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All posts by David Fausnaugh
July Newsletter 2023
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June Newsletter 2023
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April Newsletter 2023
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February Newsletter 2023
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December Newsletter 2022
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
Dear our beloved sponsors, donors, and friends.
We welcome you all to the end of the year 2022; we thank the almighty God who has brought us this far and for the continuous provisions. Through your generosity a lot has happened - our children received a steady food supply, received better education, and their health has improved dramatically. Your generosity has furthered our mission.
We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the donors who made our children an end of year’s party and celebrations. The children were so happy and excited as they received new clothes, shoes, cut cake and also prepared them a delicious and most liked meal (rice, meat and stew). The celebrations were full of fun and happiness.
PROGRAM UPDATES:
CENTRE DAYS
On centre days are fun to us and the children. We meet with our children to share with them different ideas and discuss issues they face at homes and school. It’s always a precious moment for children playing with their fellows as brothers and sisters. It’s during these centre days that different activities are done like singing, dancing, storytelling, and hair cutting. It’s also during these centre days when we give them donations like shoes and clothes.
We also gather together with the children for personal interactions. Although each is from a different background, we strive to create a spirit of togetherness and brotherhood amongst the children. We play different games; have counselling learn how to pray and shared stores among the child as seen below.
EDUCATION
Our children completed their third term which marked the end of academic year 2022. Most all had excellent performance and they got promoted to other classes. We believe that with help of their class teachers and social worker’s school visits, they will continue to keep the better grades.
With much pleasure, we thank you for making sure that our children are kept at school. Education is one of the best ways of fighting ignorance which is rampant in our community. With the Covid-19 effect lots of children were disrupted in accessing education. But we are pleased to let you know that all the Miryante community Centre kids went back to school and most were promoted to the next levels.
HEALTH
Our children are doing well health wise, although a few are currently under medical attention. We are so happy to know that their health had improved. Children pick and swallow medicine on time and this is as evident with their physically appearance as they all have healthy bodies and rarely fall sick. We thank God for the children's health as we carry out timely checkups and administer medication where need be.
HOME VISITS
Home visits help to establish strong, positive communication between our social workers and our sponsored children’s care takers. Home visits help us with a glimpse into the lives of children we support; they offer a perspective on each individual family’s struggle, their well being, hygiene, their needs and what may require special attention.
MONTHLY FOOD SUPPORT AND DONATIONS
With the sponsors’ support, our children receive monthly food support of maize flour and manna pack rice that has continued to boost their immune since the majority of our children on medication that calls for diet. Children together with their care takers are thankful and appreciative rendered to their families.
Our children received each a pair of clothes, shoes, two special meals and some animals as Christmas and New Year gifts from their sponsors and well-wishers. We truly appreciate your commitment.
CHRISTMAS PARTY
Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s during this time of the year when people share love, with your support; we managed to organize a party for our children. All the children were very excited and full of enthusiasm for the celebration. Most of them it was the first of its kind to celebrate on new clothes and shoes. The celebrations started as early as 9:00am since we had a number of activities for the day including a dance party. Together we sang Feliz Navidad song melodiously and it sounded as angels truly descended on earth.
We also ordered for cakes for the day, lunch was serviced in time which included; meat, rice, Matooke, Irish potatoes, chicken, rice, g.nuts, matoke, sodas and vegetables. The program concluded with the final dance which was fun and lively, on the whole, the party was super and fabulous and had the children asking for more.
We thank you all for always standing with us and for making this happen, for the generous support, encouragements and for loving the children of Miryante Community Centre. We wish you all a blessed 2023 as we are more expectant. Thank you once again.
November Newsletter 2022
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
Dear our beloved sponsors, Donors and friends.
Miryante Community Centre children greet you all. We thank the almighty God who has enabled us to reach this far. The children are all healthy and happy, thank you for the generous and never ending support you always render to them. Our beloved children have received their school holidays for the last term and am glad to let you know that all of them have been promoted to their next classes respectively. Thank you for always paying their dues on time and creating a better foundation for them, May the good Lord continue blessing you. Some of the activities we carried out this month are as below.
