Both Lwangoli and Sakiya projects continue to have a huge impact not only on individual children, but on the communities as a whole. There are approximately 200 children registered at each project and parents/care givers, as well as the school teachers, have noticed a visible improvement in the children’s confidence and behaviour. UWCM have recently introduced simple income generating activities for the older children such as making and selling liquid soap and body gel which help to raise funds for each project as well as teaching the young people new skills.

Generally, when we visit we are part of a larger group and play various ball games etc with the children but as there were only 3 of us this time, we thought a play parachute would be a good idea – turned out to be more chaotic than expected and we had to put it away as we didn’t want to risk injuring any of the children!

We were all VERY excited when we learned that the new vehicle was ready to be collected from the Toyota dealership in Kampala during our visit, and the staff of UWCM expressed their sincere thanks to Faversham Gospel Mission for funding this vehicle which will ensure that UWCM’s work can continue for many years to come. We would also like to acknowledge WEM, Hamburg for their expert knowledge and logistical support throughout the whole process from the ordering right through to the final delivery of the vehicle.

This is what happened when the vehicle arrived at UWCM’s offices!

Bridget, Steve and Terry have recently returned from their visit to UWCM and are looking forward to sharing news in the Spring Newsletter which is due out shortly. They were able to spend valuable time with staff as well as visiting some of the projects we support and, as always, came home extremely encouraged by all that UWCM are continuing to achieve despite ongoing budget restraints.

We had the privilege of meeting Margaret and Olive, two of the first women counsellors trained by UWCM, and whom we first met in 1995 and are still playing very active roles within their churches and communities. Details of their amazing lives will be in the newsletter.

We also took the craft activities at one of the 4 x young people’s conferences organised and run by UWCM. These conferences are very popular with parents and young people with 200 children and 150 parents/guardians attending over the whole period. The main goal is to share God’s love with both the children and their parents/guardians and so each day began with a time of worship and Bible study (click on the video below to hear their beautiful singing) and over the 4 day period, 94 young people and 8 parents gave their lives to Christ.

Staff covered topics such as people trafficking, modern day slavery, bullying and harrassment, drug & alcohol abuse, self-harming, anxiety & depression and each topic was backed up with scriptures. These are subjects which aren’t generally taught in schools or discussed within families and the young people found them extremely helpful and there were lots of good discussions around the topics. Each young person was given a pair of bed sheets as a leaving gift for which they were extremely thankful.

News of some of the other projects we visited will be added shortly.

Bufumbo Women’s group constructed a new shelter for a young man who, despite being lame, is very hard working and determined to live a decent life. He does casual work for people in the community and also cooks porridge for children in a local church. He had been living in a dilapidated dry banana fibre thatched shelter which leaked when it rained.  The members nominated him to have a new iron sheet roofed shelter and he could not hide his joy when he moved in and also received a new mattress and blankets:  I appreciate UWCM together with the People who give them money to help some of us who have never dreamt of ever living in a house roofed with iron sheets! Thank you UWCM for putting a smile on my face and changing my identity. I can now confidently approach a girl for marriage though not now but when the right time comes, I will make sure I take her to church for a holy matrimony as a testimony that there is a God in heaven who cares about people like us! May the Almighty God bless you”   

Another shelter was constructed for a single mother of nine whose husband disappeared 6 years’ ago.  This woman has always worked hard to try and support her family and is now the head cook in a local comprehensive school and she also hires pieces of land where she grows food for her children. UWCM discovered that only does she care for her own children, but has also taken in 3 other children whose mother had died and now cares for them as well!  UWCM therefore paid to have some extra rooms added onto her existing shelter and they are all living happily together.

Monitoring community groups:  Each year, new groups are formed in communities because many people have realized the benefits of working in groups. Close monitoring of these community groups helps UWCM to identify their needs both at individual and community levels and then discuss the way to solve them to ensure development.    

During one monitoring visit, a local officer thanked UWCM for the work they are doing in that community and said: this is the only organisation in this community which is serious, stable and organised as far as community work is concerned because of the continuous monitoring it does in its groups.  He also asked that UWCM extend their programmes to other villages and help form saving groups in those areas because he has witnessed that this project has helped many families come out of poverty and so crime rate has reduced in the sub-county.  He planned to call for a general community meeting and invite UWCM to talk to them.

Microfinance saving schemes: these continue to do incredibly well and many groups are able to use their savings to start small businesses eg roasting maize/selling porridge in the evenings and members of one group have a vision of making sure they invest in their children’s education and many of their children have attained degrees in different fields.  Often groups visit each other on a weekly basis and take with them some sugar, tealeaves and soap which has encouraged members, especially widows, to remain in the group as that is where they get their identity and a sense of belonging. 

This quarter (April-June) UWCM report that: there has been sickness, theft, insecurity in some parts of the country and too much hunger in families but God gave us enough rains which contributed to a good yield.  However, the market prices are still high because of the demand.

We continue to extend our sincere gratitude to all our donors and friends for every single support rendered towards UWCM’s work and more so for ensuring that our vehicles are in good working condition. Thank you so much and may God bless you.

