You might need a cup of tea/ What am I doing?

 

If you've never checked out the Australia HOPE International website (even though I've made it ridiculously easy for you by putting a link in every blog), you could be forgiven for making the mistake of thinking that AHI only works in the one town in Uganda (and you've probably actually forgotten the name of that town anyway, let's be honest!). But I would be a very poor ambassador for HOPE if I didn't talk briefly at least once about all it is that HOPE is and does.

 

HOPE is the vision of Bill and Norma Osborne, started after a trip to Uganda in 2000 gave them a heart to 'do something' as a response to what they saw and in particular after meeting Milly. It became an incorporated body in 2003 and was endorsed by AusAid as a Deductible Gift Recipient in 2008 (that means if you give them money for aid work you can claim it back on your tax). HOPE stands for Helping Others Possess Empowerment and in all that it does, HOPE aims to lift the standard of life for those living in poverty.

  

The way HOPE works is to partner with people who are already working with the same goals as HOPE and to expand and resource existing projects. For instance here in Mbarara, Pastor Willy and Anne were already rescuing and working with street kids before HOPE came on-board but since starting the partnership in 2007 we have been able to expand and have more than 80 kids sponsored and three schools which provide education for over 500 children, many who would otherwise not be in school.

We have 5 partners who have quite different projects which are all administered quite differently and require different levels of support from HOPE.

The location of our five partners

COME Uganda is Frank and Michelle Heyward, Aussies who came here in 1998 and have not left yet! They are our only non-African partner and have been our longest running partnership. They have started 3 schools and have plans for a Senior School for the hundreds of students who are coming through from Primary School. They have over 100 children sponsored through their sponsorship program which improves their chances for a successful future. They have also set up a medical clinic and have a hospital ministry in the main government hospital in Kampala where they provide basic care (food, clothing, bathing etc) as well as pray for many of the patients who are there (for many patients this will be the most care they get in their time there). Coincidentally, before I ever heard about what HOPE was doing, I heard Frank speak at my church and can't believe that now, in a round about way, I am involved with what they are doing over here! Basically these guys rock and I'm glad that we at HOPE are able to support them.

 

HOPE for the Hurt is Lulenti and Mary Ssali who are HOPE's newest partner although they have been friends with Bill and Norma since 2001. They have several projects - mostly in agriculture - to support the many widows and orphans who live in extreme poverty inside the sugar cane plantation at Kakira, Eastern Uganda. Our hope would be that we would one day build a HOPE School to give the families who live there hope for their childrens future. This is the only project I have not really visited (on my first trip in '08 we spoke at a church service there, arriving in the evening and leaving in the dark) and am looking forward to visiting and really getting to know it later this year.

  

Christian Victory Ministries is Kaazi Twinomujuni, supported by his wife Winnie. While living in Ndejje near Kampala, he oversees two school projects in Kamwenge District, Western Uganda. We also have links with the local medical service to provide emergency healthcare to students and their families in this remote area. In an area where services are limited (and in one of the poorest districts in Uganda) the opportunity to provide education cannot be underestimated and plans for a HOPE Senior School and Vocational Training when the funds become available will see a marked difference in the outcomes for these kids.

 

Reach the World for Christ is Willy and Anne Tumwine who, as you know, I am living with. Like I said before these guys have a child sponsorship program and are responsible for 3 schools. They also have a program of rescuing street kids, rehabilitating them and in some cases restoring them to their families. This includes accommodation at Trust Childrens Home and school for the younger boys and basic accommodation and the opportunity for vocational training for the older ones. Willy and Anne also have a project which includes sponsorship and small business opportunities for widows and women whose families have been abandoned by the husband. In Australia these situations are hard to face, here the loss of a husband can mean the loss of everything. On the side they, with Kaazi, run a farming project, this will hopefully one day help to support our ever expanding schools but at the moment provides food for the Trust boys and also a meal of maize porridge to students at our schools. This couple, along with others who work alongside them, give so much to help relieve the poverty and injustice they see around them everyday. It is inspiring to be here with them.

 

 

Hope and Care for Little Souls is Mozart and Sephora Kile who run our only non-Ugandan project. They are located in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo and since the 'end' of the war there, they have overseen the completion of a Primary School and have started on our first HOPE Senior School classes (run in the afternoon when the younger classes have left for the day). Mozart and Sephora have a pretty amazing story, fleeing from the war to Kenya and only returning 3 years ago to a town and community decimated by a war that was not their own. They (like many of our partners) have several extra 'adopted' kids living with them along with their own family. This school is pretty amazing in that it is our only school so far to have electricity (solar) and internet connection - paving the way for our first computer lab (albeit sometime in the future when funds allow).

 

I know it’s a whole chunk of writing to get through but hopefully I've kept it short enough that you haven't fallen asleep. These are the people that I get to work with, represent and advocate for. I've stepped out of my comfortable life because I have been compelled to see others needs as valuable as my own (and lets face it I'm not suffering, I have food, accommodation and clothes - not really living in hardship). I have people who are supporting me to do this. Who also believe that what I am doing is valuable and that through supporting me they are also making a difference in the world. There are many organisations and individuals who see that justice for the world is something we should all be involved in, that the 1.4 billion people (of the close to 7 billion on earth) who live in extreme poverty is not a number that we are can be comfortable with and that we (those who have) are morally obligated to share with others (those who have not).

I hope your week is blessed

Catch you next time

Bron

Ps: all the links are in honour of the new look Australia HOPE International website - awesome work Bill!