teen moms are ready for independent living, we don’t just show them the door. We make sure they’ve worked and saved enough for several months rent. That their job or own small business is established and stable. Then we gift them a mattress and bedding, household goods, food, and personal supplies.

And our door is always open – Victoria can come to daycare, and they can both get treatment from Nurse Sherry in the clinic. Mama Santa will be happy to serve them up some delicious plates of food, too.

This is the goal. This is the why.

You can’t make lasting, sustainable change without going deep. You can’t change a life without changing the way they see the world, without giving hope that’s based on a truly sustainable path.

Jenifer is a rock star, and I can’t wait to see how far she’ll go!

Blessings,

Jennings

PS We have a project up on DonorSee for Jenifer’s exit package. I put it up yesterday afternoon and it’s already 40% funded! We’d love for you to bless her in her new life — as you’ve blessed her during her whole time at Touch the Slum. Just click! Webele nyo!

Jenifer’s Exit Gift!

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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!

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A Week of Fun!

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When I was a teen, school months seemed to drag on and on, and summer flew by. Other than getting to go back-to-school shopping with my grandmother, I didn’t find a whole lot to be excited about! (Especially since my bus came at 6:45 and we ate lunch at 10:30!)

I’m pretty sure I never looked like Justine does in this photo!

It’s hard to overstate the danger that teen girls face in the slum: starvation, rape, trafficking, sex work, pregnancy, lack of access to education. In short, they all feel hopeless and trapped in the cycle that they see all around them every day. Even their mothers will encourage them into sex work to “contribute to the family.”

We opened the Ross House to help address teenage pregnancy and its challenges. Skills for Life addresses hopelessness.

Culture is changed one life at a time. Our focus is holistic — we don’t just teach a skill, or just provide a meal, or just take in a homeless teen mom.

  • We teach literacy to those who can’t read, write, or do basic math.
  • We teach English speaking — believe it or not, English is the official language of Uganda. But it’s taught in schools. No school = no English.
  • We address trauma through counseling and peer groups.
  • We provide support through mentoring and teacher engagement.
  • We do home visits to identify family issues early.
  • We provide food and a safe space for girls to hang out, off of the streets.
  • And we teach skills for sustainable self-sufficiency.

We don’t do the easy, high-number, flashy stuff. We do the real, long, hard work to create change, for these girls and for their children and families.

In Uganda, women can’t inherit land. We are giving them a legacy that no one can keep them from passing on.

Thank you for your amazing support and encouragement. We couldn’t do it without you!

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS We always have a lot of great projects up on DonorSee. We now also have sponsorship opportunities, where you can support us monthly. Two are up right now, for the clinic and for the residential program. Click to check them out!

Sponsor the Haven Clinic

Sponsor the Residential Program

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Skills for Life Term 3 is Underway!

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Monday was the big day!

20 girls in Literacy, 10 in both Hairdressing and Tailoring, the 5 finishing up exams in Advanced Tailoring, the new Literacy class, and some of last term’s Literacy girls in the computer lab. Over 65 in all!

After a month off, the teachers were ready, and the girls were at the gate early.

Touch the Slum has become a hub, a home, a hangout for our teen moms and teen girls.

A safe place out of the Namuwongo slum and its challenges and temptations.

A place of HOPE and OPPORTUNITY.

Those are very, very few in Uganda in general these days, much less in the slum.

This week, Ronald posted a reel on Instagram of girls who have graduated from the Literacy class doing orientation in the computer lab. Someone commented that “they need more than ‘computer skills’. What other non-digital skills are they being taught? The internet is a fictional place full of delusion and requires electricity… when the screens turn off indefinitely what else will they have to fall back on?”

For you, and anyone who actually follows us, the answer is pretty clear – we post all the time about all what/how/why of our vocational program. And the fact that these girls, who were ILLITERATE in January, are actually able to learn to use a computer is nothing short of amazing.

But the positive of the comment is that we can say, “YES!” We believe in holistic literacy. We believe in vocational training. We believe in sustainability and self-sufficiency – whether the internet goes down forever or not!

Thanks to YOU, this vision is a reality, not a dream. We can’t thank you enough for your support…

Webele nyo!

Jennings

PS If you want to make sure that the girls aren’t left with “nothing to fall back on” when the internet goes down forever, you can help us with supplies for Skills for Life! Just click!

For life after the internet

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Term 3 of Skills for Life Starts Monday!

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This week is the end of our first-ever term break. Normally, we end one term on Friday and start orientation the next Monday!

There were a lot of reasons for the break this time, but rising food costs are the number one. It seems like every month we look at the food budget and try to figure out what we can cut or reduce or substitute while still offering a daily meal to all the students — often the only one they get in a day.

Today it was, “Can we cut back on rice and do more posho? How about cutting g nuts and doing more cowpeas?” We try to make sure that the girls are getting a complete protein, and there are foods like silverfish that we need to have for our nursing residential teen moms. Of course, we’d like to offer more variety and fresh fruits and vegetables than we can until the farm starts producing.

Skills for Life is FREE to our students, and that’s not going to change. We provide the instruction, the materials and supplies, and other support that’s needed. Completely free.

But none of it is free to us!

If you’ve been thinking about making a donation and haven’t yet, now is the time! We’ve got some great projects on DonorSee for supplies, medical care, and more. You can also make a donation on Donorbox in any amount, or sign up to be a monthly donor. We use 100% of your donations (minus processing fees unless you donate those as well) on the project, always!

The buttons are below — we so appreciate your support!

Webele nyo,

Jennings

DonorSee Projects Here!

Donorbox Donations – any amount!

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