We were very pleased to visit a GRAVITY FLOW WATER SYSTEM which has been installed by the government in the Simu district.  Although the rainwater tanks that we have supplied have been a great blessing, they are obviously only useful in the rainy season and so we were delighted to learn that the government has constructed a huge tank high up in the hills above this area and laid pipe work from the tank down to the road.  People are then able to pay to connect to this system and run a pipe from the road to a standpipe next to their homes giving them access to clean water all year round.  Unfortunately, the cost of the pipework is still prohibitive for some families, particularly those who live further away from the road.  We were taken to visit Moses who has connected his home to this system and has even bought an additional tank which he has connected to the water tank funded by UCUK, and he allows members of the community to come and use this tank for free which is a real blessing to this community.

Some members of our group took out suitcases full of material, sewing threads & machine parts, scissors, needles, poppers and other pieces of useful equipment and we visited 2 groups to distribute these and to teach their members how to make the pads.  We had recently provided both groups with sewing machines and the women were very excited to receive their training.  As you can see from the photos, the place was soon a hive of activity with templates being cut out and the women being shown how to put all the pieces together.  We were with Kibanda Women’s Group for a few hours in the morning and they provided us with a veritable feast at lunchtime and, as always, there was a lot of singing and dancing – see video below of their ‘leaving song’.

The second group we visited was Bududa Nakatsi Landslide group of teenage mothers.  The numbers in this group has been increasing, partly due to the effect of the pandemic when lots of teenage girls got pregnant and dropped out of school.  The lady who runs the group is a skilled seamstress herself and the girls go through a complete tailoring course – starting with paper patterns – and on completion of the course they will hopefully be able to get a job or set up their own business.  Again, the girls were very keen to learn this new skill and we spent a very happy couple of hours with them.

https://videopress.com/v/swOSGZy2?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

of the children, families and community as a whole.  We had a wonderful time during our visit in January helping to serve the porridge, listening to the different groups singing and performing drama sketches and reciting Bible memory verses.  The children’s parents and carers were also there to watch their children with pride and it was very evident that this is a hugely effective project.  The children’s confidence and self-esteem has increased and teachers and parents confirm that their behaviour has improved.  There is also a real sense of belonging – one young boy told us that before joining Lwangoli P&P he had no friends, but now he has many.  We were also able to spend time playing with the children who were VERY excited when they saw our footballs, skipping ropes, netballs, frisbees, tennis balls and we also introduced them to ‘egg & spoon races’! 

We hope you enjoy the videos below of the younger children singing their welcome song and the older group thanking Uganda Women Concern Ministry (“Women Concern”) for their support.

It costs approximately £1 per child per month to support each of our two Prayer & Porridge Projects and there is a waiting list for both.  If you would like to support these projects on a regular basis please see our giving page for our bank details.

Last month, Trustees Bridget, Steve and Terry, together with UCUK supporters Barbara, Penny, Janelle, Pete, Mark and Charlie spent a busy and fulfilling couple of weeks visiting some of the individuals, families and projects supported by UCUK.  We had a wonderful time meeting the staff of UWCM again – most of us for the first time since Covid – and, as always, we came back encouraged and amazed by the huge difference such a small team of (9) staff are making in people’s lives in this region of Uganda. 

We spent a lovely afternoon at Lwangoli Prayer & Porridge listening to the children and young people sing, perform drama and recite Bible memory verses and it was wonderful to witness their increased confidence and sense of belonging from being a part of this very effective project.  We also enjoyed helping serve over 100 cups of porridge and to see the younger children enjoy this weekly, nutritious treat.

We visited a Women’s Group in Kibanda community and a Teenage Parent group in Bududa where members of our team taught them how to make re-usable sanitary pads and supplied them with lots of materials, scissors etc.  The women and girls were very keen to learn as they will then be able to supply pads to girls and women within their communities and schools which is life changing for some who would otherwise not be able to go to school during their period.  There was always plenty of singing and laughing at these sessions and we were also very well fed with matoke, rice, beans, chapatis, chicken, peanuts etc!

We were also able to get our hands and feet dirty and help with some ‘mudding’ of a traditionally built shelter which the local community in Bududa were building for a family whose home had been washed away in the recent floods and landslides.  The family have 7 young children and had been given a small plot of land on which to build a new shelter.  The community donated the wooden poles for the frame and we provided the funding for the iron sheet roofing, window and door frames, nail & tools. Once the shelter is complete and dried out, UWCM will provide mattresses and household cooking items for the family and, possibly, a goat to start them off with an IGA. Fortunately, we were able to wash our hands/feet before leaving as we were then off to attend a wedding!

During our visit we also met with members of a cluster group to hear more about their revolving fund for rainwater harvesting water tanks and visited a community where a gravity flow system had been installed; met many of the children and young people we are sponsoring through school; spent time at the children’s and parents conferences; visited families in their homes – some of whom we have known for years and it was very encouraging in some cases to see how well they were doing but for others it was heartbreaking to hear some of the challenges they continue to face. We were able to assess the state of UWCM’s Landcruiser and discuss various options with Tom (Driver) and staff. All 4 of the tyres had to be replaced during our visit. More photos and news of some of these topics will be included at a later date and also in our Spring newsletter.