Mr. Gerald Ntuuwa is a dedicated principal working in a children's village
set in the heart of Uganda. Hundreds of orphans and impoverished children are
reared, schooled and cared for by The Molly and Paul Foundation. The logo of the
work done reads as follows;
Open your Mouth for the Dumb, for the
rights of all those who are left Desolate.
Judge righteously, maintain the rights
of the Poor and Needy.
Gerald and those he works with have a clear vision - to care for the child,
in order to give him/her a better future. There are many programmes carried out
by The Molly and Paul Foundation, among them Child Sponsorship.
Without
the funding provided by the Foundation, the children would have no homes, no
support and no education - basically they would have no chance in life. If you
would like to sponsor a child, it would cost 15 euros a month to provide them
with a basic hot meal daily, provide them with essentials such as water,
clothing, shoes and bedding and pay their school fees.
You would be sponsoring a specific child and in return, you will receive
the child's school reports and regular correspondence from the child. When the
opportunity arises, the school also takes photos of the children, so you will be
able to see how they grow up over the years.
Gerald tells us that he and the team he works with would like to have more
children attending school as a means to acquire skills and knowledge in order to
give them a future worth living, and so that the children can contribute to the
betterment of the world. The part of Uganda where Gerald and his team ministers
in is where the very first cases of HIV/Aids were reported, so the effects are
very bad, especially on families. Conflict in nearby areas led to the influx of
many homeless people from Rwanda and Congo, and there is therefore great
need for care of orphans and housing in Orphans Homes. A further need is funding
to keep children in the school so that they may receive education.
The Foundation has Health/Clinic Projects. Gerald explains that they are
working on promoting a Community Health Care mobile clinic programme to go deep
in the small villages in order to work on Disease Prevention Programmes. Many of
the diseases can be prevented by improving the sanitation of households and
having clean food and water. Support is needed for this programme at present.
Practical lectures are offered, such as how to build and maintain clean water,
personal hygiene and sanitation programmes.
Facilities for schools are in the process of expanding, and more classrooms
are required for Emmanuel Community School. This is a new school with 206
children. Presently the children are learning under tree shade, and temporary
classroom structures.
Gerald and his colleagues find that on various occasions while carrying out
their dedicated work, they find themselves in the dilemma of needing to find
housing for child headed families. This situation in Africa is where there are
no parents or relatives to take charge of the care of families, so one of the
children in the family steps forward to care for the other children. As you can
imagine, some of the most heart rending stories can be heard surrounding these
situations.
Gerald has received an offer of skill development equipment for training programmes for fifty youths, mainly young mothers who could not complete their education due to various difficulties. Gerald is now struggling to find the 1853280 Ugandan shillings he needs to facilitate the programmes (approximately 563 Euros or 743 US Dollars).
The Molly and Paul Foundation also needs volunteers to spend time on the
Projects. If you feel it is on your heart to help these children and families in
such desperate need, there are so many ways you can help. Either you can sponsor
a child (Lumiere Charity has been sponsoring the care and education of children
for years in different countries now - a number of our children have graduated
and work successfully). Or you can make donation. There is a possibility of volunteering some of
your time to work on one of the Projects.
If you wish for further information, please email
lumierecharity@yahoo.co.uk
The words of the wondrous Jesus; "For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me." The Bible, New Testament, the tax-collector and writer Matthew Chapter 25, verses 35 to 36.
