Taking care of the bereaved family

Last year, we received the unfortunate news that a child from the surrounding community fell into YCVM's construction well on the boarding school site. The child was not one of YCVM's sponsored children. Nevertheless, the YCVM board wanted to help the bereaved family, and rebuilt the child's mother's house (see earlier blog post). To help further, YCVM recently improved the beddings for the bereaved family members.

On the left, you see the former bedding, which is a common papyrus mat on the dirt floor of the hut. Following that, you can see the mattress that YCVM provided - a luxury in the villages. Lastly, you can see YCVM director Silver Omakenyi delivering the gifts to the family.

I thank God for the work that YCVM continues to do in the Kumi community.

10,000 bricks

Q: How do you make 10,000 bricks in Uganda?


A: With your bare hands.



This summer, a mission team sent by Chinese Community United Methodist Church will experience a small piece of life in Kumi with YCVM hosting. The mission team wants to (literally) get their hands dirty with the construction of the boarding school, so the YCVM team set about making more bricks. Please continue to pray for YCVM and the work they are doing, as well as the mission team from CCUMC.

The bricks are made by mixing water with dirt from the nearby area. A simple wooden form is used to create bricks of uniform size. The bricks are then left to dry in the sun. After that they're stacked, and a fire is lit underneath to bake them. While is process is very labor-intensive, it doesn't cost much money. Buying the concrete and mortar is a much greater cost.

2009 Goals

 

Now that the Citrus Orchard is funded, YCVM can look forward to long-term, sustained income-generation for the education of the sponsored children.  So, the top priority for YCVM is now the completion of the Ngora house where the children live.

We are looking forwards to more funds being raised to add the windows, doors, solar panels, and finishing touches.  The estimated amount is $25,000 USD.

Be watching for fundraisers coming this year!

Graduation!

 

YCVM is proud to announce that 2 of the sponsored children have graduated!

Alice Abeja earned her Certificate in Early Childhood Education.

 

Susan Achom received her Certificate in Health Science, and wants to become a nurse.

 

 

 

Also, Mary Asio transferred to another Christian sponsorship program, so she is no longer with YCVM.

On a very sad note, YCVM withdrew its sponsorship of Helen Atai and Stella Among after improper conduct.

As of now, YCVM sponsors 6 children, and is considering adding more.  A big THANK YOU to all supporters of YCVM!

Some sad news

One of YCVM's long-term projects is to construct facilities to house and educate orphans in the community. To enable construction, a well was dug nearby. This well was also open to the community to draw water from, and was a benefit to those living nearby. Unfortunately, a few months ago, a young child (not one of the YCVM-sponsored orphans) fell into the well and drowned.

YCVM reached out to the child's mother, whose house was in badly need of repair. After some discussions, the YCVM members rebuilt her house, and are considering sponsoring her children.

The mother's old house, which was in bad shape:

The house that YCVM built for her:

It seems that tragedy is commonplace in Uganda - everyone you meet has firsthand accounts of family members experiencing loss and hardship. That is not to trivialize the child who drowned in the well; I mention it because most people in the U.S. don't fully understand how tough things are in developing countries.

Despite that, even though the YCVM members are poor themselves, they came together to support this woman in her loss. I thank God that YCVM is a true blessing in their community, and pray that their goals will one day be realized.

Citrus Grove fundraising goal has been reached!

Praise God for the all of the generous donors that contributed to the Citrus Grove fundraiser - our goal of $6000 was reached as of last week! It is amazing that even in these tough economic times, that God still provides for YCVM. The money has been sent to YCVM, and is already being put to use. Stay tuned for updates on this project, which will take a couple of years to reach "fruition".

Citrus Grove Fundraiser at Chinese Community UMC!

One of the goals of YCVM is to establish income-generating activities that will provide funds for the orphans' education and construction of the school. One of the activities identified is a 1200-tree citrus orchard that will generate enough income to put the 11 orphans through school.

On September 28th, Chinese Community United Methodist Church held a luncheon to raise awareness of this need, and to kick off a fundraising campaign to gather funds. CCUMC, which is located in Oakland, CA, is a major supporter of YCVM's ministries.

CCUMC has committed to fundraising the $6000 necessary to seed this project. Donors purchase 10 trees for $50, and then hang a commemorative orange onto the tree. When all of the oranges have been hung on the tree, the fundraising goal will be reached. Please donate generously to enable YCVM to self-fund the orphans' education!