MANY MANSIONS OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL
End of year
report
Hi
everyone! Greetings from Mityana Uganda East Africa! Right now the weather is
sunny and around 82F as I write this near the end of November 2013. It’s
nearing the end of the rainy season in which pretty much every day since the
end of September it has rained. When it rains in Uganda it really comes down
hard. You can hardly believe so much rain could fall out of the sky so fast and
so much. With the rain has come cooler days and nights and really, I haven’t
minded. When I first arrived in September it was pretty hot. I hear come
January I will know the real meaning of hot (living near the equator).
Since
getting here, Stephen and I have had some challenges to over come regarding the
NGO registration. Time wise it’s been a very slow process. But despite that and
my being sick 4 straight weeks with various aliments ending with Malaria, we
did manage to complete the final paperwork process. Just today the paperwork
was successfully filed and we are to check back around January 20th
for the final approval! Praise God! Please stand in praise with us for success
in registering MMOCI! God has begun a good work in us! I can’t wait to officially
start taking in kids.
In
the meantime we have been helping those less fortunate in small ways like with
some school fees, small monetary gifts and feeding those who come hungry.
However it’s not nearly enough compared to the numbers of people still needing
our help. If you think a $20 donation won’t go far, let me tell you, it goes
VERY far here. It can feed a family of four for 2 weeks. A huge 50 kg bag of
corn flour would cost about $52 and would make posho every day for a family
here for a month. We would like to work on buying staple foods and giving it
out to those who come to the door saying they’re hungry.
To be able to give a bag of rice or beans or a
kilo of corn flour or a dozen eggs or a loaf of bread to them would help so
much. We also would like to stock up on baby formula and other baby/child
items. Anything from clothes to lotions and diapers. Many kids here own one
pair of clothes and they are pretty torn and tattered. Just to give a kid a new
clean shirt, a pair of shoes, even flip flops cuz some have nothing, and a nice
pair of shorts or trousers would make them feel so good.
Just
showing a child here love, concern and care is a big thing. Some of these kids
have never been hugged. Some work before school in the morning doing chores and
fetching water, only to sit in school til late in the day, walk home, eat, do
homework by kerosene light and start over the next day. Life is hard in Africa.
Survival is the order of the day. The rains make it all the more hard because
the red dirt of Africa becomes orange mud everywhere. Yet life has to go on.
The work of the day must continue.
Clothes are washed by hand and water is hard
to find. Food is prepared over charcoal stoves which trust me takes time and
it’s messy. There’s no fridges so food must be bought daily (or every few days
at the least) from the markets in town or the roadside stands. Fresh milk needs
boiled. Most meals contain tomatoes, peppers and onions but pumpkin, carrots,
eggplant, bananas and greens are common foods. Beans and posho, (corn flour
made into a thick paste-like substance) are a staple. Meat is consumed less but
its available in plenty. Especially pork. It all takes time to prepare. ( 3
times a day if you’re a blessed family).
So
now it’s nearing the end of the year and with Christmas right around the corner
we felt to write a letter to inform our friends and family where we are, what
we’re doing and our future (near) plans. Many Mansions of Christ Intl. has a
house rented and now equipped with 2 baby cribs which each hold two babies and
two 3-tier bunk beds for older kids. The house has running water and a flush
toilet and indoor kitchen. It is in a gated compound. Our intentions are not to
have an orphanage where kids come and live forever, but an interim housing
solution for when the local authorities are left with a homeless or abandoned
child. Mothers die giving birth here and often the hospitals look to police and
welfare agencies to take these innocent newborn babies.
We
would like to provide a safe home, with clean beds and plenty of food, water,
formula, love and care for these vulnerable kids. Then we will do everything in
our power to find a better housing situation for these kids. Be it searching
for some family member willing to take in the child, or to transfer the child
to a better long term living arrangement. There are some good orphanages in
Uganda, not the ones being closed down for exploiting kids, not feeding them or
schooling them, but caring, committed, loving homes where kids grow up in as
close to a family atmosphere as possible. It’s just not ideal to place a child
in an orphanage. It’s not a real life experience like having someone to call
family, whether a grandmother or aunt. Mom or dad. And at least if no family
can be found or no orphanages available, we would then aim for adoption or
foster care. We hope by January our final paperwork is approved and we can take
in our first child. We have day and night volunteer caregivers hired and they
are willing and waiting to begin this work!
