September 2012 Update

Dear friends, family and supporters, we wish to inform you of new tidings as they unfold at African Hearts Community Organization.

 

African Hearts Junior School

Head prefect Peter Sentongo clad in a scout uniform.

School Elections

Thirteen year old Peter Sentongo was chosen by African Hearts Junior School pupils as the Head Prefect. He won over Adam Kanabo with a big margin in the campaigns with each of the contestants promising to deliver what is needed if voted into office and ended with the voting  on July 19.  “I feel so great as a former street child to lead more than four hundred pupils. It is a great honor, “ says Sentongo.  Sentongo is committed to serving his fellow pupils, and he promised to treat every one fairly without fear or favor and that is his number one responsibility as the new school term commences. This former street boy who was rescued a year ago from the slums of Kivulu, now lives in the Ssenge Home.  He is devoted to serving and honoring God.  He wants to be a doctor when he grows up, and he desires to have good grades in his studies. 

This time around the campaigns and the voting were so amazing as six year old Jeremiah Kasule of primary one managed to take on and defeat Edwin Mukisa of primary six .

Jeremiah Kasule, the newly elected school timekeeper

During the campaigns the lower primary and even most of the upper primary class pupils could sing and chant out Jeremiah’s name all the time saying, “Our man, our man, our man!“

In Mathew 18, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” The answer was that any one who welcomes a little child in his or her house is welcoming Jesus, and they were told not to look down on any of the little ones (children) because in heaven their angels are always in the presence of the Heavenly Father.

School Shoes

Eleven year old Anna Ervin from White Oak Elementary School in North Carolina spearheaded the fundraising of children’s shoes when she learned of children in Africa going to school without shoes. In June, little Ervin brought over one hundred pairs of shoes to the pupils of African Hearts Junior School.

 

“I wanted to help and thought of what to do.  When I found out that mom and I  were coming to Uganda with a mission team that was to conduct medical clinics, I had to think of how to help and then did a shoe fundraising drive,“ she said.

 

Anna promised to continue praying for the children of Uganda and that the Lord enables her to visit again .

 

Ssenge Home News

Our newest addition to the Ssenge Home is Regan Onyango.  A few weeks back Onyango was rescued from Kabalagala Police Station after nine months living with police officers wondering what the next day would be like. The nine year old boy was abandoned by his parents last year in Kampala city and was picked up by a Good Samaritan who sought help from police.  In a letter presented to African Hearts Community Organization, the Kampala City Council Welfare Officer requested the organization to offer alternative care to Onyango as tracing for his family continues.

Joshua Eyaru, a Sunday School teacher at Kabalagala who got so concerned about Onyango’s vulnerability, says that he came to know about Regan’s life as each Sunday children were asked in church about their lives.  Children who were friends with him told the church that Onyango has no parents.

’’Onyango was dropped at the police barracks as a missing child.  He could sleep and  eat everywhere on the streets. The church became keenly interested to help him out, but we had to follow the right way as required by the law,‘’ Mr Eyaru told African Hearts officials recently.  “We also tried to put him in a boarding school, but now we are relieved since he is going to be staying in a transition home in the mean time,” Mr. Eyaru said.  According to Silvia, the house mom, Onyango is adapting to living in the African Hearts Ssenge Home and enjoys music and soccer.

Other children from the Ssenge Home got to visit with their relatives as plans are under way for resettlement and re-integration into families ordained of God.

Mr.Joshua Eyaru with Regan Onyango at the Kabalaga Police Barracks

 

Prayer Requests:

1.  Funds for building the dormitory at African Hearts Junior School.

2. Good health for the children under our care.

3.  Wisdom for the children going for last term before national exams.

4.  Youth micro-loan program

July 2012 Update

Dear friends, family and supporters:

Warm greetings from African Hearts Community Organisation.  I thank you very much for taking the time to read our news blog. I am happy to report on all that transpired in the month of July.

Slum Outreach
It is always a joy for the children living on the street to come to the outreach programs because that is when they get a hot meal, get their wounds treated, get someone to talk to and dream with and feel the comfort. In fact, some street children come to our programs in the community center to have some good sleep because that is the only time they feel safe. This month we had several children rounded up by police; some were rescued but others are still missing. We pray they are safe. Kisenyi, the biggest slum in Kampala, is being taken over by some rich people, and many children come to us worried about where they will go.  This is a huge worry added to the troubled life they are leading.



Homes
The children in the home are doing great, though we had several, especially the very young ones, fall sick. In fact, at some point all the three of them were sick.  But I am happy to report now that they are fine. We have been trained on the new government rules for running homes, and they stressed that we should not keep children above 17 years of age in a home. This is a tough demand as the children we get have been robbed of their childhood, and for some, it will take them a longer time to heal. According to the government, if someone turns eighteen they are mature and don’t need to be in a children’s home. All the Ssenge boys have been to a camp recently and have great memories from the camp.  We are grateful for the generous gift of two cows from Peter and Helen. We bought one of the high milk- producing cows which we hope is going to boost our Ssenge House income and provide enough milk for the children to drink. This holiday we are also focusing on the children learning life skills.

