Dear Friend and Supporter,

They say that time flies when you are enjoying yourself. If that is true then those we are working with must be enjoying themselves because we continually remark that time is just flying by!

If you are receiving this update through the postal system you will also have a copy of our card appreciating your support. Thank you to everyone who has stood with us over the years. We value you – your contributions are helping us to make a difference in 1000’s of lives.

The work in Uganda continues to expand and is taking the major part of our time. Nevertheless there is good news from partners in other parts of the world.

INDIA:

our friend Rev. Jacob Williams at IGM has recently seen the marriage of both his sons, Jabez and Joe. The work of IGM has a large impact on the lives of needy children. We have been able to assist with this work for a number of years. The new children’s home we sponsored has improved the quality of life for many. IGM needs monthly support for children.

INDIA:

Biju Thampy of NICOG and his family have relocated from Goa to Bombay to enable closer supervision and development of the feeding program for street children. It is also a strategic location from which Biju can effectively input other programmes. We sponsor the informal education and feeding of street children. Your one off or regular gift will help this valuable work.

KENYA:

Glyn and Jane at Education for Life are planning to provide purpose built classrooms for the Day Nursery section of their school that we support. You could sponsor a child in nursery through LFI.

ALBANIA:

Rachel Wilson with her team continues to work with needy children in the seaside town of Shengjin. She will visit the UK during April. Rachel is trying to expand her team and her workers are self-financing. If you would like to assist please get in touch with us.

ALBANIA:

Summer camps will not run this year. We are still negotiating with another Christian mission – they would like to use our centre to house 50-60 teenage orphans, along with staff, to run a vocational training school providing these vulnerable 14yr olds with a life skill enabling them to live independently. Our friends have been renting the centre since last October and we will finalise the plan for the future this coming month.

UGANDA:

Great Christmas gifts went to all the children who were highlighted in our last Update. Thanks to your magnificent response we delivered trikes to three children to help them with mobility, five deaf children have gone to school along with a number of orphaned children. The enclosed card shows three children who are benefiting from our sponsorship programme. If you would like to sponsor a wheelchair, push chair or finance a child to go to school you will be changing a child’s life – giving them a brighter today and hope for the future. Please consider this.

2007 FOCUS ON CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS. Last year we ran a pilot project identifying, assessing and working with physically and mentally challenged children. We are delighted at the progress that has been made.

Sarah’s days sitting in the “wheel less” wheelbarrow are over. Sarah now enjoys her wheelchair. Yuventino who has cerebral palsy can now sit unaided for up to an hour. Lucky really is – she no longer crawls on flip flops but uses her new trike using her arms to pedal as the lower part of her legs are paralysed.

February was devoted to training 12 workers to develop a new project for similarly needy children in Otuke County, a remote part of Lira in northern Uganda. Both the LRA rebels and Karamajong cattle rustlers seriously affected this area. We have already registered 346 children in four sub-counties. Our teams will move through the bush to visit and work with these children on a weekly basis.

Distribution is a major part of our work – we are working closely with Unicef, Memisa (funded by Belgian government) and enjoying good relationships with many other local agencies.

• Mosquito nets went to 31,500 families in January and February benefiting 152,500 people.
• School resources for primary children – we have just started distribution and have enough material for 64,000 children to benefit.
• Teacher’s classroom kits – there are enough to provide resources to 1,000 classrooms.
• Family kits – with blankets, tarpaulins, garden tools and household equipment went to 4,669 families in January – this benefited 19,955 people.

Displaced people taken home: using our own trucks we have taken 1,250 from Lira town to their homes.

Health Centre renovation: we renovated 3 health centres in November but are now engaged on a large project in Orum – this involves re-roofing 7 buildings, renovating the operating theatre, maternity and Out Patients department, reconstruction of staff housing for 13 families, bathrooms, toilets and generator house.

Challenging locations: Our projects are now in 8 different locations in the bush – between 40 & 65 miles from the office. We have 70 staff. Every day starts in the office at 6.30am. Security staff change, drivers arrive to fuel vehicles. Supervisors are briefed at 7am and receive their workplans, materials are loaded and by 7.30am we have most of the team and 4/5 vehicles on the road. (Roads are mud & gravel tracks, full of pot holes and very taxing on vehicles and staff.) Some of the team live in the bush Monday to Friday. Driving takes up an average of 4 hours/day for those travelling daily. Teams arrive back around 6-6.30pm. Not for the faint hearted!!

The unexpected for example: 1. Phone call in the evening – truck taking 50 displaced people home stuck in a swamp. Three hour rescue mission in the dark to go and pull it out! 2. Team got problems with bus. Battery flat. Send other driver with battery. Cow crosses road, driver brakes, spins and wrecks vehicle! Launch rescue mission for both vehicles. Mini bus gets home 9pm but need to guard written off vehicle all night, visit police and organise recovery in morning. The environment is unforgiving, hot, sticky, dusty (or muddy), remote roads quickly become impassable during rain.

As we continue to take practical help to people in need please continue to pray for and support us. Better still come and visit us to see first hand what is being done.