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Peace for Paul welcomes
home two new children…
Lodum and Hathukwayi!
This month both Hathukwayi and Lodum found sponsors! The girls were brought in from the slums to join their brother, Friday, and the rest of the Peace for Paul children at school. Neither one speaks English yet, but both are excited to have a safe home, to be in school and to learn! Thanks goes out to the new sponsors! Your girls love you!
Click here for Lodum’s profile: http://www.peaceforpaul.org/site/our-inspiration/our-children/lodum/
Click here for Hathukwayi’s profile: http://www.peaceforpaul.org/site/our-inspiration/our-children/hathukwayi/
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The children have finally received
their Christmas stockings!
The beautiful stockings were made by Elinor Peace Bailey, Maureen Fox, and Cascade Park Relief Society Organization for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Each stocking was handmade and every child had a special stocking with his or her name on it. They were all very excited and so thankful! A big thank you goes out to all of the hard-working ladies who were a part of this activity!
The Small Business Loan Project
The Small Business Loan Project is moving forward. Margaret and Doctor Mufumba continue to mentor the women and a new man, a veterinarian named Mze Sizomu, has been brought on board to help. 250 broiler chicks have been hatched and the women are learning how to care of them. This week Mze Sizomu is teaching Mary and Abra how to immunize the chicks. In about eight weeks they will be selling roasted chickens at a stand in the local market and will learn how to run a profitable business. Mze Sizomu has written up the sustainable business plan for the chickens and the women will be taught to follow it. In addition, he has offered up his chicken coops in order to help us cut back on costs. We’re looking forward to seeing some results!
Fundraising for the final land payment–due in April!
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We are continuing to work hard to raise funds for the final land payment. We need to raise approximately $10,000 more by the end of April! If anyone would like to host a fundraiser for our cause and to help give our kids a permanent home on their own land, please get in touch! We’ve got plenty of ideas for you! peaceforpaul@gmail.com Within the next few weeks, we will have a new section on the website for fundraisers. Here you will find ways you can help and progress we are making toward our goal.
A big thank you goes out to…
We would like to take a moment to personally thank Colleen Patrick and her family for their generous donation. The Patrick family has pledged an ongoing large monthly donation to help us reach our goal and to ensure the children have absolutely everything that they need. Thank you!
Mary and Abra have moved out of the slums and into their new home and life in Wanyange! They have brought their remaining children and are being mentored by Doctor Mufumba and Margaret to start a sustainable business. They have spent the month of January getting acquainted with their new surroundings. During this time, meetings took place to determine the absolute best businesses for the two women to start with the loans they are receiving from Peace for Paul. With any luck they will soon be able to integrate into Ugandan society as functioning members and to eventually be able to care for their own children. Currently, seven of the children in the Peace for Paul home belong to these two ladies. The goal is that, one day, the families can be reunited and can all live and thrive together again.
Prima, the children’s matron has shown her worth and her reliability to us over the last three months and has been offered the title of full time matron and manager for the children’s home in Uganda. She is everything we could ever ask for-she is compassionate, caring, educated, determined, honest, and hard working. We could not have a better woman on the job!
Although Lisa McIntosh has been an avid sponsor, supporter and fund-raiser for quite some time now, this month she has officially been named our “Director of Charity”. Lisa so far is responsible for managing the two large fundraisers which have made our land purchase possible and within days of her being added to the board has already brought anojther sponsor on board. Next month, we will be bringing in our 18th child, Lodum. Thanks Lisa, for all your hard work!
Emma – He is honest, a good communicator and suits in all situations. He acts like a true mature man, very responsible and very just. Is so focused on his education and loves to see himself as a better man in the future. Well I don’t think he is so good in the kitchen you know things like cooking.
Peter–Is kind of reserved but if you take time: quality time, you can get a word or three from him. He has the interest of the home at heart, especially via feeding. He is so friendly with the little ones. From the report cards I would say he is trying and with more effort he will surely make it. He is honest and caring towards his brothers and sisters at the home. You could even say he is a good displinarian.
