TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: A student shows us her bedroom which she shares with three other siblings;
a family stands in front of their home; and another student’s bedroom which sleeps four.
BOTTOM: Typical Ugandan families (note: not all family members are in the photos)
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"The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry.
The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked.
The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot.
The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor.
The acts of charity you do not perform are the injustices you commit."
~ St. Basil the Great ~
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We recently had the opportunity of doing our annual student home visits in Kibengo and to visit the homes of Nativity High School students. We were able to not only see where the students live, but to meet each of their families as well, and to hear first-hand the difference your gifts are making in the lives of these families.
Over half of these students are orphans and would not have the opportunity to attend school without the wonderful gift of sponsorship. We are grateful for our donors who, through their Gospel witness, have so graciously given to help improve the life of another.
During our visits, we met with many families living in extreme poverty conditions - in simple mud-made homes with straw/grass roofs, such as the one you see pictured above, with their only light source being a small lantern using paraffin (try reading or trying to study with only this light!), and trying to make ends meet with no real income and support of the family only through subsistence farming efforts.
We met with several students who were orphans, living with grandparents, aunts and uncles, etc. and whose parents have died from HIV/AIDs. One who particularly impressed us was one orphan whose widowed Godmother, with no income, had taken her in and was raising her as one of her own along with 8 other children all under one roof. When we first arrived here in Uganda last July, her parents were both very ill, and since that time her father passed away which left many challenges for this family as the mother is too ill to take care of her alone. Her Godmother stepped up to take the parental role in the traditional sense of what the Catholic Church calls Godparents to do - she took her into her home. Now we failed to mention that when we first arrived for our visit, we found this family praying the Rosary together - what a great example! Prior to our departure from this home, the Godmother conveyed her appreciation to the sponsor for “keeping the [Christian] Spirit” in helping them with school fees for “her daughter” and that without those school fees there would not be money for her to go to school.
Each home that we visited, we found similar situations… Another student’s parents were divorced and he and his other siblings live with their father who is the sole caretaker of his four children. There is no such thing as child support in Uganda, and they receive no assistance from the mother. He does subsistence farming for a living and receives no income. This family caught our attention as this situation is a total switch from what we are accustomed to seeing here in Uganda usually the father leaves home and the mother is forced to raise the children alone without any support. In this particular home we found a very proud father beaming with much love for his children, and who became teary-eyed when his son told us he had performed best in his class this past term. This student’s message to his sponsor was: “Tell my sponsor, Happy New Year! And, thank you for helping with my school fees – I promise I will study hard and perform well.”
A minute meditation: If you fell into a deep well with no apparent way out, how much would you appreciate the person who threw you the rope? The deep hole of poverty holds these children down. You are the one holding the rope. Will you throw it to save one?
Kris & Dean
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Here are a few interesting statistics for you from the latest
2013 demographic profile we have seen here:
* The population of Uganda is just below 35,000,000 (to put this
into perspective, the country of Uganda is about the size of Iowa).
* 84.4 percent of the population lives in rural areas. (Villages)
* There are 44.5 births/1,000 population.
* It is estimated that 48.9% of the population are 0-14 years of age.
* The Mother’s mean age at first birth is 18.9.
* The average number of children per family is 6.06.
* Roughly 85% of Ugandans are Christians, and about 50% of
those Christians are Catholic.
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