Later this month 4 HUGS trustees will be travelling to Uganda. This is an important part of our work as it builds trust and respect with our partners in Uganda. We asked our Ugandan friends, if they wanted us to bring gifts or essential items. The reply highlights the reality of the lives of children we have committed to support.
‘Yes, please can you bring pants for girls, flip-flops and tops for them to wear, aged 5-11.’ It pulls at your heart.
We also travel with bags of sports kits, and equipment, kindly donated from many teams and individuals. We may donate educational equipment, IT hardware or medical supplies, but it’s the sight of a new football which receives the greatest cheers from the children.
Our visits are important to ensure projects have progressed as planned and funds have been spent wisely. On this trip we will see first-hand, St Francis de Sales School, The Kosovo Slum projects, Good Shepherd, Little Shepherd and St Zoe’s schools. We do this to give you, our generous donors, confidence that we have used your donations well to help the most vulnerable people.
Its worth reflecting what we have achieved this year so far:
We have sponsored the school and university fees for 83 students, 10 are from a Kampala slum.
St Francis de Sales School
- Completed two buildings for teachers’ accommodation house
- Built a new Kitchen with a fuel-efficient stove
- Purchased 8 acres of land for food cultivation
- Provided sports equipment, a sports field and disability aids for children
- Helped with staff costs, to get the school set up
- Stocked the treatment room and provided an emergency medical fund
- Helped 6 very poor families create a small industry to generate money for school fees
Kosovo Education project
- Purchased 10 acres of land, produced architects plans for a new school and prepared the land for building work
- Worked with Rotary to provide 200 new water connections
- Supported textiles courses for single mothers to get qualifications to generate income to pay school fees families to pay school fees
- Provided IT hardware and power supply for a new computer lab
Good Shephard School
- Purchased 3 acre of land to grow additional food
Dokolo Girls Secondary School
- Provided funds to build a new Kitchen with fuel efficient stove and solar lighting
Little Shepherd School
- Purchased 2 acres of land to grow additional food
- Built a new boys latrine
Along the way we have had the privilege to provide humanitarian aid for children who had desperate needs. One has had a new prosthetic leg, another emergency eye treatment to prevent blindness and urgent surgery to repair dreadful birth injuries.
None of this would have been possible, without the kindness and generosity of our donors. Thank you for your support. We will review all of these projects and ensure we give you an honest appraisal of what we find.