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.
Villa Esperanza, Managua, Nicaragua My name is Medardo Sánchez. I am 19 years old and I am currently in the 4th year of high school. I want to tell you that before I met Villa Esperanza, I was thirteen years old and studying third grade of primary school. If I
Many of us have seen profile photos of children in sponsorship programs; they are often solemn, sad and sometimes down-right angry looking. I know I have thought at times, “Wow, that poor child must be so unhappy!” But then I come across a video from the same organization in which
In the extremely poor village of Kijabe, Kenya, there lives a crippled widow named Mary. After her husband died of AIDS a few years ago, she struggled to find food. While she suffers from HIV, too, Mary’s greatest challenge is a nerve problem in her legs. She has to use crutches
Ileana has been in our Nicaragua children’s program for the last eight years. Our team has poured into her heart, spirit, and education, and she has blossomed into a beautiful young woman of God. Her life hasn’t been easy, but as you’ll read in her letter, she has learned to
Habari (Hello), my name is Winnifred Amanda
Uganda
20 yrs. old
04-16-2001
Entered the Program: March 2020
Winnie lives with her uncle, aunt, and four cousins in a three-room house when she is home from boarding school. All the children share one bedroom. The home has electric lighting and water is fetched from a neighbor’s water tank,or a well that is half a kilometer away from home. For cooking and preparing meals, the family uses both firewood and charcoal.