School
School is going well and finishing strong. We officially closed our second school term on August 3.  Some children performed well, but others are still struggling. We tried to investigate, and most of the findings are related to too much work at home or a lack of electricity so children cannot revise at home.  Many of the children said that after the meals they get at school, they don’t get anything else to eat when they go back home, and therefore they are hungry and cannot revise. The head teacher advised that we establish a dormitory to house some of these students so that we can meet all these challenges. Please pray that we get the funds to do this. The term also closed with the swearing in of a new prefectorial body which was voted in by fellow pupils.  It was a great joy for the new leaders.

Youth Micro-Loan Program
We had the first training of the four young men selected under this program. They have classes on business and discipleship three days every week.  They meet with their mentors to dream with them, and after that they will have exams in everything they have learned.  Then they will present their business proposals, and successful candidates may receive loans from African Hearts depending on the funds we will have available.

Success story
Dibbya Samuel Joined African Hearts in 2003.  He was trained in the brass band and  was able to regain his self-esteem. Sammy became one of the best musicians in the band at African Hearts and later joined a church group where he plays a bass guitar and keyboard.  He recently returned from a European tour performing with a band for four months.  Sammy now lives independently and earns from his music.  With the money he earns from his music, Sammy has supported his mother to have some brickmaking business and also paid for some of his siblings’ school fees occasionally. He is also working with African Hearts as the administrative assistant.

Friends of African Hearts
Friends of African Hearts is a fundraising strategy mainly targeting the local population. This idea was birthed after realizing the great need for funds to run the growing ministry. Under this we approach people to become friends of African Hearts through prayer and financial support. We are amazed at the great response in the first month. Even some boys who were raised by the ministry are financially giving back to African Hearts.  Pray it goes well.  We hope to expand even to other countries.

I am going to be traveling to the U.S. on August 25 to September 17.  Please pray for my travel.

Prayer requests:

1. Funds for the dormitory at the African Hearts Junior School
2. Good health of all the children under our care
3. Wisdom for the children going for their last term before national exams
4. Youth Micro-loan program

June 2012 Update

Dear friends and supporters, I have the pleasure to bring to you news from African Hearts in a different version.  Please enjoy these updates of how God is blessing our ministry.

Children in Our Ministry

Ivan Lusiba, a boy rescued from the streets in 2008, is now able to explore his talents. He is a craftsman who can play with anything to make something of his own. Creative ideas just flow from him every day. This time he made a toy ship by connecting used cells on a motor and then displaying for his brothers how the water becomes an ocean in the basin. Ivan wants to be an engineer.  His teachers say he is one of the best performers in class. We are very proud of Ivan.

Kassim and John, our youngest children, started school this term year. They pretty much don’t know what it is all about but they enjoy the early morning breakfast. They love to play, and to them it is cool to carry their backpacks as they go to school. Steps to their future have begun.

Kisito Issa is one of the pioneers of African Hearts Community Organisation. He was picked by the organisation in 2002.  He has been through the school system and finally discovered his tailoring talent. African Hearts took him to a tailoring school where he emerged as the best student of his year. He is now the uniform designer at the African Hearts Junior School.  He is able to meet all his needs and support himself. He says he is forever grateful for the support from African Hearts, and we at African Hearts are also grateful to God and all the people who support our mission. We have a vision of expanding this project and other vocational skills because with such schools, youths are able to get jobs more easily than waiting for white collar jobs.

School News

School is going well.  Enrollment increased to 403 pupils.  We have been blessed by visiting teams, and they conducted a massive medical treatment of children and their parents at the school.  Furthermore, some vulnerable children and orphans were blessed by their fellow child Anna from America who collected over 200 pairs of shoes that were given to the children.  Happiness was all over the place.

African Hearts office

We feel blessed to have this new office block for African Hearts operations. This is a government requirement, but also it is a good place for all of us to meet as a team on a regular basis and for proper custody of official documents. African Hearts has taken a journey to professionalism and this is one of the needs we realized in our SWOT analysis. This is a journey, so please keep praying for us.

Future Plans and Prayer Requests

We are first of all grateful to God for how far he has brought us. We look back and say there is no way we would have gotten here by our own.  One of the issues hitting my heart really hard is the struggle to help the children who have grown up in our ministry and have become youths. How can we prepare them to launch in life?   Although, they have had great opportunities and hope from African Hearts, many of them reach this stage and feel not hope but dependency.  Some of them may not make it to the university due to finances, while others even after university find it so very hard to find jobs. Unemployment is very high in Uganda. The youths are greatly affected because they cannot even access credit facilities to start up income generating activities.  Banks often ask for collateral security which in most cases is land, yet most, if not all, of them don’t have land in their names.

It is against that background and other issues that African Hearts has started up a youth program where it seeks to train the youths in entrepreneurial skills and a micro-loan scheme for successful candidates as a launch plan for the youths to start up their journey of being independent and productive members of society. We also want to place these young men with mentors to train and disciple them so that they can be prepared for life in the real world.  Pray that we get clear direction and also the funds to establish this program to help many young men as they transition from childhood to youths and then to men with families of their own.

Other Prayer Requests:

• Health
• Children who are taking their exams that they may go well
• Safety of the children living on the streets; there have been several round ups recently and some children managed to escape from the government rehabilitation facility
• More business for the African Hearts Band.

God Bless,

LUTAAYA ABDUL
Executive Director African Hearts Community Organisation

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