April 2012 Update

Dear friends of African Hearts! 

 

I hope this finds you well. I am grateful that after a long time I am able to send another update. God has been good to us, and much has happened! 

 

Slum Ministry

Everything is going on well in the slums except that there was a police round up recently, and they took some street children to prison.  Kenny was able to retrieve some of the boys, but some are still in prison and in the government rehabilitation facility. We had a very successful International Street Children's Day celebration.  We had good weather, and many people joined us including some media houses.  Hopefully the voices of the street children can be heard at some point.  We had all the boys in the homes and the band go to the slums and join their brothers.  We did community work and sports.  Our boys from Ssenge were playing soccer against the children living on the streets.  There was music, and we also had a street children's march led by our Royale Band.  Street children suggested ideas that we put on the signs that were shown to the country as we were marching. I am glad at the end of it that they all felt they had communicated their hearts and that they are recognized the world over.

School 

The school is going on well.  We are about to close the term on Friday, April 20.  Children have taken their end of term exams.  Those of you who are sponsoring children in the African Hearts Junior School will be receiving report cards and letters from your sponsored children. We have also installed electricity in the school since it was a need communicated by the head teacher that they need to be able to print education materials any time to help children pass. So we are believing God for printers, a photocopying machine and computers for the school.  We are also planning to add a school gate in order to increase protection and security at the school. We are also thinking of building a school dormitory in order to accommodate children for boarding.

Home

The children in the Ssenge home are doing well.  We are building a permanent home in Ssenge for the older boys who used to live in the Kampala house. The boys in Ssenge enjoyed their time in the slums.  They gave their testimonies and also liked meeting their old friends. The two little boys, John and Kassim, will be starting school for the first time next term. 

 

 

Vocational 

The band is still getting some business. We are still in touch with the community children, and whenever there is a performance, we call on them for practice and performance.  The older boys who are on holidays have been very helpful in building the new home in Ssenge and making bricks.  We paid for one of the boys named Kizito Issa to get training in tailoring. He finished his course successfully, and we have agreed to employ him at the school to make school uniforms and other designs. We also think that he will train people from the community who need to learn tailoring. Kizito is another African Hearts success story!  In a new development, we have finished all the negotiations for land acquisition, and we may conclude the deal next week.

 

 

Prayer requests

1.  Photocopying machine, school computer and printer

2.  Provision for dormitory construction

3.  Good health for all our children 

 

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Lutaaya 

March 1, 2012 Update

Dear Friends, 

Greetings from African Hearts. I hope this finds you well. We are all fine except for Peter Sentongo in the Ssenge Home who is sick.

Will you please take a moment and read the following updates: 

Homes

We are moved from the Kampala Home this week. I am very proud of these young men because they thought it would be fitting to clean and leave the house in very good shape.  They have been a great testimony to the landlord, and he is very proud. He said he prays he gets new tenants as good as we have been. We have pretty much packed up everything.  We have decided to take every boy living in the Kampala Home to boarding school and hostels to give us time to prepare the new place we want to build for them in Ssenge. 

The Ssenge Home is doing well. I am glad to report that we managed to rescue 4 more boys off the street, and they are now happily living with us in Ssenge.  Yusuf, Alafat, Marvin, and Hakim are the four new boys in the Ssenge Home.  They are very grateful to belong to a family and to have an opportunity for an assured meal, medical care, love, devotionals and an education at the African Hearts Junior school. We decided to put them in school right away while we look for sponsors for them since the teachers say they are a good fit.  According to the assessment, Yusuf needs to have more coaching and building up his esteem, but all this will be taken care of.  Lubega George is also back with us to study at the African Hearts Junior school. He has been taking good care of our new goat.

Slums
Thanks to everyone who prayed for Sabote.  We were all scared, but God healed him from the dog bites.  I saw him, and he was smiling again which he had not done in days after he was bitten by dogs.  The slum programs are going well.  The rains have started, and this is the most challenging time for street children!  Please remember them in your prayers that they will not die or be overtaken by running water. Pray that God will be their shelter even at night.

School

As you all know, the new school term began January 31.  We started with classes from nursery to primary six.  We have about 400 children this academic year. We started using our new classroom block to accommodate the new students.  The kitchen is also in operation.  We have managed to put a fence around the school, and we still have some small construction projects.  We have hired new teachers, and the children look very happy. Many thanks to those sponsoring some of these children to have an opportunity for an education. 

Vocations

The boys have started making bricks for the new Ssenge House to replace the old Kampala House. We are thinking of offering services locally to generate funds.  One of the boys has learned how to make liquid soap and he is going to teach others so we are can produce for large shops in Kampala. Also looking at the Ssenge Community, many women are widows or single parents, and the reason most of them cannot pay to send their children to school is lack of jobs so they cannot earn any income. So we decided to revive the training we had offered to help them take care of their families. We are brainstorming about proper implementation so please keep praying for us as we plan.  We praise the Lord that through our partners Engage Hope we got a loan to buy a van to transport our band, and we hope to use it also as an income generating project.

