DEAR FRIENDS
I bring joyous greetings from Lulwanda Children’s home. Our hope is that you are all well during difficult times. A time of crisis is when one discovers who is a true friend and indeed you have proved beyond doubt that you are our sincere great friends that God has blessed us with. Thank you for showing the Christ-like love by standing with us during this pandemic of Covid-19. I am happy to report that none of our Children has suffered from this deadly disease and we continue to pray for God’s protection upon you our donors and sponsors.
MEDICAL
All is well and God has been merciful during this Coronavirus season. Children are healthy, and apart from occasional flu or malaria there have been no serious illness or injuries. Thank you all for your prayers and donations during this trying time. One Praise is that our sweet dear Lydia Mukite who had broken her leg and had surgery is now able to walk, run, and jump without any pain. The metal pins have also been removed and it’s hard to tell that she has ever had the surgery.
PRIMARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY FINALIST
Our Children in candidate classes for both primary and secondary have reported back to school as per the presidential directives, and we are praying that all goes well. The Children who reported for secondary include; John Mutsoshi and Abel who are in S.6 at St. Mary’s Lugazi, Carol Naula S.6 Tororo girls, Norah Masai S.4 St. Mary’s Lugazi, Gift Naluboka S.4 Tororo Girls plus the seven Candidate Children of Mbale Secondary School.
University Children who were supposed to graduate in May 2020 have gone back to the University to finalize research work and exams. Hopefully by February or March 2021 they will be able to graduate. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.
DISCIPLESHIP
Due to the continued closure of schools and closing / opening of churches from time to time, all discipleship at LCH has been handled by Pastor Martin and house moms within the facility. The Children meet twice a day to worship and study God’s Word. They also have family devotions conducted by the house mothers before bed. Tuesday Bible studies for Tendo have been transformed to digital Bible study. We have provided them with unlimited internet and the materials along with worship songs for them to use when meeting each evening as a family. This has fostered an environment where each Tendo Child takes turns leading the discussion and teaching with provided materials. All resettled LCH children or Tendo Children that did not have or had lost their Bibles have had replacements provided to them so they also can participate. This has caused us to grow closer as a family and draw near to God in a very powerful and unique way. All glory to God Almighty for His turning tragedy and chaos into beauty.
MINISTRY OF GENDER INSPECTION
We received officials from the Ministry of Gender and they were much impressed with our home, especially with the construction of the new houses and home like environment. The commissioner said this will enable proper monitoring of Children, and children will be raised well since they receive the love and care from the house mothers. During our quarterly meeting for wardens and Administrators country wide which was held on line, the Commissioner urged other homes to visit Lulwanda and borrow a leaf of what we are doing.
MAMA AIDA AND “I CHOOSE YOU” KIDS
We are grateful to Mama Aida for sparing time to come and share life experience with our kids and staff. The “I choose you” kids were able to share the word of God and urged Lulwanda Children to count themselves blessed by God since they have friends around the world who love, care and think about them all the time.
Mama Aida had a wonderful session with the house Moms and urged them to remain united in order to raise the Children who are useful in the society. She encouraged the house moms to love the Children even in difficult times. Even when the Covid-19 disease escalates, nobody should think of abandoning the Children but should remain and be committed to serving the Children that God entrusted in their care.
FARM HARVEST AND CHICKEN CONSTRUCTION
We started tasting the fruits of our labor by harvesting fresh beans and maize that were planted by our Children together with the house Moms. We planted maize and cassava for the second season and hope to harvest maize by December and cassava by July 2021. Our Children are enjoying farming and have seen the benefit of planting their own crops. This will help us to reduce the costs of purchasing food at home while demonstrating to the Children that families can be sustained very well by growing their own food.
We have constructed two structures for a chicken rearing project and we hope our Children will be able to learn valuable skills about raising these birds but also bring in some small income for the home. We have started with the broilers (for meat) plus the local birds which are cheaper to keep.
LULWANDA PRIMARY SCHOOL
With the government relaxation of lockdown and allowing candidates back to school, we have used the opportunity to have our LCH home Children to be taught by the teachers at home. We hope by the end of the year our Children will have learned a lot and be ready for the next class. We have a special program for community Children where teachers give out assessment holiday packages after every three weeks and keep the community children busy while at home.
FOOD RELIEF FOR STAFF AND CHILDREN
We are so grateful for the money sent towards food relief for both staff members and our reintegrated Children. This brought a huge smile to every one since most people were not working and the food prices had gone up. With so many dependents at home, life was really very difficult. But with your assistance, all goes well. Thank you so much.
CONCLUSION
As life seems to be coming to normal with the relaxation of the lockdown, we thank you for your continued support during this hard period of time for the last seven months. Thank you for taking keen interest to read this report and praying for us. We appreciate everything you do for the Children of Lulwanda. May the Almighty God bless!
In Him
Paul Isabirye
Administrator
Lulwanda Children’s Home
