- Kids Joy Nursery – the newest set of students to attend the college

This week I had the joy to go again to the Vocational Training College in rural Mityana that John and team have been developing over the past 3 years and that opened to students March 2018. I go there three or four times a year, to do my part as coordinator and facilitator for embedding the ‘Whole Brain Learning’ concept into the college, so I’ve had the privilege of being able to watch and play a part in the college development as it has gone on.

This visit brought an extra delight as I saw the brand new ‘Kids Joy Nursery’ up and running in its own premises on the edge of the college land for the first time.

Going into the brand-new facilities it was a joy to see the children deeply and happily immersed in their learning in bright new classrooms. 

The teachers, Rachel and Carol, were clearly also thriving in having a place to teach that is clean, easy to use, well-resourced, bright and airy – so different to most nursery classes around the country, particular in more rural areas where structures tend to be simple from the outset, and then definitely not looked after.

All of this came about due to the perseverance of teacher Rachel, who couldn’t bear the thought of little children in her community having to walk miles to get an education. Having trained in early years teaching she then bought a patch of land, built a little shelter out of sticks with mud walls and a tin sheet roof, and then about 6-7 years ago opened up as a local nursery school and did the best she could. 

She didn’t give up, even though it must have been tempting, especially on the days when the rain came in through the holes in the roof, or the wind blew through the walls and the children had to keep their coats on to stay warm. She didn’t give up even though she had no idea how she could ever progress to anything better. She just kept praying for strength to carry on and that improved conditions would come; she stayed hopeful, she stayed faithful and she kept her original ‘raison d’etre’ at the forefront of her mind. 

As luck (or God’s guidance) would have it, her land was right next to some land that eventually became part of the College. And as various teams came out to see the college and help with developing it etc, so the tiny little nursery started to be noticed as well.

From that came a donor who had a heart for nursery work and had the wherewithal to be able to fund a new build for the nursery. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The doors of the new nursery opened on May 30^th, and 24 children are now registered and attend every day, proudly wearing their uniform or their sports kit (depending on which one isn’t in the wash!) and leaving their shoes at the door so as to keep their new classroom as clean as possible.

For those of us looking on, it’s a beautiful reminder of the importance of perseverance, of staying hopeful, of staying true to what you feel is your calling in life. And its also a reminder of the wonders of generosity. 

If the teacher hadn’t kept on teaching the donor wouldn’t have had the chance to discover the need and fund the rebuild. If the donor hadn’t shown generosity the rebuild wouldn’t have happened.

But thankfully both parties played their part, faithfully, prayerfully, and  the result is a lot of very happy children who are loving their opportunity to learn

Acholi update – some very positive news

I popped in to Acholi Quarters yesterday, and also a couple of days previous to that. What a joy as always, and some really lovely bits of news that I’d love to share

The first visit was to hand over some resources and visit the Hopeful Haven children in their new classroom. Compared to UK classrooms, and even classrooms at the school down the road where some of the Acholi children go to, and where the Hopeful Haven children long to go to, it is still a very small room, but it is theirs and they no longer have to clear out all their belongings at the end of each day. It has lockable doors, an electric light, and a blackboard, plus enough benches for all the children to sit on. The children love it and teacher Miriam is delighted, as she can now leave the chalk in the room at close of day and know it will be there the next morning, as well as knowing that the benches won’t have been vandalised, and any books she wants to leave on the desk will still be there. Little things, but they make such a difference.  

  

I was also able to hand over some money that had been raised by some UK schoolchildren which will enable Harriet, our primary contact in the community and key member of the Lubanga Ber co-operative through which we channel all our support, to mobilise some ladies to cook porridge for the children each day. This way they will get some nutritional input, probably their first proper bit of food that day, and as a result be able to learn better in class. Big thank you to the UK schoolchildren for their generosity of spirit.

Then yesterday I met parents / carers of most of the children who are supported with education fees for attending mainstream school. On the whole they go to the school ‘down the road’ and are all children who previously attended Hopeful Haven. The meeting was a chance to catch up with them, discuss various issues that Harriet had asked me to raise, and all in all it went very well. 

And this is where the various positive updates started to come through. All have come about to some extent as a result of bits of carefully considered and discretely given support over the past few years. I must point out that support is only ever given remotely ie I never hand over money when I am in the community, unless pre-arranged to Harriet as per the porridge money. 

Yes, I get plenty of requests when I am in the community, but each time my response is to listen openly, to give words and prayers of encouragement, and then to take the ask away and discuss it privately with Harriet and John so as to ensure that there is no chance of being perceived as being a rich white person dishing out money in inappropriate, colonialist and unhelpful ways. 

