Blog
-
During my last trip to Uganda, I had the pleasure of meeting Deo “Nicholas” Ssenono. Deo had always been one of the brightest kids in Ddwaniro, always the first to raise his hand and answer a teacher’s question and a stellar performer on tests. While we were there we learned he had become quite ill had fallen mute. It was heart wrenching to see such a vibrant student look so lethargic and depressed.
We were able to take him to the hospital during our stay and he received treatment. We have recently received word that he has been healed and when he took his Primary National Exams last month, he scored the highest in the school. Praise God!
What was a very heartbreaking part of our trip has now become a powerful testimony. We serve an awesome God!
Top -
In 2011, OJM organized an assessment day for children with special needs. Many children had never been seen in the community before due to the prevalent social stigma and discrimination against disabled children. The common cultural belief was that when a child is born with a disability, it is indicative of a some shameful act in the family and as a result, the family is cursed through the birth of the child.One father admitted that he had been ashamed of his daughter her whole life and because of that shame, he would rarely speak of her, introduce her to house guests, or even take her out of the house with him. She had only been out of the house a handful of times during her young life, raised to believe she was inferior and damaged.
During the OJM organized special needs day, the assessors not only examined the students, but also conducted individual counseling with the parents as well as sensitivity training to a wider audience of community members. Part of this training was that special needs and disabilities are not imperfections, curses, or the result of past family shame. Rather, each child is firstly a son or daughter of God and He created and loves them just as he does his other children. We are instructed to treat others as Jesus treats us, so parents and community members were taught to love, honor, play with, and be proud of their special needs children just as they would their other children.
Following this training, the father approached Paul, our Country Director, and Rachael, one of our Community Officers, and with tears in his eyes expressed a tangible relief and understanding. He cried as he thought of how he had treated his daughter in the past and the shame he felt personally because of her disability. But then a joy crept across his face as he realized he could now love and celebrate his daughter!
Top
-
-
Danielle and Kyle were able to join friends from around the world last Tuesday for a webinar put on by Christian Alliance for Orphans about foster care. They had three young people, all formerly foster care youth, who shared about their experiences and offered suggestions for how to improve the system (and what it takes to be a good foster family).
Top
read more… -
During our November 2010 trip, we came across a man named Mpumire Einathan in the village of Kamengo. We passed his hut, which sat about 40 yards off the path as we returned from documenting the swampy watering hole that supplied the village with water. The small straw hut was a clue that even in for this remote Ugandan village, he was one of the poorer citizens. He sat in ratty cutoff shorts, peeling a few yams that would be his supper. A woman sat next to him, who we assumed was his wife and the hut was encircled by various groups of children (who may have just been following the white folks around). So he was a good candidate for the survey we were taking of the community to better understand the living conditions and needs of families. Paul worked with Luciano, Kamengo’s school administrator, to ask the man questions and learn his story. We came to find out that the man was a squatter and did not have a wife (the woman was just a villager paying a visit), but lived in his little straw hut with his two daughters. He had no job, no land to farm and lived off of the left overs that neighbors could afford. The man was not a Christian, but said he knew about the school and church just up the road.
Mpumire was a funny man with a big smile and he soon invited us in to see his home, which was obviously not designed for big, tall Westerners. And while we were in the home, we noticed something that looked like a homemade banjo. When we asked him what it was, he immediately picked it up and began strumming what could only be described as African blue grass. And as often happens in Africa, the music drew a crowd and soon enough there were twice as many children and a few more neighbors listening and laughing as Mpumire played his Ukelele. It was a real treat. We thanked him and said good-bye, talking the rest of the night about the fun little treasures that you sometimes find in people when you stop long enough to get past “hello”.
Fast forward to May 2011. We were back in Kamengo and as is the custom, our first minutes were spent hugging and greeting and shaking hands. As we made our way up to the church, a man was brought to greet us by one of the church members. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. It wasn’t until the man motioned like he was playing an instrument did we realize who he was. It was Mpumire, but he was clean and shaven and looking so good that I had hardly recognized him. We were amazed at his story.
