October 21, 2010
Dear Friends,
It’s been five weeks since we returned to Uganda and we have been busy. Our students are now in the third and final school term of the year. Seventy-five candidates in Primary 7, Senior 4, and Senior 6 are preparing for the national exams which are taking place from now through November. It is the height of rainy season and the banana trees are bursting with fruit. Here are some highlights from the past few weeks.
Volunteer Intern
It was our pleasure to welcome Danielle Spindle of Mentor, OH, who is spending the month of October interning with us. Danielle recently graduated from Bowling Green State University with a BSN. She’s been helping out at the office, going on home visits with our staff, and teaching songs to the children at the primary school. She is also observing at the mission hospital which provides health care to our kids and many others in the surrounding neighborhood.
Parents Meeting
Danielle was the featured speaker at a meeting of our Parents and Guardians Association. She spoke on health, hygiene, nutrition, and child safety. A lively discussion followed which included questions about contagious and non-contagious diseases, and contraction and prevention of malaria and other mosquito-borne illnesses. The most important topic was HIV/AIDS: how it is transmitted and how it is not, how to prevent it, and the importance of getting tested. In addition to input from our nurses, Sharon and Danielle, there was good advice from the Association’s president, Beatrice, and our own Field Associate, Agnes.
Visitation Day
This past Sunday, we traveled to St. Antonios Orthodox Secondary School to visit our 47 boarding students on Parents Visitation Day. We left Kampala and rode for over an hour through the beautiful Ugandan countryside to the remote village of Monde. We were met by more hugs than we could count from teens who miss us when we are away. After the greetings, we moved into a classroom for a group meeting. We reminded them of our expectations, both academic and behavioral. We held an awards ceremony for the best performing students in 2nd term, complete with big praise and small gifts. And we provided a mid-afternoon snack consisting of home-made samosas, hard-boiled eggs, sweet bananas, cookies, and sodas. While Agnes and Danielle were distributing the mid-term supplies of sugar and soap, we met with the class teachers to review and discuss each child’s performance.
Sweater Distribution
Although we are on the equator, it gets chilly during the rainy season. Each year at this time we provide new school sweaters to all of our primary school children. It’s also a great opportunity to see each child, discuss their grades, and ask about their home situation. These routine inquiries turned up a family about to lose their home, another family whose house was being flooded by the heavy rains, and two children who had been abandoned and were staying alone without any adult. All of these issues are being successfully resolved.
As always, we are grateful for your support and your prayers.
Peter & Sharon
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What We Do
The St. Nicholas Uganda Children’s Fund supports over 220 orphans and vulnerable children in primary and secondary school, and in vocational education & training. We pay school fees and provide uniforms, shoes, socks, school supplies, daily lunch, and medical care. With your help, we can make a real difference in their young lives.
Help Us Help the Children
We welcome donations of any amount. You can also help by organizing a fund-raising event in your church, school, office, Sunday School, or organization on behalf of the children of Uganda. Fliers and information sheets are available for downloading on the web site.
Receive our Print Newsletter
We send out a quarterly newsletter in which we provide in-depth stories of our children and their families. If you would like to receive the newsletter, please reply to this email with your postal mailing address.
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Donations to help support our children can be sent to the St. Nicholas Uganda Children’s Fund, P.O. Box 285, Chardon, OH 44024-0285, or you can donate on-line via PayPal. To find out more about the Children’s Fund, visit www.ugandachildrensfund.org or contact us at info@ugandachildrensfund.org .
The St. Nicholas Uganda Children’s Fund provides for the education, health, and welfare of Ugandan children, teens, and young adults. We are a registered non-profit 501(c)(3) organization eligible to receive tax deductible contributions.
Find out more at www.ugandachildrensfund.org.