MCC PROGRAM UPDATES
CENTRE DAYS
Our centre days are conducted every Saturday. We always make sure all the children attend and share issues they face at homes and school. It’s really an interesting moment when children of different backgrounds come together and meet as brothers and sisters. It’s during these centre days that different activities are done like singing, dancing, shading, shaving off their hair among others.
HOME VISITS
As result of Ebola outbreak in Mubende district, this month we had more of home visits than center days because of lock down that was put by the government to help reduce on the spread of Ebola. Our social workers visit homes of children and its during these visits that our social get to know the children’s sanitation at home and children’s standards of living have greatly improved.
EDUCATION
Our children finished term three which marked the end of year 2022, they have done end of year exams and promoted to other classes. Our social workers have always made regular visits to schools to check on our children’s progress and this has helped them maintain good grades.
All schools where instructed by the ministry of education to close by 25th November because of Ebola virus that had started spreading in schools. The government came up with this decision in order to control the spread of Ebola virus since it was spreading very fast in schools. Since the holiday is very long, we are organizing a holiday program for engaging our children in different holiday activities.
Some of our students who sat for PLE:
HEALTH
We are glad to say that most of our children are in a good health condition. The social workers play their roles to make sure that the children are given good care in terms of treatment most especially those who take ARVS drugs and other diseases like ring worms, jiggers etc. We have not yet received any case of Ebola in any of Despite of Ebola situation that has affected the entire district of which our biggest area of operation, this hasn’t stop us from running our weekend program.
SPORTS AND GAMES
We engage our children in different game activities like football, running, bouncing balls, storytelling, skipping ropes etc. and through these activities most of our children have developed different talents. This has also enabled them to bond as brothers and sisters. We also distribute clothes and other gifts at least once a month. Below are photos showing the children wearing new clothes that were donated to them and shoes.
SITE CLEARING
Site clearance is a fundamental part of construction which involves activities like waste clearance. There has been a lot of work done at the construction site throughout the month of November. Activities include; leveling of land by digging down the ant hills and removing tree logs to make a way for the building process. Ii can now say our site is clear and ready for the building process. Thank you so much our sponsors for the support you give us.
FARMING AND GARDENING
Under agriculture, we planted a variety of vegetables like sukuma, green paper, egg plant tomatoes and other crops like maize and beans.
MONTHLY FOOD SUPPORT.
We give out food support to our children every month and our children have been provided with food and we ensure they don’t starve or go to school on empty stomachs. Our social workers make monthly visits to children within their communities and provide food. This has brought a smile to the children’s faces and they are looking healthy. We really appreciate your support towards them.
MCC BUYENDE PROJECT UPDATES
BUYENDE PROJECT
This month we have access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and preferences for an active and healthy life. On our Centre day, we issued a bag of flour to each child. The children were over joyed as they received food. Their foster families are always grateful too.
SPORTS AND GAMES
With the help of our social workers, our children always have a lovely and good time meeting together and play various games. These games include football, ball dodging, rope skipping and many others. Playing together encourages cooperation and sharing, resilience and building relationships among themselves, team work and self-discipline, etc.. The children also learn to control and channel negative feelings and emotions in positive way. Thank you for donating the game materials to them and making them happy kids.
SHADING AND ART WORK
GOAT REARING PROJECT
We are glad to inform you that the goats are doing well, with the help of our social workers, inspections and follow-ups are always made to monitor on the health and give advice where need be. Goats are wonderful animals and easier to look after because they mature very fast, thrive on leaves, shrub and kitchen wastes. They can also be raised on a small piece of land which is a favorable condition for the foster families. We are hoping for more as we look forward to achieving supplementary income through milk which provides enough nutrients to our children. Goat’s waste also creates supplementary income to help the livelihood of the families.
Miryante Community Centre East children are so thankful and always keep you in their prayers.
