James, myself and Unathi, the Metro Kids Africa (MKA) manager in South Africa, went to Uganda recently.
This was a long overdue trip for me as I had not been for 9 years. Last time I was in Uganda, David was a volunteer leader and MKA was working in 4 schools. Now we have 12 staff and are working in 124 schools reaching 36,270 children each week. What a wonderful work God has helped Metro Kids Africa achieve and we are still growing!
Uganda is a very different country to South Africa. It is poorer and more rural with the vast majority of the population living far from cities. South Africa has more issues with unemployment, violence and crime.
Uganda has one of the youngest populations in the world, with an average age of 16.7 years per person. Unfortunately, Uganda has one of the highest maternal death ratios because many women give birth without a health professional being present.Sadly, 13% of children do not reach 5 years old due to illnesses such as malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea.
Because it is a rural country many people work as farm labourers and in fact many own a small amount of land where they grow crops to feed their families and sell a little in towns.
The majority of schools are privately owned and because of the long distances children would have to walk each day to get to school, it is normal for children to board. These schools are very poor as they rely on families paying school fees and often families do not manage to do this.
Schools invite MKA each week to teach Christian based life skills programmes and this is always received with appreciation from teachers and pupils alike. We hear over and over again how these lessons have influenced the school in a positive way as children learn to put the values taught into practice. Children are kinder to one another and use positive ways to communicate rather than being harsh with their words with their fellow pupils.
The MKA staff team all have said working for MKA has transformed their lives. As well as now having a regular salary enabling them to care for their families, they also feel the lessons they teach to children have transformed their personal lives. One staff member was incredibly shy when she first heard the lessons being taught at a school she worked in. As she heard how Jesus loved her personally, this message became real to her. Her confidence grew as she accepted the love for her that our Heavenly Father has. Now she is on staff with MKA and loves to teach the lessons which changed her own life.
I have never experienced so much warmth and hospitality as when we visited families in their homes. Despite having little themselves we were given home made baskets, avocados, bananas, potatoes and even a duck and a chicken! People have so little but are generous with what they do have.
I know for sure that now it won’t be 9 years before I visit Uganda again as my heart has been touched by the beautiful people of Uganda.
Thank you for all the support you give as this work would not be happening without you.
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