Shortly after our last visit, Mpumire was forced away from his home, since he was a squatter and the land owners didn’t want his ramshackle hut in front of their house anymore. He was very hurt and offended by this and said he was moving away. When the church heard this, they were concerned about what would happen to his daughters, who had both been attending the school that OJM supports. They promised to help him with his living accommodations if he allowed his girls to finish their education. He agreed and the church got to work.
Volunteers found a plot of land where he could stay and then organized a house building party. They had been doing this for widows, but this was the first widower to be helped in such a way. Soon he had a house where he and his daughters could live with dignity. And because of the kindness of these Christians, he decided to start attending church and gave his life to Christ.
As fun as it was to hear Mpumire play his Ukelele, it couldn’t hold a candle to the joy we felt over these Ugandan believers who reached out and showed this man such love and compassion.
Top
-
-
A couple days after I wrote the “Year in Review” blog post, December got even more exciting with the construction of two new school buildings, the completion of a pit latrine in Kamengo, a third deworming drive for each of the three communities, and the construction of several new homes for widows.
Both Kamengo and Kabakyala have finished their new school buildings! Previously, several classrooms in Kamengo were meeting outside under mango trees, which provided little cover from rain and sun and classrooms were much too small for the growing number of students in Kabakyala. Now, all 650 students will meet in classrooms with new desks. Very exciting!
Kamengo's new school building
Earlier this year, Kamengo and Kabakyala began work on new pit latrines for their schools. During my trip in June, Kabakyala was just finishing their latrine, but it became apparent that the latrine in Kamengo would take longer to be construct than estimated. Once the top 24-30″ of soil was removed, the diggers ran into very rocky ground as the next 20 feet were filled with shale. They have been working tirelessly with a large pick axe, makeshift pulley system, and plastic jerry can jug to break up and remove the shale. I’m proud and excited to announce that the latrine is now completed and provides privacy and much more sanitary conditions to the students and teachers of Kamengo.
New pit latrine in Kamengo
In 2011, the communities identified a great opportunity to partner with the Ugandan government on a program called “Child Days Plus” which provides primary students with de-worming drugs and Vitamin A treatments. In December, the approximately 1,100 children in Ddwaniro, Kamengo, and Kabakyala received their third installment of deworming drugs and Vitamin A supplements and several community members have noted improved health in many of the children. We continue to thank God for this opportunity!Over the past year, 10 new brick homes have been built for widows in need between our 3 communities. While many of the homes will be finished in January 2012, during December, tremendous progress was made on several homes in both Kamengo and Kabakyala.
Original home
New home (almost finished)
Please continue to join us in prayer as we celebrate the blessings God has poured out in 2011 and look forward with humility and anticipation to 2012. We are believing God for a great year of growth and success on the ground with our friends in Uganda.Top -
When we look back on 2011, we had a lot going on! Here are some of the highlights from our work in Uganda.
Business
The business subcommittees and interested community members of Kamengo and Kabakyala will be participating in small business and loan training through Reconxile this year. OJM requires successful completion of this training, as well as a comprehensive business plan, in order for an individual or group to receive a micro-loan. We are looking forward to seeing what business proposals result from this training!
The business sector of Ddwaniro has been busy this year – starting a maize mill operation, releasing a second wave of loans (approximately $8,000), purchasing a brick making machine for the community, and drafting plans for a 2012 truck business.
Education
With the transition from PenPal Program to our new Sponsorship program, we are excited to see local sponsors in Ddwaniro team up with American sponsors to provide the resources needed to help successful Primary School graduates in Ddwaniro realize their dream of continuing their education in Secondary School. Visit our Sponsorship Page to learn more about how you, your family, small group, office, class, etc can get involved!
The students in both Kamengo and Kabakyala will soon be attending classes in new buildings. In order to offer classrooms for the growing number of students and provide more shelter to study under during inclement weather, construction of larger and sturdier school structures has already begun and is slated to be completed early 2012.