September Newsletter 2022
DIRECTOR`S MESSAGE
Hello our dear friends, sponsors and donors.
We welcome you all from the month of September, it hasn’t been that easy but we thank God who has kept all of us safe and that none has gone on an empty stomach. We are glad to let you know that all the kids are in school. Thank you for always supporting us and making all this happen.
On a sad note; Uganda has been hit with a dangerous virus called Ebola. It started from Mubende and Kyegegwa districts which are part of the areas we are operating in. The government together with the essential workers is putting all measures in place for the virus not to spread to other districts. The virus has claimed lives of Ugandan,s but we are praying to God that it also passes.
PROGRAM UPDATES
CENTRE DAYS
Our Centre days are conducted weekly and it’s a special moment for our children to enjoy staying together. Different activities are done by children that help them boost up their self-esteem and building confidence. Children learnt how to lead prayers before having meals, sing different songs together and also learn to be sympathetic to others through sharing things like food. Cleanliness and being smart is emphasized in our children. Below are the photos:
EDUCATION
Our children both primary and secondary went back to school for their term three with fully paid school fees, scholastic requirements like books, pens, mathematical sets, soap, sugar and pads for girls above 12years.They were encouraged to concentrate on their books and regular attending of classes for better results to fulfill their future careers. However, the Western part of Uganda got an outbreak of Ebola disease with few reported cases and our children in the boarding section are not allowed to leave school as a way of keeping them safe. Our children receive quality education at all levels they reach and this all happens because of the effort and support contributed to them by our dear donors which has extremely created joy and peace of mind for them.
SCHOOL VISITS
This is more of follow up done by the social workers to visit various schools where our children study from. A group of social workers interacted with the class teachers about their performance, attendance, discipline and class participation as well. According to the reports gathered, most of our children are well behaved, social and some are prefects in their respective schools.
HEALTH
Our main concern is the health status of our children, without good health we cannot do anything. Social workers always make visits to the homes of our children mainly to check how children are doing, hygiene and we found that some children were still having jiggers and they were provided with treatment. Parents and care takers of these children were encouraged to improve good hygiene of these children and their houses for example, bathing daily, wear clean clothes and the ones on medication to always take their medicine well. We also have regular visit of health centers where our children get medication from to see how they are copying up.
CONSTRUCTION OF SITE
We are happy to let you know that swings were purchased and are yet to be installed by end of October. This is going to help our children bond together and becoming social. It’s also going to help them enhance their activeness when playing together and liking playing more various games. We sincerely thank our sponsors for this wonderful contribution.
DONATIONS
Our children received donations of clothes from Daniel Abraham and his family. They were generally happy on receiving the many clothes and were greatly thankful. We also thank Rotary Club of Lancaster for the great donation of a heifer with a given name of Shepardson. We do believe children will enjoy milk after it gives birth. We humbly appreciate the great work towards our children.
SPORTS AND GAMES
Sports and games are very important to the health of our children as we all know that. Having fun in life with one another helps our children to develop/grow faster, reduces stress, helps in development of languages, develop their finer and large muscles, body balance, development of senses as children use eyes, ears, nose, tongue, fingers and feet. It also helps to build their emotional development like they learn to accept defeat, to be kind and helpful, it also enables them learn to think as they solve problems while playing, creativity is developed as children make materials using different objects etc. Social workers take much of their time giving them various games to play like football, netball, playing cards, hide and seek. This helps them to build their talents and make new friends.
WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
Community outreaches were conducted as a way forward of empowering women that need finacial support. Different families were visited facing economic challenges and some that are in vulnerability state. Its during the visits that we identified one of the beneficiary that had a child with autism problem who could not walk and talk, finds difficulties in holding items and can only crawl. The 7 year old boy known Mukonyezi Talemwa is currently seeking for assistance. However, basic necessities were provided to some families and psychosocial support was also provide.
FARMING AND GARDENING
Currently we are in a wet season and receiving plenty of rain. Crops are growing properly and fertilizers are applied continuously. Children participate in the garden work and enjoy plucking the grown up vegetables. They also enjoy taking care of the cows around the garden.
