BIG congratulations to the wonderful Charles!

We hope you remember this fine young man, Charles, who was one of the first boys we welcomed from the streets, way back in 1999. He’s recently been part of the Leadership Academy, and has now trained in business administration, specialising as an accountant at Ndejje University!

 

Hard at work on our donated Macs!

“I am very happy that I have got this degree. If you had seen me eighteen years ago, you would hardly BELIEVE that I could now be in this position. I used to cause trouble at the project, but I know the Lord sees me as valuable, and loves me. He has provided for me, and changed me.

I want to thank River of Life Church for the care and love they have shown us all. We were very harsh back then, but we were accepted as we were and loved unconditionally. Thank you so much Pastor Duncan and Auntie Mary, for the good work you have done in us, and I promise to be a good and a responsible leader in my community.


Charles posing for his photo, on the left

I hope to serve as a good example to those that are still under the WEP – that they will know that everything is possible through Jesus who strengthens us and gives us perseverance. I am here to tell you that you will never have victory where there are no struggles and people are meant to be determined so as to make it through.”

We are so proud of him. May God bless all who have supported the White Eagle Project and Leadership Academy; because of you, we’ve been able to help Charles get to where he is now!

White Eagles excel in Primary Leaving Exams!

You are not going to believe this - when Emily (the White Eagle Director) found out she was so excited she didn't sleep all night! One of the major achievements for children in Uganda, and especially for the children we work with, is to complete your Primary Education by taking the PLE - Primary Leaving Examinations. For many of the White Eagles the despair of believing they were never going to be able to achieve something like that is still a not too distant memory... so when we get results like this we shout with joy from the rooftops!

Because let me tell you, we cannot BELIEVE how good the White Eagles' PLE results were this year. We had 7 lads and 1 girl doing the exam... Ivan, Daniel, Earnest, another Ivan, Joseph, Gerald, Hussein and Judith. And here are the results:

Both Ivans, Daniel, Earnest, Joseph and Gerald ALL passed in First Grade - that's a distinction in our language - with Big Ivan getting some of the BEST results in MAsaka District. C'mon! And Hussein and Judith both passing very very well in Second grade - that's a Merit!

We are so proud of them all, so so proud and although there are big congratulations in store for them, we've also got to thank our brilliant, dedicated, compassionate staff, who let's be honest don't have the easiest job in the world looking after 30 odd children and all the fruitiness that can bring - so here's a big shout out to Emily, Julius, Ronnah, John, Margaret, Kayima, Grace, and Tina - and a big welcome to Sarah who has just joined us!

14 guests to stay!

Our 3 bed bungalow has been host to 14 of the White Eagle Boys recently! With the rest of us here, we've had over 20 people round the dinner table... I'll start from the beginning. I've been back in Uganda 2 weeks now, after our emergency visit to the UK to see Duncan's mum. The night before I was due to fly back another emergency meant I took off to Leeds, instead of Entebbe, to spend the best part of a month with family - Duncan had to return to Uganda on his own and attend to the funeral arrangements for Jjaja Rose. I have to be honest, it's been a really really tough time recently, it feels like we've been through the mill.

But, on the first Sunday I was back, Church was lovely, it was so good to be there. Duncan and I had had a short break in Kampala, and we'd decided this school holiday to spend a lot of time with the kids. So from Wednesday to Saturday morning, 14 of the older boys came to stay with us in our home! Each day 2 stayed and work in Bwala our home and 12 went to work on Kibaya Farm. We have cooked lots of food as they have worked really hard - Tim went with them and took photos which you can see. Also he took some good video footage to make a promotional DVD for this summer - do pray for him in this as it's a lot of work!

Then in the evenings we had a topic, teaching and discussions. The first night was 'integrity' - it was great. The second was 'sex and single life' - I put it together and opened the session but then left it to the men to talk men to men! Then the third night they all went to John's home to watch some football match, so they didn’t go to bed till about 1am - but they were up again at 6:30am. The last night's topic was 'money - good or bad' and finishing with watching the Passion of Christ. And on Saturday morning we had a time of sharing what they got out of the sessions as well as looking at employment and work. They all really worked hard, we are so enjoying this holiday time with them!

You can see how hard the boys work. Here's what it looked like before:



And here it is after! All ready for planting crops and delicious food:



You can read Tim's take on the events on his blog

Thank you to all our supporters, and God bless
Mary