To give your child a good education they must attend private owned schools. Per term fees for the finest primary school in this area can cost 400,000 uganda shillings (boarding), about $150 or 150,000 ugx-about $60 for non boarding. For a basic primary private school education runs about 50,000 ugx per term (non boarding)- about $20. There are 3 terms per year here. Each school has a different uniform dress code and color. Sort of like our parochial school uniforms. Sweaters, collared shirts, skirts, dresses or trousers (boys). This is an added expense for the parents per child separate from school fees. We hope one day to open a Christian school. There are many schools here but there are so many school age kids that classrooms are full and teachers few.
Ugandans
are educated very well. They are challenged to learn and spend long hours
sitting in classes. They start early (7 am) and go late. I see high school kids
walking home from school as late as 6pm or 7pm at night when it’s nearly dark.
I think then to myself will they spend the evening at home doing homework by
candle light or are they blessed to have electricity? Life is hard for Africans
at any age. Yet they take it all in stride and don’t complain. Hard work or
not, life goes on and it’s just the way it is. Maybe when it’s all you’ve ever
known and have nothing to compare it to it doesn’t seem hard. But to this
spoiled American who never had to get up and do chores or walk miles for water
before school, I have high respect for these kids. I see where adult Ugandan’s
resilience and hard work ethics come from. Right from birth. God bless them.
Anyway,
back to my end of the year request…… (and thanks for reading this far). We
would like to humble appeal to you our family friends and supporters. This time
of year in the U.S. is about giving, sharing and thanksgiving. I for one am
grateful for being born in a privileged country with free solid education,
dependable electricity, prepared food (God I miss it! Lol) and so many more
conveniences that make life easy. Now that I wash every item of clothing I own
by hand using water I collected from the rain in barrel, I think why did I ever
complain about carrying a load of laundry to the washing machine, dumping it
all in and pressing the on button? Why
did I complain I had to light the 4 burner stove or whine that the oven is
taking to long to reach 350 degrees? And when I thought I was poor? Naw, I was
blessed beyond belief.
So
I humbly ask you, for the price of what
you would spend on a present that may be quickly forgotten (or re-gifted
God-forbid! Lol) would you consider giving a gift of a small amount to make the
difference for one child, one family, one person. Because your gift in their
honor can transform a life and create the beginning of a solution. When you
believe in someone enough to give them a hand up, (not a hand out!) then it’s
one step closer to alleviating poverty in this world. Our hearts chose Uganda
to be the starting point. Would you consider helping us this season? If so, we
will make sure every donation will go to where it’s most needed (and we know
many right now who need help!) We will bypass any administrative costs and pass
it directly on. We have a friend who took in a homeless baby (her mother left
her) and he needs help for her. She is 2 but wears like 12 month old baby
clothes. We have 10 kids we are looking for sponsors for, 7 children and 3
young adults. The younger kids need school fees and a few need medicine. (Two
HIV + and one with Psoriasis). Some are listed with photos and details at http://manymansions11.wix.com/many-mansions-11#!mmoci-kids/clci
We
currently can only accept Money Gram or Western Union. (there is no Paypal here
in Africa or I promise you I would make it as easy as possible cuz I have one)
CVS pharmacies (red phone) and Walmart (fill the paper to ‘send money’) have
Money Gram and Western Union is at Rite
Aid and Kmart. We would need the money gram sent in the name of Many Mansions
of Christ Co-founder/Director- “Stephen Okumu, Mityana Uganda” (not the title
too, just his name) and if Western Union the same name/city/country, though if
you use a test question and answer on the application we will need the exact
question/answer as written as well as the MTCN number. It’s nearly impossible
to cash a U.S. check here. It takes months. Sigh. So again, we humbly appeal
for donations. In Jesus name and for His glory ONLY do we want to make this holiday season special
for hopefully many!! God bless you all and have a very happy and blessed
Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas!!
(How
Ugandans decorate their Christmas trees) Please don’t let Christmas be just
another day of surviving but one of joy, happiness and celebration! Praise God!
Sincerely, Cheryl and Stephen