MONTHLY FOOD SUPPORT
Due to continuous support from our beloved sponsors, our children were able to receive food for the month. Food given to them has greatly improved their standards of living in terms of health most especially children who do take ARVS drugs and contributed to their growth and boosted their immune system because of the additional supplements to their meals. Social workers visited children within communities and delivered them food. Our humble appreciation goes to our donors for good work done to our fellow brothers and sisters.
BACK TO SCHOOL.
The month of October marked the end of second term holidays. Our children started their third term which is the last term of the year and will be promoted to next levels respectively. Scholastic materials were distributed evenly to each as to enable them kick off immediately with school. We are happy to let you know that all of them are in school and we appreciate your never ending efforts to make all this happen.
VISITING FOSTER HOMES.
Despite the poor weather, we managed to move around some of the foster homes to check on our children. We always monitor their wellbeing, health, check if they are at school and also just talk to parents some of the challenges they may be facing in their daily life and how best they can be mitigated.
ARTS AND CREATIVITY.
Involving children in recreative activities rejuvenate their minds and helps them to develop and build their imaginations by introducing new ideas into their world. Ideas about fantastical objects that can be made with just playing around with a piece of paper, It encourages children to realize that they can and should imagine anything and put it into existence. Below are some of the photos showing art shadings, boats, hand fans, flowers, shirts and many others. This made them feel happy and special.
FOOD ISSUES.
As our monthly routine, food is issued to our children to help them not to go on empty stomachs as most of them are on medication; it has kept them healthy and happy. Thank you for making this happen.
CONCLUSION
Miryante community Centre children are so grateful and thankful for the unwavering support rendered to them. This has kept us moving forward. Thank you.
August Newsletter 2022
DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
Dear Sponsors, Donors and Friends,
From Miryante, we greet you as beloved friends. We are pleased to report that all Miryante Community Centre children are fine and healthy, and we appreciate your generous and kind support. Thank you for always putting a smile on their faces. The month of August marked the beginning of second term holiday, and our children were having a break as they waited for the beginning of the third term.
Our Centre Days are such precious moments for the children who are able to meet together. During Center days this August, different activities were enjoyed by enrollees in the Mubende area. For example, all children participated in shading and trimming off hair, slashing the grasses, cleaning the compound, reading story books etc. As part of mentoring and teaching, children were instructed on how to have proper hygiene. This is done to ensure that they grow up considering cleanliness as one of the major priorities in life. They were also encouraged to have discipline and respect their elders/guardians.
We are so proud of our young people, and enjoy watching them grow into responsible young adults.
May God bless you.
PROGRAM UPDATES
Education
Our children finished their second school term of the year and sat for their exams. Most had excellent performance, and we believe that with an emphasis on education and school visits with social workers continue to keep students motivated to achieve better grades. Holidays started on 29th July 2022 and will end on 5th September 2022. The children are enjoying their relaxing time and engaging in different holiday activities. They also received scholastic materials for next term. We really thank you our donors for the additional effort and support you contribute towards the children’s education.
Donations
Our children received gifts to support them in school. The children were excited and thankful to their donors’ unending love. They received boxes of pens, playing toys, clothes and mats etc. Huge thanks goes to Mihir Sanghrajka and Nitro Chemicals for their donation of pens to our kids. We also thank Jamil and Fatema for donating toys to our children. We also received donation of sanitary towels, which are critical for our adolescent girls.
Donor's Visit
A source of power is extremely important for the functioning of the Miryante Community Centre program. This month we want to thank Aptech Africa for giving us a solar pump irrigation machine as one way to overcome drought in the area. A loss of rain has deeply affected the production of food within the Miryante area. This solar pump system has enabled us to continuously grow vegetables such us cabbage, sukuma, tomatoes and onions, and our women were very happy and thankful to our donors. Women were taught how to operate the machine and skills as well.
