Greetings to you all our dear donors and sponsors. What a blessing to have you in the lives of our Children, giving them hope for a better life. Your support makes a big difference compared to any ordinary Child in Uganda. What a great smile you have put on all Children of Lulwanda as they wake up in the morning knowing they have everything they need in life, and are part of a big family where they are loved and cared for. Thank you for showing these kids great love and treating them as part of your families. On that note, allow me to update on some of the activities and highlights of April at Lulwanda.
MEDICAL REPORT
This month largely started off on a good note. Minor dental procedures were taken care of, and there were no serious cases of malaria or any other illness outside of one major case of gastritis, but God has kept His Children well. We do have a current challenge in that COVID-19 has finally found its way into Lulwanda. After much testing we have found five staff members who are positive and have closed the school and quarantined the home to non-essential staff for a period of fourteen days per Ugandan government standard operating procedures. Each person who tested positive has had mild to moderate symptoms but all are recovering. We have had no case of any symptomatic spread within the children and have placed everyone on prophylaxis to boost immunity during this period. Please continue to pray with us that God uses this for His Glory and that no further infection will take place.
DISCIPLESHIP
Discipleship and teaching the Gospel is at the heart of all that we do at Lulwanda. We continue to see lives and hearts changed in response to the love of Christ and fellowship and Bible studies conducted. Currently we are covering typically taboo topics of abstinence and a biblical worldview of sexuality and marriage along with empowering the children to speak up if ever pressured or forced into any sin. Please be praying for wisdom and guidance from the Lord as to which topics we need to cover and that the Holy Spirit will be working in the hearts of both our staff and Children.
SECONDARY SCHOOL CHILDREN
All our candidate Children at O level and A level completed their national exams and now are waiting for results in July and August. We bless the Lord for helping our Children to complete the exams successfully and also keeping them safe while at school, especially through this pandemic of COVID-19. These candidates include Abel, John, Carol, Gift, Norah, Timothy, Arafat, Donna, Jackie, Phoebe, Joel and Brian. Abel, John and Carol will be Joining the University or Trade School while the rest of the kids will be Joining A’ level or Branch to a trade school. Let’s continue to pray for better grades for the Glory of His Name. Meanwhile the Ministry of Education gave guidelines for children reporting back to school in a phased manner. At the beginning of this month, S.1 & S.2 students reported back to school and are now joined by their friends the S.3s who had reported in early March. The children were so excited to get back to school and begin learning. All the scholastic materials have been provided and we have also paid their tuition. We are grateful for the financial support to enable our Children to be in school without any disturbances.
LULWANDA PRIMARY SCHOOL
All the kids have reported back to school including the community Children. Teachers are doing what it takes to help the community children catch up with the syllabus since they did not study during the lockdown. Our Lulwanda kids are at an advantage because they were able to homeschool during the lockdown. All is well at LPS as the teachers found with covid-19 are now testing negative. We are grateful to the Almighty God that we never lost any life.
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
Construction of houses 7 & 8 kicked off this month and groundbreaking was witnessed by Chairman Larry Hoelscher on his short visit to Lulwanda. Right now the two houses have reached the roofing level and hopefully within the coming two months, they will be ready for use. Houses 7 & 8 will accommodate the secondary boys and girls between the age of 13-17 yrs. What a great joy to have all our Children living in a home like environment where they can receive enough attention, care and love. We are grateful to all of you for the generous donations towards the construction of these new houses.
FINANCIAL TRAINING
Two of our social workers (Irene and Olive) and one alumni Anthony Wanzala had financial training at Mbale Presbyterian Church. The two days training was facilitated by Virgil Hughes from the US and coordinated by Chairman Larry and Mama Aida Ogenga. The focus was about savings and this was a follow up of the first financial training in December 2020. The knowledge and skills acquired from the trainers will be passed on to the staff members and all the Lulwanda Alumni. We are grateful for this opportunity as it will impact our staff members and Children to have financial discipline and understand the value of savings.
HOME INSPECTION
The Ministry officials again visited the Home this month as mandated in the inspection guidelines to all approved homes. The purpose of the inspection is always to obtain statistical data on key areas and ensure the safety of the Children. As usual, the ministry officials were impressed with the work on ground and encouraged us to strengthen the SOPs during this period when the world is experiencing the second wave of the epidemic.
FARM WORK
We are grateful to our kids that have remained committed to the garden work. It has now become a normal activity for every child because they have enjoyed the fruits of their labor. This month all Children in different houses are busy weeding beans and maize which they planted last month. This is always done during weekends when they are free from school. House moms have been very instrumental in teaching our Children how to dig (cultivate and grow) plus other life skills.
CONCLUSION
Thank you for sparing time to read this report and above all your desire to know more about the Lulwanda family. We are doing well because of your support and every financial help has a great impact in changing the lives of Lulwanda Children. We are grateful to the LMC and US Board of directors for guidance, wisdom and ensuring that all is well at Lulwanda. God bless you all.
In Him,
Paul Isabirye
Administrator
Lulwanda Children’s Home