And I know some people disapprove of supporting individuals, as there is a danger of creating a culture of dependency, but of all the children that we help with school fees, none of them get all fees paid except one. In every other case the parents or guardians are expected to pay 25% of the termly fees and provide the child with the pencils and pens needed for daily attendance. So, we assist, but don’t deprive the parents of the dignity of financially helping their child receive an education, and as I said earlier it is all done through Harriet and her team and with their total approval.

Anyway, back to the positive stories:

One mum has a 3-yr old who was diagnosed 12 months ago with a hole in the heart and failure to thrive. Some financial support has been given to enable the mum to buy regular medicine and more nutritious food, and yesterday the mum was telling me how well the child is doing now, and how she enjoys playing with the other children, and keeping up with them physically. 

Another mum came and said that she thinks that her child shouldn’t be on the list for getting support anymore. This lady was the winner of a ‘Dragon’s Den’ competition that we did a year back – she wanted to start a stationery business and the money she won gave her the capital to get set up. The business is now thriving, the mum feels able to pay the school fees herself and she would prefer to see our support go towards another child instead who has parents less able to cover the school fees. Proof that we are giving a hand up rather than a handout.

Then there was the mum who also said that she has now got a regular job with a weekly income and so can support her child fully when it comes to school fees – so that’s means funds are released for another new child we can start supporting.

And finally, there was the grandma who showed me the report card of her grandson. He is in Primary 3, and this is our third year supporting him and his little sister, ever since the parents died and the children were left in the care of their grandmother, who herself doesn’t have very good health. The pride on grandma’s face was beautiful as she showed me the line that said, ‘position in class – number 1’! Top of the class for her grandson, what a star, and what a proud grandma! And all made possible in part through educational support, as without that he’d have been another child roaming the streets, along with a massive dose of hard-work and determination on his part, and encouragement and love from his grandma.

 Some really lovely updates and evidence of the positive that is coming from the input of some generous donors. Of course, there are so many more children who would love to be supported, and there are other stories of families whose trajectories aren’t going in such a good direction. Maybe I’ll share some of those another day, but for now let’s celebrate with the stories of improved health, academic achievement, and economic upturn for these families.

And of course, it goes without saying that if you want to be part of making life better for others, then you just need to drop me a line 😉

Quandary - Measuring value and success

I’m in Uganda, catching up on a number of projects that I’m linked to through CRED, and more importantly catching up with a number of folks who are involved in those projects in various ways. Many of these folks make up my ‘Ugandan family’ and its always a joy to come out and spend time with them.

Yesterday one of the conversations led to us wrestling with the dilemma of how to measure the value and success of project, resulting in the following train of thought.

When it comes to the secular viewpoint, success is measured in quantifiable outcomes – number of people fed, number of children attending school, numbers, numbers, numbers. And value is measured in success versus money invested, so again its all about numbers and profit margins and budget spreadsheets.

And that’s all fine, and I totally get why some organisations and donors have to work that way. But as a Christian, working with projects that have a strong underlying faith element, where the focus is as much on the few as the many – these methods of measuring value and success just don’t stack up. And when they are applied to a project, the outcomes can mean that the project may look like it has failed, or at least not performed very well, due to the low numbers of people impacted.

But the quality of impact on those people can be really high and surely that is as much a measure of success as the number of people impacted. 

Take the Acholi programmes – the children we are helping to go to school will probably never be in a position to pay back the money that has been invested in their education, but as a result of selfless giving on the part of donors, those children do have the chance to learn, and get better jobs, and work their way out of poverty. They are being given hope. They are discovering that they aren’t forgotten. They are learning that they have value just like children from richer backgrounds.

And then there is the vocational training college – built in a rural bit of Uganda where the community felt ignored and where opportunities were almost nil. Investment in the area had come no closer than the town on the main road, it certainly wasn’t reaching into the rural areas, and so the local folks felt as though they had no worth.

But take the risk of putting a college there and suddenly the community feel significant, and valued, and listened to.

Those are the value of God’s Kingdom being put into action - values which essentially turn manmade values on their head and puts the last first, the weakest above the strongest, the vulnerable above the secure and the voiceless above the voiced. Those are projects where lives are transformed; where hope is given when before there was none; where those who felt ignored, unvalued and insignificant change to feeling listened to, valued and worthy; where risks are taken on behalf of those who are unlikely to ever be able to pay back in real terms

I’m not for one moment implying that this isn’t happening elsewhere. And I know that there are many folks cleverer than me who can work out how to show Kingdom values in a way that keeps secular donors happy. And indeed, there are programmes taking place across the world where Kingdom values are being shown but without the programme makers recognising them in this faith-related way.

But the conversation yesterday was a good reminder of how important it is to see each individual for who they are, and for what the programme means for them, and what they are getting out of it, without getting trapped into the numbers game. God is about names not numbers, God is about faith, and hope, and love. And the more we can show that in the everyday, the more we can help demonstrate that God’s Kingdom isn’t something just for the future, but that it is here and now, and we are invited to be part of it.