The last time I went to Uganda was January 2020, before the world fell apart. At the time of that visit, I’d been re-starting Ten Eighteen after a several-year hiatus, and our entire project consisted of
- Providing food for Hopeland Primary School and the Arise Africa Babies Home
- Funding a soap-making vocational project for teen girls in Namuwongo
- Consulting on the teenage pregnancy problem
That’s it.
In the two years since, we’ve created the Skills for Life vocational and Ross/Suubi House residential programs; provided well over 300,000 meals; started a free daycare and free clinic; built an eco-brick water tank at Wells of Hope Primary School in Lake Mburo National Park; and grown from zero to 18 paid Ugandan staff.
So… There’s a lot of talk about!
Currently on the agenda for my trip:
- A full day staff retreat, geared towards problem solving, team building, communication, and growth strategies
- Several days of training with the Literacy Class teachers to discuss learning styles, learning disability assessment, and teaching modalities that are different than the Ugandan system
- Formalizing the Digital Literacy curriculum to ensure competency in day-to-day use of needed computer skills
- Speaking at the various group meetings during the week, such as Strong Minds, Teen Talk, and Turning Point
- Visiting the families of participants in Skills for Life and our residential program to assess the home-life conditions of the girls in the program
- Visiting Western Uganda to spend a day each at Hopeland Primary and Wells of Hope Primary Schools where we provide food
AND MORE!
I’m also taking some of the mountain of stuff that’s been donated to us over the last two years. I can’t take it all in one trip, but I’ll be going through and taking the most needed items: clothes, shoes, electronics, medical equipment, books, games, and toys. THANK YOU ALL for your donations — I’ll have photos galore once the items are distributed!
Sometimes I get asked WHY I go to Uganda, with the accompanying expense. The fact is, it matters that I am there, on the ground, getting to know the staff, the girls, representing YOU and YOUR donations, using my skill set of problem solving and “project” mentality to streamline and help make things run more smoothly.
In short, accountability, for all of us at Ten Eighteen Uganda and Touch the Slum.
Thank you for your continued support! If you’d like to help me pay for the extra luggage I’ll be taking, just click the button. Every $100 extra baggage fee will save us $500 or more — that’s huge!
Webele nyo!
Jennings