Sam–He is a true leader. Guides and directs the others. Takes part in the discipline of the kids. A good negotiator and a prospect in business. I would say though he ought to concentrate on his studies right now. Otherwise with him around, everything is operating smoothly.
Patrick–Is quiet, not so comfortable around the others I guess because he Is the newest and has not yet fully fitted in. Is slow with helping out. He needs to be persuaded. But otherwise slow but sure. I have taught him how to prepare food using banana leaves and he does it perfectly (this food really tastes great you will try it out some day) Otherwise he is a great kid.
Mark– He is a beauty, he has this great smile you know with most of his teeth out, he is a charmer when he smiles. He is a good listener, disciplined though avoids work most times and needs to be pursued. Otherwise he is a great kid.
Friday–He loves to complain, may have a problem dealing with anger because when disciplined he takes a little longer to recover, but otherwise loves working when asked to participate in house chores.
Bosco–Is very appreciative he will never miss out on saying thank you auntie for cooking for us, buying us this or that. He loves to be around others he loves his bike, and football. He likes to learn new things and does it well.
John–Right now I would say he is the best amongst the group, very understanding, so hard working that I tell him: Please stop or you will break down (the other day I gave him days off out of the kitchen but alas there he was helping me out and the rest in the kitchen) he is well organised, clean, smart, orderly and one would say at his age he is very intelligent. The other day I even asked him what gift I would give him for being so good. He said he wanted a sweet am like WHAAAAAT????? He later said he wanted a pen which I gave him and encouraged all the other kids to follow his example and they too would get prizes. He is a charmer too many good words would describe John. He is a great kid I tell you.
Agnes–Is another one that suits the description of John and to top it all up she is doing really great in school. A young responsible lady. Great smile, appreciative, all over the place to ensure every thing is right. You could even joke and say she is the young mother to baby Bosco, she already has the motherly instincts in her and helps me out with baby Bosco.
Baby Bosco– A kid but with a serious memory. One time he even reminded me to show him cartoons that I had promised to I was like oh my God I had already forgotten I had promised because he was too much on the issue but there are DVDS here but was so surprised at the boy’s memory. He is a happy boy and speaks lots of Lusoga.
Natule–A nice girl loves to work and well organised. She gets along fine with the rest and I must say loves me so very much she grabs every opportunity to be around me.
Rose–Likes to laugh all the time. She really is a happy girl, responsible enjoys helping out in chores and is a charmer.
Florence–Is sometimes lazy, team work is not the thing for her but otherwise is a happy girl, at times shy but gets along fine with the rest.
Loputh–Still young, loves to play though he has a terrible ear problem, I do hope it clears some day otherwise its going to damage his esteem. Otherwise a happy young boy. Loves to eat a lot. Is welcoming- he never misses out on telling me Auntie welcome back even if I just got out for a second and came back.
Paul– is showing signs of improvement and I guarantee you that soon you will be getting better results of him. He does complain when given a task to take care of, but with persuasion he is adjustable. He loves football a lot and has on several occassions been wounded due to football.
The kids have been at home since the end of November and will stay with Simplicious and Prima until the end of January. Simplicious has kept them all very occupied this holiday with a teacher coming in daily for tutoring and to be sure they stay current on their studies. Everyone did well in school this term, but a special mention must go to Agnes, Natule and Bosco for being first in their class. Natule is the younger sister to Bosco, and seems to be following in his academic footsteps. In her first term off the street, Natule has made HUGE strides. We are so proud of our kids!![IMG_1208-300x225[1]](http://www.peaceforpaul.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/IMG_1208-300x2251.jpg "IMG_1208-300x225[1]")
Thanks to a whole multitude of people (with a very special thanks to Lisa Mcintosh and Yarek Bartosz) we reached our December goal of $12,000 for the 2nd installment on our land purchase! We have only one payment left, in April and have $18,000 to raise. Once this is payment is made, the land is officially and completely Peace for Paul’s! We are confident that with our support base, we can make it happen. We are one step closer to the ultimate goal of a self sustaining foster home for our kids and about 40 more of their friends who are still waiting on the streets. Thank you to everyone for helping to make this a reality.
