2021 Impact Report
Overview
In 1984, Gary and Marilyn Skinner founded Watoto Church with a clear vision to transform lives in Africa with the love of Jesus. Not long after our first church service, HIV/AIDS devastated the continent. People began dying, turning children into orphans. It was clear—how could a church say they love Jesus and not do something about the pain and suffering around them? So, our work began. Now, almost 40 years later we’re seeing a new day full of hope. Thanks to your love and generosity, last year we were able to rescue some of Africa’s most vulnerable children, teach women their value in Christ and help restore hope to the hopeless.
Watoto is a place of hope that is built on the belief that Jesus can make all things new again.
In fact, sponsors across Canada gave $3,787,821 to help us feed, clothe, educate, raise, and share the love of Christ with the women, children, and babies we’ve rescued, together. And through our Watoto Canada office, overall we raised $4,732,136 for the vital work God has called us to do in Uganda and South Sudan. The highlights in this report are just a small glimpse of the incredible impact you’re making. From the bottom of our hearts—thank you!
While we nurtured our little ones and watched them grow, we also celebrated as 35 of our toddlers transitioned to their new forever families on one of our Watoto villages where they’re now being given lots of love by their Watoto mother. This is your love in action, and we’re forever grateful.
We’re thankful for all our nannies, staff, and volunteers whose love and care was vital to seeing 97% of the babies we assessed in 2021 reach their developmental milestones.
Our staff and volunteers served with all their hearts, especially during the challenging times, to ensure each of the 162 babies in our Baby Watoto family received the love and care they needed to survive.
With all the great things God has already done through Watoto, there are new challenges we’re facing. So, we’ll keep working to bring healing to the new pains and hurts throughout Africa knowing God will lead, direct, and provide.
Baby Watoto
Our team also continued to work with local authorities, and together we were able to rescue 44 of Uganda’s most vulnerable babies. That means 44 little lives were saved and given a new chance at life. And because of partners like you, over the years we’ve rescued 1,531 babies and counting. Each one is a living miracle and a reminder of God’s faithfulness.
As we celebrate Christ and care for community, we’re grateful that Watoto is a family made up of people like you from all over the world. Together, we will continue to rescue the most vulnerable babies, raise future leaders, and restore dignity to women in our neighbourhoods. Together, we will see more lives transformed through the love of Jesus. And together, we will behold the new.
Meet Mama Christine, one of our Watoto mothers who is raising eight children in a family full of love. A breeze glides over the table, gently lifting the pages of Mama Christine’s Bible. It’s a reminder that the busy day of cleaning, cooking, and looking after eight children is winding down. It’s also a reminder of God’s quiet and constant presence and provision in her life. She reads aloud treasuring this moment with Joseph. She’s humbled when she thinks how God can use her simple act of reading and praying with her children to transform their Beforelives.Christine came to Watoto, she struggled to provide for her two biological children. Unable to attend school, her kids were struggling too. Eventually, Christine was brought on as a Watoto mother and her life changed. She went from worrying about two children, to seeing God provide for the eight children He now entrusted with her. She’s thankful for this moment with Joseph. It’s a clear reminder how God can create a new and beautiful reality. futureUganda’sleaders
Watoto Villages
Raising
Across our three Watoto villages, we’re raising 3,415 children—each one belongs to a loving family and grows up learning their value in Christ. And although the past few years have been difficult, when we look back, we marvel at how God provided and carried us through. Since we first began, we’ve rescued and provided a home, food, an education, a family, and a bright future to over 5,700 children—and each year our family grows. In fact, last year we welcomed 113 new children into their very own Watoto family. And at the heart of every family on our villages is a Watoto mother. We have nearly 400 mothers who help ensure each child we rescue grows up feeling safe, healthy, and secure knowing they are dearly loved.
In 2021, in our Watoto schools we provided an education to: • 1,708 primary school students • 890 O-level secondary school students • 172 A-level secondary school students We also provided an education to: • 492 tertiary and university students
Meet Marvin, one of our Watoto graduates who is now mentoring the next generation.
Watoto is dedicated to raising Africa’s future leaders. And thanks to God’s grace and your support, we’re doing just that. So, although students were not able to meet in the classroom last year, we continued to find creative ways to educate our children. And we’re thankful for our teachers who were flexible and willing to adapt to new techniques of teaching to meet the needs of the students.
Marvin came to Watoto as a young boy. Recently, he shared, “Growing up in Watoto was truly God’s plan. Thanks to our sponsors for their support and love. We wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for God and them.”
Education
“Watoto helped deepen my relationship with Christ and discover my God-given talents as I used them to serve his people. Now I get to see my students strengthen their skills and grow in their own walk with God. My heart is filled with joy,” exclaimed Marvin.
Last year, we had 2,770 students throughout our Watoto villages that were learning, growing, and working towards the bright futures God has for them.
On our Watoto villages, we had 207 teachers that worked hard to ensure that each of our 2,770 Watoto students continued to learn and grow in new and creative ways. In February 2022, we all celebrated as government lockdowns lifted and our schools reopened. Our children are thrilled to be back at school learning alongside their classmates. They’ve also been able to return to extracurricular activities that are vital to their development. Almost half of our students participated in an extracurricular activity, including 603 children who participated in a sport through our Sports Academy and 168 children who explored how they can creatively and passionately share God’s love with the world as part of our Worship Academy. We’re grateful to our teachers, coaches and mentors who are truly raising Uganda’s future leaders as they help our students strengthen their skills and discover their identity in Christ.
Last year, we also celebrated as 54 of our students graduated university. And we are continuing to cheer on 492 of our young adults who are currently at university, or a tertiary school, studying to further their education and become the leaders God has called them to be.
