Monday, October 29, 2018

The Gift of a Home



Houses in a rural village in Uganda look different than houses do in North America. One of these differences would be the size of the house, there might be a small sitting room but the home is mostly just used for sleeping. Sometimes a mattress is on the ground that many children would share but most often families sleep on a grass mat. Cooking is done on open fire so the kitchen is outside or in a separate shelter, as is the latrine. 

There is a difference though between homes being culturally different and simply not being a safe place to live. When a student joins the Kibaale Community Centre we care for their entire family and a big part of that is making sure they have a clean and safe home to live in.

Since the students who join our school come from the most vulnerable families in our community, many of them have homes that need repairs or are already beyond repair. We are so thankful for the student sponsors and our partners; Village Church, Coast Hills Community Church, and Pacific Academy School, who have come alongside these families to build them new homes. 

Laban, his older brother, and mother lived in this round mud hut that was 27 square feet inside. Jeff measured it many times to check. The family was sitting on a bench leaned against the wall to sleep since it was not big enough for even Laban to lay down. The house was also in a swamp that was not able to grow any food, we are so thankful their situation has changed! 

They are now feeling very at home in their new brick home on a piece of land that they are finally able to farm on! 


Bridget's family had no place to live so someone in the village allowed them to build a temporary shelter on their land, we were shocked when she came to the office to tell us that this is where her and 8 others in her family were living for the past 2 months. When a team from Village Church had a donation for land and a mud home package we new the timing was perfect to help Bridget's family! 

The team and our vocational students mudding the new home last week! 

Bridget's Mom is hard at work on her new home! 

Frank and Betty are two new nursery students that received new homes this summer thanks to a fundraiser some of our recent visitors started! 


Natasha's home was leaking very badly, we knew that this roof would not survive the next rainy season. 

Their new home! 


Moses and his new home! 

Thank you to everyone who has given towards new homes for students and their families, this year we have built 6 mud homes and 14 brick homes, what an incredible gift

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