Prayer requests

1. Wisdom
2. Equipment especially for the babies at school
3. Healing for the sick boys
4. More business for the band

God Bless.

February 1, 2012 Update

Dear friends of African Hearts,

Warm greetings from the African Hearts family. We are doing great seeing God lifting us up every day. Please take a minute to read about what is happening at African hearts.

School
The new school year started January 30, 2012. There has been so much construction as we have been adding on classes to accommodate all the children in the community. Our school has been running classes from nursery to age 9, but this year we hope to add on ages 10 to 11. Teachers have been busy preparing and planning. We have also increased the number of staff to run the school, and many children have applied to be enrolled. We expect to begin the year with about 320 children which is about 100+ increase in the total school population.

Homes
All the boys in the homes are fine. Some boys in the Ssenge Home were invited to camp by CRANE, an organisation that brings together organisations that work with children, and these boys learned so much that they are now sharing with their brothers at home.

The Kampala Home is in transition. Please remember to pray for wisdom as there are many factors here to consider. We have come to a point where rent and expenses in Kampala have gone so high. We have decided to move the house to Ssenge as soon as we get the funds, but this is a testing time as we have many other children from the community counting on us being there. Please pray for this transition.

Slum Ministry
The slum outreach is great, and we have been feeding children and treating their wounds every day in Kisenyi slums. The demolition of houses is increasing, and we have heard rumors that some rich person is buying up the whole slum. So children are in fear, but we are grateful to God that our partner organisation in Uganda received some funding to rent a facility which is now acting as a drop-in center in addition to the community hall that we are using. We are still working on the paperwork to bring four street boys into the Ssenge Home. Also Mutyaba Isaac, one of our community boys in Kampala, has lost his mother, and we have waited for relatives and no one has showed up. On a sad note, one of the boys living on the street nicknamed Sabote was terribly bitten by dogs at night. I was called when he was in a terrible state. The other leaders and I were so busy, but I am so proud of my Kampala boy Kintu Lawrence who came in and took good care of him by bringing him into the house, feeding and bathing him and took him to the hospital. This is the replication of our ministry that I want to see even in the future.

Vocational Training
We have had some good news. One of the boys Kizito Isa that we sent to tailoring classes is about to finish school and will start making uniforms for the African Hearts Junior School and also training others. Other boys from the Kampala community took classes on how to make liquid soap and also graduated successfully. We are going to to have him train others, and we shall make this soap for sale to support the ministry. The community in Ssenge has greatly appreciated our Brick Technology, and we are expecting more business for our boys.

Success Stories
We had three boys sit for Primary Leaving National Exams, and one boy called Joshua got a first grade, Sowedi got a second grade and another one named Tonny has not yet received his paper. We are happy to be part of this as a ministry. We are planning to have a small celebration to recognize these young men but also to encourage the younger ones.

Ddibya Samuel, one of the best musicians, left for Europe this weekend, but also a few days before he left, he had told me how he was grateful to African Hearts for giving him the chance to dream and hope again and all that God has used it to do in his life. After all that, he told me that he is still part of the family, but he is ready to fly on his own! That was so emotional but very rewarding. Please pray for him as he still carries on the work of African Hearts, but he is no longer living in the home.

Musoke Musa, the footballer who represented Uganda in the Coca Cola Youth Tournament, was also invited to play on one of the most popular reserve teams in the top Ugandan soccer league. This is a new experience but great exposure for him. He also needs our prayers.

All the rest of the boys and young men are good.

God Bless.

December 25, 2011 Update - Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas greetings to you all. I feel like it is forever since I last sent you an update. We are all fine here at African Hearts, and everything is moving on smoothly. Allow me to give the following updates.

Trip to the U.S.

I had a great trip to the U.S. where I met many great people, and I had many opportunities to tell the African Hearts story and give God the glory. Thank you all who were very nice to me and opened up your houses and just gave your time to listen to me. God bless you for that. There was so much to do and many meetings, but I was also needed back home. I have promised to return to the U.S., Lord willing, to make up for the meetings I never made.

When I returned home Dec. 20 I received a very warm welcome from my wife and friends I work with at African Hearts. Finally all the boys were so very excited to see me! I have not had time to meet the boys in the slums yet, but the welcome I received from the boys in the homes and the band was inspiring. I constantly had people around me all needing my attention, but I feel bad that my body is letting me down. It is weak and sleepy, and I need prayer for good rest and strength. I am very thankful to all my colleagues who have worked tirelessly while I was away, and I have received the following reports they shared with me.

Band
The festive season has been a busy time for the band, and as such, there is great harvest. Our band was given the opportunity to perform at one of the biggest malls in the country to perform Christmas carols with no financial expectations. Our intention was to advertise our band for more business, but I am happy to report that actually this turned out to be the most blessed time. When the children perform, they give out literature about African Hearts and the band. As such people give their pocket change to African Hearts, and on average, we receive about $60 every time they perform. This is going to help us with Christmas and help us purchase new uniforms.

