Viola lives in the slums of Kampala, Uganda with her parents and five siblings. Living conditions in this area are cramped and unsanitary. Viola’s family lives in a small, brick, two-bedroom house. The whole family shares one room and the other one is used to house chickens and a goat that are being raised to sell.
When the lockdown measures hit the world this spring, each of our programs had to pivot from their normal services at schools, churches and community centers, and venture out with more home visits to care for our children. This cost a bit more, but we knew it was what we needed to do.
Viola is one of the children our team in Uganda visited. During one of the home visits, we realized that Viola and her siblings were sleeping almost on bare ground. They were sleeping on thin, dirty, browned pieces of pad that had to be put together for one to sleep on, along with torn-up blankets that can hardly bring warmth in the cold.
Our staff realized Viola was one of the children who, whenever they got the chance to meet up with her, either had a cough or flu, and if not, she was complaining of back and body pains. This could have been a result of the poor sleeping conditions.
Our Uganda team got together and decided to get two mattresses and three blankets for the family.
Our Uganda team reports, “The joy, gratitude, and tears in their eyes when receiving the beds and blankets was worth a memory in our hearts and they now sleep comfortably like they should.”
God used this pandemic to lead our staff to Viola’s home where they discovered this serious need for a real bed. God reached out to Viola with His tangible love not just in spite of this horrible season, but through it.
Two Lives Forever Changed Adriana and Itzel both grew up with difficult home lives but everything changed for them when they joined Trigo y Miel, Forward Edge’s program in Oaxaca, Mexico. As children, they didn’t have many material possessions, but because of the program they were privileged to hear about
Most families living in extreme poverty have very little opportunity to grow economically. Even if the will and grit to persue entrepeneurship is there, the start-up funds are not. Micro-lending is an increasingly integral part of international community development. Individuals wanting to start a small business are able to borrow
Have you had to cancel or postpone a trip to serve in another country this year? Have you considered repurposing your investment rather than losing it or delaying the opportunity? 1. Repurpose your plan Is there a way to take the plans you have already made and modify them using
Nancy, our Director of Development and long-time short-term missionary, shares her experience with the “Women of the Word” program in Kampala, Uganda. These resilient women, who migrated to a new area after facing unimaginable hardships, have come together to build a supportive community and empower one another. Discover how their journey of faith and perseverance is creating lasting change in their lives and in their community.
6 yrs. old
Entered the program: November 2025
Skymillan lives with her father’s cousin, his wife, and their son in a three-room plastered house that has a cemented floor and a corrugated roof. They have electricity for purchase and fetch water from a borehole that they boil for drinking. They have an outdoor kitchen and use firewood and sometimes charcoal or propane for cooking. The family has a good bathroom facility and a pit latrine.
Skymillan is the only child to her parents who separated after she was born. Her parents are both addicts and that, plus the constant conflicts between them, led Skymillan’s mother to attempt drowning her in a tank full of water when she was a baby. Luckily, she was rescued by her father’s cousin, who took her into his home. Her parents are not in contact with her. Skymillan’s guardians are casual laborers and they go out each day to search for work to provide for their family’s needs.
Plus bonus group fundraising ideas!