Our farms provide nutritious food for our Watoto families
Sustainability
Medical
To protect our mothers and children, during the peak of the pandemic we continued to restrict access to our villages to only essential workers and limited movement throughout our villages. We also focused heavily on health education and preventative measures to keep our Watoto families healthy and Additionally,safe.ourmedical team continued to protect our Watoto families from diseases like malaria by distributing 2,319 mosquito nets throughout our villages. And they administered 1,752 immunizations for diseases like measles, polio, and hepatitis B. We’re grateful for the volunteer teams that came through to support our medical team in a critical time, including a team from Southeastern University as well as doctors and nurses from Canada and the US who traveled to Uganda to help us meet the pressing medical needs last year. And thanks to our partner MUK Dental School, we were able to provide dental checkups for 1,608 children on our Suubi village.
To help keep our families healthy, our farms provided nutritious food, including fresh vegetables, fruit, and eggs to our children and mothers, as well as goat’s milk for our babies. Our farms also help strengthen our communities by providing jobs and creating opportunities that have a lasting Inimpact.fact, we have several Watoto graduates and 64 people from the surrounding neighborhoods working every day to provide food for our children. And we’re partnering with our schools to give our kids an early introduction to farming. It’s a great opportunity for some of our children to learn the business of agriculture and maybe one day run a farm of their own.
Providing medical care is a cornerstone of rescuing and raising future leaders, and throughout the pandemic God’s provision and protection have been overwhelming. The support of sponsors and partners across the globe made it possible for us to continue to ensure our children are physically healthy so they could focus on their studies, play with their friends, and grow spiritually and emotionally.
• 1,169 mothers and their children were given help with medical care and expenses
• 226 mothers received Christ as their personal Lord and Savior
We are grateful for the generosity of our partners that allowed us to provide a much needed helping hand to vulnerable women in our community. And we are even more thrilled with the results that support is having on their lives. Here are just a few highlights of your impact:
Watoto Neighbourhood
In 2021, we continued to extend our reach into our neighbourhoods as we embraced 975 vulnerable women in Uganda and South Sudan. Millions of women throughout Africa bear the brunt of war, poverty, and disease. Uneducated, unloved, and unwanted, they’ve been robbed of all dignity, left to suffer alone, unable to take care of their children. Yet, for many around the world, we are living in the most prosperous time in history while our sisters are suffering without hope. Watoto Neighbourhood is changing this. With the love of Jesus, we are seeing new hope burst through the old shell of poverty. We are empowering mothers so they can provide for their children and rebuild their communities. Last year, the pandemic and government lockdowns continued to have a significant impact on our communities. So, we worked to continue to find ways to ensure our Neighbourhood mothers had the support they needed, whether it was help paying rent or feeding their children, we helped provide the basic necessities they needed for themselves and their families. With the help of our partners across the globe, last year we provided the following support to our Neighbourhood mothers:
• 3,468 mothers received COVID-19 relief support and food for their families
• 238 mothers received help with rent
And thanks to the generosity of people all over the world, we were able to invest in almost 1,000 small businesses that our recently trained ladies were ready to start. This means 1,000 women now have more control of their destiny.
• 667 mothers received an “embrace” package, providing items like a mattress, a blanket, cooking saucepans and basic pantry items
• 473 women were given a financial boost to help them keep their small business afloat during the lockdowns
• 799 mothers graduated after going through literacy classes, discipleship, and business and skills training
• 307 women put their new skills to good use and saw an increase in their monthly income
• 1,419 food baskets were given to families during the Christmas holidays
• 208 women passed their adult literacy classes, many learning to write their names and read their Bibles for the very first time
“Keep a Girl in School is everything to me. They helped me stop worrying every month about my periods or where I would get the money to buy pads, so instead I could focus on my studies.”
Although school closures affected our Keep a Girl in School initiative last year, we were still able to provide sanitary products, discipleship, hygiene education and support to over 10,984 vulnerable girls. In 2021, we expanded the number of schools we’re partnering with to 65 schools. And although school closures caused by the pandemic affected our Keep a Girl in School initiative, we were still able to conduct outreaches within the communities we serve, providing sanitary products, hygiene education, discipleship, and support to 10,924 vulnerable girls—935 girls in Gulu, northern Uganda and 9,989 in Juba, South FromSudan.the generosity of our global partners to local leaders and school leadership who provided venues for discipleship and hygiene education classes, we continued to see God’s provision during our community outreaches.
The pandemic had a major effect in Uganda causing a spike in teen pregnancies, dropout rates, and gender-based violence. This made our efforts even more important than ever. And because of your love and support, our team continued to come alongside these precious girls and remind them that their lives matter.
Keep a Girl in School
We’re thrilled to share 1,547 girls gave their lives to Christ. That’s 1,547 girls that could have become another statistic, but now have a new life full of purpose thanks to your continued support.
Through our Keep a Girl in School initiative, 981 girls registered in their candidate classes for primary school national exams, Uganda Certificate in Education and Uganda Advanced Certificate in Education. This means these your support is not only ensuring girls receive an education, but it’s changing their future! We can’t thank you enough.
Meet Mary, one of the girls who is part of our Keep a Girl in School initiative. At sixteen years old, Mary is aware of the challenges of consistently attending school. She has 13 brothers and sisters. She understands being in school is a privilege that will unlock her full potential. But her determination is not about her alone. “My parents can’t afford to send us all to school, so I study to change their stories. I want to provide for them. That’s why school is so important to Maryme.” explained her reality, sharing, “Keep a Girl in School changed everything. My parents struggled to take care of me and my brothers and sisters and couldn’t afford sanitary pads. As a girl I had to find a way. I would often have to use cloths during my period because that’s all I had.”
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