Dear Sponsors and Supporters,

In January I traveled to Uganda, along with fellow board member Keith Duff and one of our faithful church mission partners, to check in on the reopening of schools. We also spent time meeting with and encouraging the students, teachers, staff, and guardians. The trip was a whirlwind of activity and driving...lots and lots of driving, but we were so blessed by the way we witnessed God working throughout the program.
Back to School
Parents / Guardians
Traditional Dance & Story
We visited every one of our care centers. At each, we found children who were delighted to be back in school and ready to start learning again. Thankfully, even after the two-year government-mandated school shutdown, almost all of our students were BACK! That's a BIG deal because international experts projected that 35%-40% of Ugandan students would never return to school. We give credit to God and to our faithful social workers for such a successful return. Over the past two years, it's our social workers who have kept in close contact with our children - visiting, bringing food, bringing school packets from our teachers, Bible verse cards, letters from you, and words of encouragement letting each child know that they were still loved and cared for by their sponsors. One student shared with me that the food brought to him during the pandemic kept his family from starving. He said he felt so proud of the good work we are doing for the vulnerable. (That "we" includes YOU because without you, we couldn't do any of this!)
Sponsored Child
New Uniforms (High Scool)
New Uniforms (Elementary)
Our schools were blessed to have no problem recruiting teachers back into the classroom. Despite reports of teacher shortages throughout the country, we have full staffing for our schools, because we continued to provide financial support to our teachers and staff throughout the pandemic. Our teachers and staff express their gratitude that we did not abandon them and their families during that difficult time. They are happy to be back to work and have students back in the classrooms where they belong.
Teachers
Captivated
Kishanje
We have had a few minor bumps on the reopening road - supply chain issues have interfered with the production of uniforms, so roughly half of our kids were still waiting for their new school clothes. Our staff made the decision to alter the uniforms at our schools so that they are the same color across all of the schools we operate, so you will notice in pictures that our kids have a smart new look! We received quite a bit of positive feedback from the kids, especially the Senior level kids, on the new uniform colors and styles.
Teaching a song!
Praying
Joy
Another purpose of our trip was to assess the feasibility of sending teams back to Uganda for mission trips. We are happy to report that while travel these days involves more paperwork and some uncomfortable nasal swabs, it will be possible for teams to start going to Uganda again. Please let us know if you are interested in putting together a team. We guarantee you will receive a warm welcome if you go.

Sincerely,

Amy Cox-Klug
USA Board Member