WWW.WATOTO.COM | FALL 2015 | ISSUE NO.1
WELCOME HOME Day for the special needs children under Watoto care. It was the annual Sports Gala and the children could not wait to participate in the various activities of the day. The aim of the annual Awareness/Fun Day for children with special needs is to give children with special needs a platform for self expression
through fun, music, sports and more in a safe environment. The event attracted a number of foundations and organizations caring for children with both mental and physical special needs. “For other children, a sports day is a normal affair. This should be the same for the special needs children. However
when I looked around, there was nothing for them.” Says Florence Namaganda, founder of the Special Children’s Fund. The day kicked off with the children marching to the main venue where the main festivities took place. The Watoto children participated and competed in a number of games ranging from bottle filling, ring dancing, chair dancing, reciting poems and karaoke among others. While the children played, the Watoto
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mothers cheered them on with such pride. Sarah Kaisoke one of the mothers happily shared the reason for her excitement. “I love coming here. Seeing my children doing all this reminds me just how capable they are. I know they can do everything, they just need the opportunity. More than that, it gives me hope to see someone who shares my struggle, sometimes taking on even more than I am. That
is the reason I look forward to coming. The Ugandan government’s support of Watoto’s cause was expressed by the Deputy speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, Jacob Oulanya who was also the day’s guest of honour. “After what I have seen today, I no longer need to be mobilized. I just need to be deployed. The government is with you.” he said. Beyond the day’s achievements, the gala has helped Watoto foster
relationships and partnerships with like-minded organizations in Uganda. “These gala’s help us to network with different organizations. We are able to share information and get advice from one another,” said Joel Kiisa, who works as the occupational therapist for Watoto Homes . To partner with Watoto, email canada@watoto.ca
OUR FAMILY’S VISIT TO WATOTO My husband, Chris, and I served as short-term missionaries in Sao Paulo and our hearts were immediately inclined towards missions. Four years ago, our family of 4 sat at our first Watoto Children’s choir concert at our home church in Calgary and our hearts were changed forever. The Watoto Children’s choir gently made us aware of the pain and devastation the Ugandan people have suffered, but also the stories of transformation through Watoto’s mission to rescue, raise and rebuild a nation. Since that concert, we sponsored 3 Watoto children and diligently wrote letters to them. We made a promise to our Ugandan children that we would come to meet them someday and this past summer (July 2015), we did just that.
On our visit to Uganda, we saw all the villages and homes that Watoto operates. Seeing first-hand, the love and care for the children and the ministry of Watoto, only confirms our commitment to share the Watoto vision. Our hearts had no choice but to overflow and pour into these wonderful, smiling and healthy children and women. We had the privilege of spending time with our sponsored children. It felt like a home-coming in some ways. Our daughter, Ashley, has already been asked to do a presentation about Watoto to her entire school, so that will be an exciting opportunity for her. We are excited to see where this Watoto journey will take us, and what we can do with this increased zest for Watoto.
EMPOWERED ALLEN Allen Mumpe, a mother of six, spent most of her hours in a garden planting sweet potatoes. She sold them at the market and collected the leftovers for her family to have a meal for the day. “That is all we lived on. Every day I sat under the scortching sun with tears in my eyes asking God to help me get out of this situation. I continued working even though my back ached,” she said. A friend who knew about Allen’s situation connected her to Living Hope and she joined our program in March last year. “I was very excited; the first thing I did was get on my knees and thank God,” she said. After completing discipleship lessons, Allen joined Living Hope’s jewellery department. She is one of 133 women in
Kampala who received skills training at Living Hope this year, with many more waiting to be empowered. These skills open doors of opportunity for these mothers to provide a better future for their children. Before Living Hope, Allen slept at a church to save money. “That is in the past now. It gives me so much joy to have a good salary. Something that used to be a dream is now a reality. I can never stop to express my sincere gratitude to God and Living Hope for making me feel valuable.” Living Hope is all about rebuilding communities by empowering mothers to be able to care for their children. It is about giving families the resources to succeed. We are excited to be a part of Allen’s empowerment journey, and to see her leading her children to greater heights.
BLAZERS FOR UGANDA I am officially done business school! (Assuming I pass all my courses.) With school out of the way and with much anticipation, I was super excited to announce that I was going to AFRICA for six weeks at the end of August! More specifically, going to Uganda to volunteer with Living Hope, which is a project of Watoto. I first heard of Living Hope when the founder, Marilyn Skinner, visited the church I attend in Victoria, BC. The main goal of Living Hope is to restore dignity into the lives of Africa’s most vulnerable women. What stands out for me with Living Hope is their “hand up” versus “hand out” mentality. Prior to leaving, I launched a campaign called “Blazers 4 Uganda” where people could donate a gently worn blazer that I would then bring with me to Uganda to give to one of the women. In turn, I would bring my
camera so that I could take a photo of the woman wearing a donated blazer and send back the photo along with the woman’s name and story. My intention for the campaign was to enable women in Canada do a simple gesture of donating a blazer and give it to someone who can have use for it. While in Uganda, I will be helping Living Hope with the launch of a new jewelry line as well as working with the women one-on-one on their business initiatives. I cannot think of a better opportunity for myself to apply what I have learned over the past four years than this one. (Let’s see if I paid attention!) What I do know is that I am willing and have an open heart, which is all that God requires, as I know He will equip me to do the rest.
SPRINGS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY “Our first letters” from our Watoto sponsor kids inspired us to sponsor more Watoto children. Springs Christian Academy has recently taken on 16 new sponsorships for their preschool to grade 5 classes. Kim Story, the Vice Principal of Spring’s Christian Academy, already a sponsor, had the desire to get the children of her school involved in helping those less fortunate. Having seen the Watoto choir and their stories of transformation, Springs Christian Academy decided that sponsoring children would be a great way to have their students
involved in making an impacting change. They had a fundraiser focusing on child sponsorship and raised enough money to sponsor 16 children. Each class from preschool to grade 5 was able to sponsor a boy and a girl. Kim has found that it has been this individual and personal tie that has made the difference to so many of the children at Springs Christian Academy. Your school or class could make a positive difference in the world around them by becoming a sponsor with Watoto. For further information on sponsorship, please email sposnsorship@watoto.ca.
15-year-old Brian Kimbugwe received a Slammer’s game and could hardly hide his joy. “I am so excited and thankful. I thank God and all our sponsors because now I have something that my friends and I can play with over the weekend”said Brian. The next gift distribution will
take place in Watoto Suubi village as soon as there are enough gifts in the pool. Thank you to all those who contribute to the gift pool. For information about the gift pool or to make a donation, please contact canada@watoto.ca
BBIRA GIFT DISTRIBUTION “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9. August 1st was such a day of reaping for the children at the Watoto Bbira village who had exhibited outstanding behaviour since the beginning of the year. The excitement and anticipation in the air as the children gathered around their senior mothers to receive their rewards was unmistakable. The assortment of gifts handed out included clothes, notebooks, bags, candies, dolls and games among others, bought using money from a pool contributed to by various sponsors. 8-year-old Jasmine received her brand new “Winnie the Pooh” doll and a lovely pair of shorts with such a huge smile. “I feel so good,” she said. “I am going to play with my new toy on Saturdays and wear my shorts on Sunday because it is church day.”
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