Displacement from Congo to Uganda

Displacement from Congo to Uganda of thousands of innocent people, caused by rebel forces in 2012 - now it's happening again...

Thanks from the Children in Uganda to Guelph!

Congratulations to the 

winner of the Sidney Crosby Jersey ...

Andrew Keating of Guelph, Ontario

From the children of Bugembe, Uganda

Thank You to
Junior Gryphons Peewee AA & Guelph Novice AA
in a collaborative effort fundraiser for kids hockey in Canada 
and education for children in Uganda
$1 500 was raised for Guelph Hockey and $2 500 for Uganda
AWESOME!
  

In keeping with the goals of building sustainability instead of dependability, the money raised from the sale of tickets will be distributed as follows:

50% will repay a loan for the purchase of a plot of land, where a church and community gathering place was built.  The community and the pastor no longer have to pay rental fees.

25% will be attributed to produce crops for food and purchase food supplies.  This helps avoid the dependency on international aid and helps contribute to the local economy.

All remaining funds will be allocated directly for school fees.  1 school term costs $30 per child.  School Term (3 months), 1 uniform & 1 meal per day.  This keeps them protected from child labor and educated for the future.

Thank you for your incredible support in helping these children and families,

Dennis & Stephanie Devey (Canada)                          
Michael and Sharon Kamya (Uganda)

Special thanks to: Guelph Rotary Trillium and of course.......Sidney Crosby :)

More challenges for the poor...

This article describes one if the reasons the poor continue to struggle.  In a country where the people need to rebuild, the government continues to penalize its people.

@International Business Times Uganda Asks Mobile Users To Pay Up After Foreign Donors Pull Back

@International Business Timeshttp://www.ibtimes.com/money-nothing-uganda-proposes-tax-mobile-money-transfers-asking-citizens-pay-after-foreign-donors?ft=643ja

A Chance to go to School...

Many of the children who are in remote areas are orphaned from AIDS and some even have the disease themselves.  Support for school fees not only helps them receive an education and some food for the day
but it also gives them dignity and they are amongst friends and people who care.

Thank you for your continued support.

Life is Good

 :)

Building The Church

New Land and a new gathering place for the community = Renewed Hope

Some photos of the preparing of the land and the building of the church from Pastor Micheal.

Donations from Micheal's brother visiting from Germany went towards cutting timber and towards the transportation of timber to the site. They have hired 2 professional carpenters to do this work of dismantling and building the church. Pastor Micheal: "Despite of all the challenges and hardship we go through we feel so blessed to serve this community and share with them the love God and it brings much joy unto our hearts seeing such progress. "

Sidney Crosby hand signed Jersey and Certificate of Authenticity will be raffled to raise funds for the education of orphaned children and families in need of support, in and around the rural villages of Jinja, Uganda. Tickets are $10 each. Draw will take place at the end of June, 2013.
(During the Stanley Cup Playoffs!) Winner to be contacted by phone. Good Luck to everyone!
Please contact me directly to buy tickets.
 

Amazing idea! http://deciwatt.org/

94 Children Received School Supplies this Month

Necklaces from Sharon

Thank you Sharon for these beautiful neckalces!

Made from recycled newspaper and magazines - these necklaces are made by the women for the Land of Hope. By purchasing one of these necklaces for $20 you can help support this community by sending children to school.

Maize will be mature in 2 weeks

A very good harvest this season! This will provide flour for the children for about 4 months. Ugandan soils are naturally fertile. By investing in agriculture and farming, the community is be able to support families in need and the entire church ministry.

SMILE

"The Soul is healed by being with children."
Fyodor Dosoyevsky

BACK TO SCHOOL

In Africa, children must pay to go to school. Food comes first, often leaving not enough money for school fees. Funds from CHFU help these children get an education and a meal each day that they go to school.

Update from Director Micheal Kamya Kefa - CHFU - Uganda

"23/05/2011 marked the end of the children's holiday and a new academic term 11 begun. The children have been well through the holiday and there were no serious attacks of sickness amongst the children and entire team of CHFU. As our custom we can not forget to thank and appreciate every support given to CHFU.

Today has marked the first week of this school term and all our children are in school now. However, our urgent need is school supplies, school uniform, feeding while at school and tuition fees. The schools allows our children to stay in school for the first 2 weeks without making any payments, but after the two weeks they are not allowed to stay in school without paying the tuition, feeding fees etc.

We thank God for one of our friends who has donated a quarter of the school supply needed for our children and today we gave out excise books, writing pens,penils,mathmetical sets etc to 30 children at Nakango Primary School. But we still need school supply for more 60 children who are attending different schools in other villages. "

NEWS FROM C.H.F.U. Bugembe

It was amazing to receive a newsletter from Micheal this morning regarding the progress at the Land of Hope. The new digital camera has opened up ways for the organization to be able to show the world what they are doing.

C.H.F.U. team members are digging a well in hopes of providing safe clean water for their community.

Click Here for a link to the
newsletter from the C.H.F.U.
Founder and Director.

Bugembe Blues

The cold and never ending snowfall here has brought on the blues. Bugembe just seems further and further away. Surfing around on Facebook I found Dawn from Wisconsin, U.S. It was such a blessing to hear about her connections with Sharon and the children in Bugembe. Thanks so much for sharing Dawn! My soul has been rejuvenated this morning along with the rising sun. I hope it is strong enough to melt the snow and wash away the blues.

Hoping to see some new pictures from The Land of Hope and the children soon.

CANDY CANES & SMILES!!!!

Micheal has sent pictures of the children finally receiving the 80 candy canes at the Land of Hope. Although they took almost two months to arrive, the smiles on these kids faces are priceless!

From Micheal...
Micheal Tigs January 22 at 3:19pm Report
"The journey to land of hope has been so good and there are no words to express the joy and happiness from both children and elders for the beautiful gifts of Candys ,clothes,some shoes,school bags and toys. the smiles on their faces deeply demonstrates the excitement and appreciation from the them. Always a big thanks to you all."

:)

Gifts of Beauty

Today I received gifts from Sharon and the children in the village. I could not have imagined such beautiful necklaces! Feeling the beads in my hands brought tears to my eyes immediately. These necklaces were made from magazines!!! WoW! I keep thinking of the time and patience it took to create them...and they are so smooth and soft! Thank you Sharon!

Sharon has expressed a desire to sell these necklaces to raise money for her family and the children, however their remote location does not allow for a very good market to sell them. You can help Sharon and the children at the Land of Hope by purchasing one of these beautiful necklaces. They are of very good quality and quite stylish when worn with almost anything! You can purchase now and make a difference. Please contact me.

New Hope...for another year...

"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without words, and never stops at all."
Emily Dickinson

Having trouble with packages lately. For some reason they're being delivered to a larger town outside of Jinja and therefore delaying the arrival of goods for the children. Canada Post has been awesome at tracking and they have already recovered one box.

"A goal without a plan is just a wish."
Antoine de saint Exupery

Plans for the New Year...
Connecting with Charity Village and looking into registering a Charity within Canada; weighing the costs and making plans for a visit.
Studying the region for safety issues and connecting with those who have been to the village.

http://www.charityvillage.ca

It's Christmas

Sending boxes of shoes, clothing, school supplies and Candy canes to Uganda this Christmas! By ground, at least 8 weeks delivery time...but it does arrive safely and intact! The children are thrilled and little things like Tylenol and band-aids go a long way. A worthy charity that I know benefits the children in need directly.

To send:

Pastor Michael Kamya Kefa
The River of Life Ministries
P.O. Box 462
Jinja, Uganda
+256 712 724 498