Mary lived in Moroto (Northern Uganda) with her husband and 5 children until her husband was shot and killed by rebels. She was left with nothing and with no way to care for herself or for her children. She fled the Moroto region with her kids to escape the extreme poverty, drought, hunger, and violence in the area. She had hoped to find a better life in Jinja, but hadn’t been able to catch a break and her kids were forced to the street to beg and to collect scrap metal or maize (corn). Finally about a year ago, her son Bosco was found on the streets and brought into the Peace for Paul family. Soon, his siblings Natule and Loputh followed. Now, her children’s sponsor Lisa McIntosh has responded to a letter from Bosco begging for her to help his mom too. Lisa stepped up and together we formulated a plan for Mary. She will be placed in a 2 bedroom home with Abra (the other woman in our program) and will be mentored by Doctor Mufumba and a very good woman, Mrs Mawaali Margaret. Margaret has offered to teach these women the skills they will need to successfully manage their own businesses and to integrate into Ugandan society as functioning members. On January 1st, Mary will be moving into her new home, and the hope is that one day she will be able to care for her own children again.
Abra also came from the Moroto region. She left Moroto with with her husband and 7 children, also to escape the extreme hunger and violence in the area. She arrived in Moroto and was met with a situation that was not much better. Her family was living on the streets until they found that they could all work together and collect enough rent money for a small shack in the slums. They lived here together until her first child died of unknown cause. Soon after, her husband died of disease, and within a year 2 more of her children died of starvation. Abra is an exceptionally good woman, and I have experienced first hand the love she has for her children. She could not, however, stand to see another of her children die, and became suicidal and threatened to abandon her children because she could not see another die before her. This is when she asked me to take 
her youngest and sickest child, Baby Bosco-I did, and placed him in an orphanage run by a friend of mine in the area. Once I returned to the US and started Peace for Paul, I was able to fulfill a promise I made to this woman and to bring in the rest of her kids (Mark, Agnes and Florence). Finally, Abra herself will be given a chance too. She will be given the tools and skills necessary to start her own grocery business and to take control of her life.
On November 9th, Patrick Chumar was transported to school to be with the rest of the family (including his brothers Paul and John). Thanks goes to Doctor Mufumba for finding him and for coordinating his transfer to school! He is incredibly happy to be in school and studying; the children were happy to welcome a new member to the group and he has quickly and easily become a part of the Peace for Paul family.
The kids returned home from school for the long Christmas holiday. They will be home from now until the middle of February and are enjoying the long break.
The baby brother to Agnes, Florence and Mark will be staying the entire holidy with the family. He was brought to the home on Monday, and will stay until the end with his brother and sisters. Baby Bosco was found in the slums during my first trip to Uganda in 2008. He was rescued in 2008 when I found his young sister dying of starvation in the slums. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it, but baby Bosco’s mom begged for me to take him and to save his life instead. At the time, Peace for Paul was not up and running and although Bosco was very ill, a friend graciously accepted him into her orphanage. Since then, he has become a very happy and healthy child. This holiday, he will go to visit his mom once again with Mark, Florence and Agnes; everyone is extremely excited!
Since we left Uganda, the kids have been at boarding school, learning and getting used to their new environment! Simplicious visits the children once a week, every Saturday and brings extra food and checks up on their needs and their progress. The kids all just had their midterm exams and performed even better than last time; they are all improving every day (some faster than others, but all are getting better). Loputh has finally settled in and is doing quite well; He runs to hug Simplicious every time he sees him at the gate of the school! 
These are all strikes against her in her country. She can not provide for her children, she was doing the most she could with the little that she had and it just wasn’t enough. She knows Heidi and now she knows me, and she knows that she will be able to see Longoli whenever she wants to. The last thing we want to do is to break family ties, we just want Longoli to grow up in a safe and loving environment that will provide her with opportunities she would have probably never had.
When we got home the children were so excited to see her, it was like a big celebration! Heidi and I had the children warm up some water in the tea kettle and we filled a basin to bathe her in. She was covered in filth and I had a perfect handprint on my shoulder from carrying her out of Masese. Longoli hated the bath but we had to scrub her clean, and so we did at the cost of my dry clothes.