Family
On their own initiative, the Family sub-committees in each of our three communities chose to honor widows who have demonstrated unselfish love by bringing orphans into their home. These women often have very little and may already be taking care of their own children or grandchildren. Many of their houses are very small and made simply of mud, poles, and a thatch roof. The most vulnerable households have been identified and by the end of the year, 10 new brick and tin roof homes will be completed for these families.
Health
Over the past year 1,100 students received Vitamin A treatments and de-worming drugs (many for the first time) and 2 pit latrines were constructed, providing increased sanitation for more than 650 students and teachers. In addition, wheelchairs were purchased for 2 disabled students and Barbara, an albino student, received skin cream, an eye exam, and glasses.
On the horizon for 2012 is a school sick bay/health clinic in Ddwaniro which will provide first aid care, immunizations, and routine medical treatment to students and community members, eliminating the need to travel and pay high fees for medical treatment elsewhere.
Spirituality
In 2011, members of Ddwaniro community participated in a recording of Bible stories into 4 local languages (Luganda, Runyoro, Rutooro, and Runyankole) which will help bring the Gospel message to more people across the country. This has also created an opportunity for Ddwaniro to begin a local oral Bible School, which will be explored in 2012.
Kabakyala and Kamengo will begin 2012 with a week long seminar presented by Simply The Story. This training is intended for oral cultures with high illiteracy and teaches a technique for learning, sharing, and applying stories from Scripture.
Top
-
-
This is the photo attached to one of our secondary school sponsorship applications. This printed-then-photocopied image was the best the community could do to get the student’s paperwork in on time. When I first went through the applications and saw this photo, something struck me about the way it represents the reality of many of these kids’ lives. Like a worn out, faded picture, these kids are essentially the forgotten of the world. Like faint ghosts lingering in some nether region, many of them come and go too quickly, known only to a few village members, suffering from the consequences of apathy and injustice. What injustice? The injustice of their immediate circumstances but also of the wealthy and capable, who have both the resources and the know how to help these children but decide to do “other things”. And as I prepare to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family tomorrow and reflect on all the good the Lord has done in my life, I am especially grateful to be a part of an organization who is working to change that unfortunate reality, who helps put these kids on the map. People all over southwest Michigan, and increasingly from all over our nation, now know about kids like Isaac here. He’s not like his worn out photo anymore. He’s a smart kid who graduated primary school and now attends St. Kagwa’s College, a secondary school in Uganda. He’s a kid with dreams and he’ll be something great someday. And since I’m in the mood, I’m thankful that we have friends and supporters who want to make a difference. I’m thankful for all the people who have responded recently to our invitation to join us and help give kids in Uganda and here in Michigan a better life. I’m thankful for friends and family who pray their fannies off for me and this ministry. I’m thankful for a wife that supports me, beautiful and kind-hearted kids, a house to live in, cars to drive and food to eat. I’m thankful for technology, for airplanes, for a church family I fall more in love with everyday, and for fresh starts.
Most of all, I’m thankful for a God of love, justice and grace, for Jesus Christ my Savior and hope, and for the Holy Spirit who is like my ninja soul guard, leading me through this crazy adventure called life.
Top -
-
- Unloading some of the 3,000 chairs during celebration set up.
-
- The banner for the conference.
-
- Kids getting excited about the big day.
-
- Making a meal for 5,000 people is a big job.
-
- Cooking chickens.
-
- The beautiful cake that was made by a community member.
-
- Reading scripture during the main session.
As the saying goes, “The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones”.
This past month of September comes following OJM’s first ever community conference, which was held with the three villages that Orphan Justice Mission is partnering with in Uganda to reach out to orphans and vulnerable children. This activity was the climax of the month of August, and involved two days for the conference and one day for the celebration. You might be thinking, “what’s so exciting about a conference?”, but just read on. To us as OJM, this conference was an important milestone, and the power was not in the individual days but the whole message.The theme of the conference was “Remember and Hope”. By the end of the celebration on Sunday, we were all mesmerized from looking back and taking stock of what has been done in the communities over these past 5 years. People’s lives have truly been transformed and the communities are undoubtedly changed! I can only say thank you, first to our Lord, and then to our dear partners, the three communities of Dwaniro, Kabakyala, and Kamengo and all of the colleagues who are surrendering to the Lord’s call to work towards bringing joy and hope to the children.