I cannot mention the band and forget to talk about what God is doing in the lives of our young men. Awori, the first boy served by African Hearts, is now leading the band. We have come to a place where we are seeing the fruit of our investment in the lives of these boys that were once viewed as hopeless. In a different development, another boy Musoke Musa went to South Africa to represent Uganda in the Coca Cola Youth Soccer Tournament. All this is possible because after belonging and playing in the band, these boys earn their self-esteem back and therefore are able to explore other fields and interests. Another young man, Samuel Dibbya, will be touring Denmark, Norway, Germany and Poland for four months with a Christian band in January. We are very proud of all these young men.

School
I have been told that the school closed really well, and many children were promoted after very hard exams from the teachers. We are receiving calls for new applications even before the next term begins. This year we are adding on two classes, so in 2012 we shall have classes Nursery to primary 6. Construction is going well to have all these classes and the vocational class ready for first term to begin in January. We are also planning to have music classes as part of the curriculum. We have trained one of the older boys with the aim of having him train others at the school in tailoring so that children can graduate with a skill. Some other boys from Kampala are making the bricks as well and building the next phase of the construction.

The school held an annual end of year concert which was a big success. It attracted about 800 people including area government representatives and officials. All of them thanked African Hearts for helping the community and promised to work with us. There are still opportunities to support a child in the African Hearts Junior School at $30 a month. Next school term begins on the 30th of January, 2012.

Slum Ministry

The outreach is going well. This year while I was away,the team at African Hearts was able to resettle 11 street children back to their families and communities. I was told there was an increase in the number of children who had come to the streets, and some of these, depending on their situations, could easily return to their families before they could start depending on drugs. We are planning to follow-up and work with families to address the children's grievances. African Hearts leaders have made plans to have a big Christmas party for the street children on the 23rd December, so I am just going to join in at that point. I will be sharing the true meaning of Christmas to all the people that will come. This year the band is not going to the slums because the boys have to perform Christmas carols at Nakumat Shopping Mall.

Homes
The children in the homes are very happy. I have had some personal time with the boys in Ssenge as I was leading the devotions. Also I got to look at their report cards, and they all performed very well. Some were even number one in their class, and others had pretty good grades. We have designed a holiday program for these children, two of our cows in the Ssenge home gave birth to all male calves. The boys are so happy and taking good care of them, so we are trying to extend the cow pen. There was also a special moment when all the boys in the Ssenge Home went to visit their brother George who was reunited back with his family. They told me that after going back to his family, George put together a soccer team and invited the boys in Ssenge to play against his team. It was a big blessing for the boys to meet with George again, and they stayed with him for a long time. They also invited him to come home for Christmas which he is going to do.

The boys in the Kampala Home are mostly busy with Christmas carol performances, and I am spending the whole day Friday with them. Please pray for one of our community boys Mutyaba Isaac who lost his mother this week. African Hearts supports this boy by paying for his school fees. He lived with his mother as the father died long time ago, and Kim, as we normally call him, has many brothers and sisters who were dependent on their mother. I am contacting some agencies who work with girls to consider helping his sisters. We are also praying that some relative stands up to take care of the children, or else African Hearts may take them in.

Please remember to pray for the following needs:

1. Furniture for all the new classrooms
2. Sponsorships for the needy children in the school
3. Land for African Hearts to begin self-sustaining farming
4. The new boys we are planning to bring into the Ssenge Home soon
5. Wisdom as we plan for the next year

November 5, 2011 Update

Dear friends:

Warm greetings to you from African Hearts, and we hope this finds you well. We are doing great with many things happening as usual.

School

The African Hearts Junior School is running well. We have had children do their beginning and midterm exams all of which have shown great improvement in the children’s performance. We now have 211 girls and boys in the school ranging from ages 3 to 9 ideally, but some children are older for their classes for several reasons. We are organizing a school concert at the end of the year and children will be showing their musical talents to their parents, guardians and the community at large. It is going to be a big event with lots of fun and entertainment. We have started our construction second phase which will include building 3 Nursery classes, Primary five, six and seven pray that this goes well.

We also started up a school band at the African Hearts Junior School, and many children have joined and like it.

Please remember our boys doing national exams. Awori Moses and Kiggundu Chrispus are doing their secondary national exams now, and Musoke Sowedi and Muhumuza Tony will also be doing their primary leaving exams next month.






School Construction Update Pictures

Slum Ministry

The slum outreach is going well. The children are fearful as they hear that the slums have been bought by some unknown people. Many children wonder where they are going to be, and I have no answer myself. We will keep trusting God and see how things unfold. Some boys have been sick and are now on medical treatment. Four of the six boys in the rescue house will soon be taken to the Ssenge Home after their paperwork is done.

My family is wonderful! My daughter can now smile at me and make some sound which is so refreshing.

I am thankful that I got a visa to the US. I will be going on the 21^stNovember and return on the 19^th December.

God Bless.

Welcome to our new blog!

For previous posts, please visit our old blog at http://african-hearts.org/blog/blog1.php.

Thank you!