She slept on my lap both there and back and is literally the sweatiest baby I’ve ever held. Longoli also went to the zoo when we took the other children. She was terrified of the animals and if Brandi (who was holding her) got anywhere near them Longoli would cling on, claw her, and squeal for dear life (she can’t talk quite yet so in order to communicate she squeals and grunts a lot). We let all of the kids ride the donkeys at the zoo, and Emma (who is 20 years old) quickly volunteered to take Longoli (he obviously wanted to go himself, haha). It was really cute, Longoli loved it and screamed when she had to get off.
The last time I saw her was the day that I was originally supposed to fly out (I missed my flight). Remember how I said that she can eat? She snuck into the pantry and put away three bananas in one sitting! We had to pull her away from the food stand and she screamed for more. Dr. Mufumba came over to say goodbye to me and we talked about her food consumption, he said that she wouldn’t stop eating and that he had to talk to the nanny about it. Apparently Longoli was continuing to eat long after the other children were finished, and he wanted the nanny to stop allowing her to eat after she had eaten a reasonable portion. I think that she is still on survival mode, when she sees food she doesn’t know when she’ll see it next so she stuffs her face and fights for it like it’s the last time that she’ll eat for weeks. It’s really sad, actually. She definitely had worms when we first found her, her stomach was HUGE but the Doctor treated her and her stomach hasn’t decreased in size most likely because of her outrageous food intake.
We also accomplished much both legally and administratively. We had all of the children moved to a different and better school, we moved into a bigger and a better home, and we registered Peace for Paul as both a community based organization (CBO) and as a children’s home. The corruption in Uganda is unbelievable and it was a horrible battle to get much of anything done, but with the help of both Simplicious and Doctor Mufumba, we were successful. The kids are all now happy, safe and ready to move into their new home next holiday.
Loputh was found in Masese, hungry, sick and just spending his days waiting for food. He had not yet been to school at all. It used to be that children from Masese would leave very early in the morning to walk the 4 or 5 kilometers to Jinja town to search through garbage bins for food or to beg from travelers and locals on the streets. Though this was sad in itself, it at least afforded the children some kind of sustenance throughout their day. This year, there were no children on the street. Now Loputh, along with the hundreds of other children in Masese would just spend his days hungry and waiting. Hoping that his mother or brother was able to collect enough scrap metal to buy a little something to eat. He was found during a trip into Masese to visit living relatives of our children. Bosco, was of course very happy to see his brother, but Loputh was visibly ill with a very serious ear in infection. His ear was draining a horrible yellow brown all the way down his face. 
We took him on the spot, knowing that Bosco’s sponsor, would want to help this little guy as well. We went to doctor Mufumba, and as it turns out, his ear infection had progressed so far and so close to his brain that if left untreated for any longer, would have caused both brain damage and deafness. In addition to the ear infection, Loputh was sick with malaria, worms, malnutrition, and ringworm.
Just like Loputh, Natule had been stuck in Masese since spending days on the street became harder. Natule had never been blessed enough to attend school, and just did her best to pass the time and to stay alive. When we found her, she cried when she saw her brother Bosco-she wanted so badly to come with us. 
When Bosco’s sponsor offered to take Natule as well, we picked her up from her old life and brought her into a new one. Natule had both typhoid and malaria when we brought her in, but is now healthy again. From the start this child was a blessing. She is incredibly hard working, and very thankful for all that she has been given. She says “thank you” and “I love you” very sincerely at least 50 times a day. When asked what her favorite things to do are, Natule says she likes washing plates, washing clothes, digging and skipping rope. Her favorite color is yellow and her favorite food is chicken and rice.
Sponsorship can be shared between two people, so we are looking for either one $115/month sponsor or two $57.5/month sponsors for this sweet little girl.
We live in a home that has the option for expansion. We now rent the large building which is sufficient for the children that we have currently. We would like to be able to bring even more in to the family and to be sure everyone has their own space and is not too crowded. We need a home sponsor at $200 per month.
We need a general sponsor to help cover all of the extra costs associated with keeping this organization going and the children happy and healthy. Essentially, as a general family sponsor, you are the sponsor of ALL of the children.