Way back in 2007, when I first came in contact with a team of brothers from both Set Free Ministries and Orphan Justice Mission from the U.S., we had almost five hours of discussion. One of the questions I was asked then was “what is your vision for the people of Rakai?” I vividly remember the answer as if it was yesterday. The Lord brought an answer based on Jeremiah 29:11 immediately to my mind, “The Lord knows and has good plans for Rakai, a plan for their future and hope.” As sure as the answer was I could not know how or when this might come to pass. All I knew was that this village of Dwaniro in Rakai district in Uganda would one day be different from what it was then. When in 2010 I took on full time staff responsibilities, all I had to say was “let His will be done.”
As we celebrated, I was first of all grateful that I could be a part of a team which works to see God’s will done in these communities. I have worked directly with the villages for over five years, and even longer with my good friend Pastor Geoffrey in Dwaniro. Seeing the help that has been brought to these struggling children made me reflect on how my late mother, who despite losing my Dad in 1979 in Amin’s regime, struggled with fees and took us four orphaned children through school up to university. It was a great burden and I know what difficulty my mother endured. Now I am witnessing widows, orphans and vulnerable children get the kind of assistance my mother would have appreciated and their lives are transforming as a result.
Just think: about 1,200 orphans and vulnerable children are attending primary schools in three different villages. This is joyous! It is the hope and future. Among these children I am sure one day one of them will take up the responsibility of the Country Development Initiative Coordinator like me, to be ready to be used for some other children to have a future and hope.
Secondly, I rejoiced that community people in Ddwaniro who once never believed in themselves are now taking initiative. Without OJM’s instruction, they constructed two houses for widows and the first permanent administration building for the school. A team from the community has taken on managing business loans profitably by themselves, as well as passing on the training to other people. Surely, this is evidence of an element of capacity building, growing confidence and ingenuity in the local people. It is fun for me to look back and ask, “what was the community thinking fives years back?” It is not all done, but the progress was worth celebrating with the Lord, while refocusing and strategizing for what is to come.
Thirdly, on the celebration day, even when Kyle – OJM Executive Director – introduced the Education Sponsorship program for secondary education for the orphans and vulnerable children, up to 32 community people came out to take on co-sponsorship with OJM. When I talk about community members I am basically referring to the people living in these villages. What a joy to witness transformation of people’s minds! This was a clear demonstration that the community is coming to understand their responsibility to care for the orphans around them and OJM’s role as a secondary supporter helping them fulfill this mandate which God gave us in Isaiah 1:17.
On the last day of the celebration, 12 people surrendered their lives to Christ. This was the climax, what a celebration both here on earth and above all in heaven, for what the Lord has done in these five years of the partnership.The Lord has been good, it is Him who has enabled all this to be done as in Deuteronomy 8:18. You and me have all played a part to be used to take part in transforming the lives of orphans, widows, vulnerable children and some families; smiles were easily noticed during our celebrations.
As I conclude this mountain story, remember, we are still working on removing stones on this mountain and trusting in the Lord for surely the harvest is there, but the planting is still on. Try to paint a picture of what the communities will be like five more years from now and what needs to be done, and then ask who needs to do it. Until next time, greetings from Uganda.
God’s love and mercy endures forever.
Top -
-
This is a peek into our monthly prayer meetings. This video was put together from clips taken tonight, October 12, 2011. We’re always looking for people to join us!
Top -
We’re really pumped about our new site. There’s a lot we have planned that we haven’t gotten to yet. We’ll be getting pictures and video up soon. Also, our url will be a little funny for awhile so don’t worry about putting orphanjustice.org in your browser and having it land on .info. We’re open to suggestions, too. How can we make the site better? What would you like to see?
Top
