Greetings from our family in Uganda!

We started 2020 with everything going as planned! 

 The construction crew in Kibaale had been working hard through term break to get the primary school renovation complete for the first day of school.

Although the majority of work was to the outside buildings; a new roof, and installing a new water collection system, the inside was also freshened up! All the classrooms were painted, given new chalkboards and the windows were replaced. 

First day of school!

Meeting all the new nursery students is always a highlight of our day. 

Finn was very excited to have all the kids back to play soccer with. 

Mazzy loves being in the classrooms with the younger kids. 

Just a couple weeks after school began our first visitors of the year arrived, Erin Clark and her 3 girls. This was their fourth trip to Kibaale and first time coming without a team, which was a unique experience for them. It was such a great trip! It was so nice to see their family continue to build relationships with staff and students that they have been getting to know these past four years. Our kids all had a really great time together; organizing crafts, going on home visits, and also being creative making videos, writing songs and having Survivor challenges. 

Although this was to be the first group of a busy team season, it was actually the only group that went as planned!

 As news of COVID-19 came out we decided to be proactive and have the families of all our new students come to the centre for education on hand washing. The families all left with soap and a new goat. 

 Uganda does not have a lot of cases of COVID-19 but they are taking drastic measures to maintain that. We are on lockdown from April 1-14 and schools are closed until the end of the month. However, an updated list of rules seems to be changing daily. 

We are working alongside the other Directors in Kibaale, our social workers and the local government leaders to best help the vulnerable community of Kibaale during this difficult time. Our hope is to be able to give food and supplies to families as needed. The price of food and soap has risen significantly in the last week and it's very hard for people who live day to day to meet the needs of their families right now. 

If you are looking for a way to practically help out in Kibaale you can donate Family Food Assistance, for $40 you can provide a family with food and soap for an entire month. 

DONATE FAMILY FOOD ASSITANCE

Thank you for your continued prayers for our family and for Kibaale! 

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! 

Our Summer in Kibaale

We've loved spending this summer in Uganda, especially hosting families in Kibaale! Since June there has been 50 visitors here, 21 of those were kids, which has been a lot of fun.

Since the Kibaale Community Centre has 4 schools with over 1,000 students on campus, a busy medical clinic, and many community programs there is an area for everyone to help out. We are so thankful for the generosity of our visitors; choosing to spend their time here, teaching in many different areas, and also giving gifts to their sponsor children and the community.  

Home visits are always a favourite part of coming to Kibaale! It definitely changes the experience of sponsorship when you get to meet the student you sponsor and get to know them and their family. 

The best sports days include a dance party. 

The water station was another favourite on this very hot day! 

The kids worked really well together planning and organizing this event for the Nursery students. 

Mud hut! We are so thankful for the fundraising efforts so that one of our students could get a much needed new home this summer! 

Avin spent last summer in Arizona with her friend Sophia, it was great having her and the entire Currie family on our side this summer! 

They apparently feel very strongly about this statement. 

This is moments before a mud fight! 

Nurses in training. 

Sweet little babies. 

Every week our nursing staff go into a different village nearby to provide immunizations, weight checks and deworming pills to that community. 

We are very thankful that 2 of the families planned and brought over all of the Christmas crafts that our students will make for their sponsors. It's a lot of work so we have to start in the summer, but having all these extra hands here made it go a lot smoother this year! 

Tea time! 

Sunset views! 

That's a lot of kids! 

Us minus Joel, he had to leave Uganda for 2 weeks to write an English final. 

Straforelli Family

Roberts Family

The girls

The boys

All 6 of us reunited!! 

Currie Family

Boulton Family

Thanks again friends for serving alongside us in Kibaale, it was an amazing summer!