October WEP Report - Mentoring, Meetings and Matoke

Emily, our White Eagle Project Director has sent her monthly report - here are the highlights!

We've spent a lot of time this month in intensive mentoring, as the need has arisen. I believe we need to spend more time in this area - I'm encouraging the staff to focus on mentoring so that we can help our children develop into productive and responsible members of society.

The White Eagles donated some of their old clothes this month. The clothes went to needy children known to the church and to another local charity - Child Restoration Outreach (CRO). The manager was very happy and thanked us for our thoughtfulness. The clothes are particularly appreciated at this time of year, because it is cold and the children helped by CRO often spend the night sleeping rough.

Emily has focussed on developing relationships with other agencies this month. She's met with teachers at various local schools to talk about discipline; the Manager of CRO to arrange meetings with local Government, including the Community Development Officer, the Family Protection Unit and the Probation Office; the National Coordinator of a charity called Kings Sports Ministry Uganda to talk about sports outreach in the community; and the Director of a new project in Nyendo called Helping Children and Youth Counselling.

Lastly, the programmes have continued at the Boys and Girls home, and we've enjoyed having Sarah's parents to stay again.

Do get in touch if you have any questions - email us here - and thank you to all our supporters that help us help our orphans and vulnerable children to Fly High!

Sarah's Story - Luganda Learning, Policy Planning, Sponsorship Support and Erratic Electricity!

Hello everyone!!! How is everyone? I hope you're all doing well! I'm doing great!!! But the last month has been busy!!!

I've been REALLY trying to learn some more Lugandan over the last month, as it will make such a difference if I can speak a bit more.... And it's going ok-ish. I'm not really gifted in learning languages(!), but I'm having fun because the girls are teaching me, and it's creating a lot of laughs round the dinner table (I'm trying to speak only Lugandan every evening during dinner, which is a bit of challenge with my limited vocabulary - so I just make most of it up!!!). Also, apparently, I keep on saying rude words by mistake, which always creates a lot of screaming laughter! - My pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired, it would appear!!! Ah well!!! At least I'm trying!!! When I go on the Hospital Ministry every Monday, I try out little bits now and again with the patients, and they seem to appreciate my efforts (as well as laughing at me, of course!). I'm also trying to learn to cook some Ugandan dishes, and the girls are my teachers again... so that's been fun too!

I've been very busy with the staff each week, developing some policies with them for the White Eagle Project, which has been interesting - I never thought I'd do anything managerial like this, and find it weird that I'm now doing this stuff!!! I'm learning a lot...

I've also spent a lot of time working on getting background information on very needy kids who live locally that we've identified as needing urgent help, so that we can try to get sponsors for them. So I've been doing lots of interviews, lots of typing, etc. to try to get all the important information down about them. (....So, if you'd like to sponsor anyone, let me know!!! There are a whole load of reeeeeeeally needy kids in difficult situations that we're looking for sponsorship for!!!).

The kids on the project are all doing really well at the moment, although some of them are working far too hard (in my opinion!!!) because they've got their exams (O-levels and A-levels) approaching. I can't believe the hours they do at school!!! Some of them leave for school at 6am, and don't return home until 7pm. It's crazy!!! I'm glad I didn't go to school in Uganda!!! But just to prove it's not all hard work, here's Kyesake as a puppet (for some reason...)

We had some visitors from America about a month ago, so we had fun when they came, and they took the kids to the local (and the only!) swimming pool, so some of the kids got a chance to relax and have a break from their studies that day at least.

All the usual stuff has continued, like the evening sessions with the kids, the youth group, church, prayer meetings, hospital ministry, staff meetings, etc, etc. So, life is full and interesting! ......And I'm still loving it here!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm very excited at the moment, because my Mum and Dad are coming to visit me next week!!! Yeahhhhh!!!! They're coming for a week, and I'm taking my week off while they're here so that I can spend all my time with them. I'm particularly looking forward to staying in a hotel for a whole week which has hot running water!!!! I'm going to have about a million hot baths, even if the weather's boiling outside, just to make the most of it!!!

We had over a week with virtually no electricity at all, a week or so ago (it would come on for a few minutes every couple of days, then go off right away again!!!). It was a bit frustrating, but also fun, because we had to make our own entertainment in the girls' home (due to the lack of a TV and adequate lighting), and so we played lots of silly games, and spent some evenings rolling about in hysterics!!! Kitibwa (the little toddler who lives in the girls' home) was terrified, though, every evening, because he found all the dancing shadows caused by the lanterns we used really scary, so he spent every evening clinging to anyone he could!!!

Anyway, I'll go now! Loads of love to everyone! Sarah

Challenge 21 - 21 Days to Transform the World for Someone Else

Can you join Challenge 21?! It’s our end of year campaign to raise much needed funds to cover both this year’s work and budget for next.

Over the last few years we have seen our work expand. Our Community Outreach Teams are seeing people filled with hope for perhaps the first time - in the Hospital, Prison, Nazareth Children's Home and out and about in Nyendo itself. Our Discipling & Training Work - the Student Conferences, the Youth Club, the White Eagle Project (now directly supporting 50 orphans and other vulnerable children!), and Ball Line Football Academy (now with 250 children on the books and winning national competitions!) - is seeing lives TRANSFORMED! And through our Prayer and Reconciliation work we’re seeing the body of Christ come together like never before in Uganda, people set free and healed and, most importantly, lots and lots of prayer!

So we want to launch Challenge 21 - 21 Days to Transform the World!

To help continue the work, become part of it! Challenge 21 is about giving yourself, and maybe your friends, 21 days to do something amazing to Transform the World for Someone Else. It might be a sponsored event, a dinner party, a quiz night, or just a work whip-round, but what ever it is, it can only take 21 days from start to finish! So far we’ve had a Sponsored Bike Ride from Manchester to Milton Keynes (we aimed to get to London but were defeated by a lethal combo of torrential rain and the A5), a Musical Marathon, a Quiz Night (which to be fair has taken longer than 21 days to prep!)

So the question is, what could you do for some of the world’s poorest?! Get in touch for tips and advice!