Food Distribution
In August, our social workers delivered food as usual to our children. Each child received a bag of posho, which is critical for foster home health as most families face a challenge of food insecurity. Children and caretakers were thankful and appreciative for the support given to them. We advised the caretakers of these children to prepare meals in time to serve children food with their medication so that they swallow their drugs well. In the Miryante East program, each child happily received a bag of maize flour; this has enabled them to always have three meals a day. Thank you for efforts you put in to make sure that none of them suffer from an empty stomach. Manna pack rice was also issued. This rice contains most of the nutrients needed to boost our children’s immunity since most of them are HIV-positive. The children enjoy the rice so much and change is visible in their lives.
July Newsletter 2022
Director's Message
Dear beloved sponsors, donors and friends,
We greet you all. We thank the almighty God who has enabled us to reach this far. The children are all healthy and happy, thank you for the generous and never-ending support you always render to us. May the good Lord continue blessing you.
We must report that due to a prolonged drought in the country which resulted into famine in different areas, Miryante Community Centre decided to get a solar irrigation pump to help in farming activities like the growing of vegetables and other crops. Through doing this, Miryante Community Centre managed to became a leading supplier of vegetables in the community. Our children started eating a balanced diet almost daily because we were producing vegetables in plenty, and this improved their lives. What a wonderful investment in our area.
Construction of the MCC site is still ongoing. Currently a security fence is being constructed, helping both with staff and child safety. We also met with village leaders to discuss the issue of trespassing, and all concerns were successfully resolved. This is great progress for our efforts and community.
Program Updates
Education: Our children are always visited in both primary and secondary schools. Supplies they need at school were also delivered as the social workers check on their performance in class. According to reports collected and explanations from class teachers, most of our children performed well in their mid-term exams and are promising better results in their final exams. The teachers also tell us the children are well-behaved and well dressed.
Sports: One of the most important aspect of growing up is to have fun. Staff and social workers organizes a variety of different activities like foot ball, playing cards, basketball, and running. These activities have helped our children to become fit and healthy.
Culture: Our secondary students participated in entertainment activities at their school. Music, Dance and Drama Day was organized at their school to create entertainment competitions amongst four houses. The best house won a prize, and its members had a party as a prize. This event showcased folk songs, cultural dances, fashion competitions, skits, and miming.
Birthday Celebration: Birthday celebrations are not always possible, so a birthday party is extra special and makes the children feel good, special, and loved. According to Vincent Aijuka, who received a special sponsored birthday party, the celebration was an important moment in his life and he was happy joining together with his other fellow children as they enjoyed that day of his birthday. It was a surprise party from his sponsor Gwen Wolford, and it was amazing. Cakes and drinks were ordered that day and photos can show how the party went. This was such a generous treat for this young man and his friends!
Farming and Agriculture: Involving our children in hands-on activities allows them to explore and learn new concepts through experience. This will help them mature from hardworking children into adults who are dependent on their skills. It is Miryante’s hope that we are developing future entrepreneurs and useful self-employed people in the community.
Rearing goats is one of the most vital activities provided to our children by the organization. Providing a child with a goat teaches them and expands their opportunities. It also assists with wealth creation since goats occupy a small space and need a small grazing area but also can provide a source of milk and meat. Often these creatures help to provide children and their foster families with supplementary income. Below are some of our children with their own animals, provided through Miryante Community Centre.
Farming is one of the activities promoted to our sponsored children as a way to promote sound household diet. This is done with social workers and other instructors who teach the children how to make nursery beds, plant seeds, raise seedlings, water and transplant crops. Most of children are willing to learn and acquire knowledge and skills for health. This has also helped us to provide a balanced diet. The initiative is intended to build resilience as well as provide essential vitamins and minerals to vulnerable households. Our children rarely fall sick because they eat vegetables almost daily, and we are happy to report that their health has greatly improved. Besides that, solar pump irrigation machine is also being installed in place to simplify farming activities as one way of overcoming drought. We are proud of these advances and the skills we teach.