Update From Fred

A Happy Christmas, 

Greetings, we are all fine and I pray you are fine too, This December we are doing home visitation program with kids, we have gone to 15 families already.

We are having discussion with different families of our children. We are talking about the properties of this children which is under their care to keep them for the children, we are also talking about their responsibilities as relatives of this children.  

Though there are some challenges like the family of Steven, the Uncle sold one of his goats without notifying Steven and we are telling him to replace the goat back. The same issue is with Gerad's family. We are telling these families that these are their children and they should be good stewardship, and to know they still have a roll in the lives of these children. 

We plan to reach out to all our children's families before January.
Greetings to all,
Fred

The Dedication Celebration!

The dedication of the second school building was a huge event.
There was well over 200 folks there enjoying the speakers, music and food. The children performed their traditional dance and modeled their uniforms.

Serving The Community

This has been a very busy day for all students of Saving Grace Primary School as they give back to the community. Our children was able to teach the community on how to give a hand to the elderly.  A team led by Sarah took to Mzee [ old papa, his real name is yeko ] bars of soap & beans. And a team lead by Steven was able to do clearing of the Mzee's compound, slashing around the hut. Sarah and the rest of the girls were able to clean up the house and arrange things for the old papa.

This old man was very happy, since in the community nothing like this has ever happen to him. This old man lives in a open door house with high grass where snakes can easily enter in his house.  But thank God for Saving Grace student who were able and willing to give a hand to this very old man in need.
 
Blessing to you all who is able to support these children. The children are learning how to give back to the needy people in the community around them.

Thanks so much, You will be able to watch this in the documentary next month.   Fred

Three New Children

                                         Emmanuel           Edmon            Monica

There is a long and painful story behind each child's face. As you read through them 
remember to keep children in your prayers.  There is much healing that needs to take place.

Monica spent three years on the streets when she lost both parents to AIDS. 
She had to walk 42 miles from her village to Lira town for safety. But after arriving to Lira town things became worst for her.  While on the streets Monica was continually abused sexually, and suffered emotional trauma.   She was eventually picked up and placed in a home as a slave. Monica was made to do all the house work including looking after a child. Street girls are often picked up and placed in homes to become a domestic worker. The treatment they suffer in these homes are not far from what they were dealing with on the streets.

Edmon lost both of his parents to AIDS and spent four years on the streets. Like Monica, Edmon was also abused on the streets and was used as cheap labor for business men in town. Edmon is 13 years old.

Emmanuel parents died of AIDS and spent two years on the streets. He was abused and bitten on many occasions by police patrol and night guards. Emmanuel is 12 years old.

You will find there pictures on our sponsor page soon.

Our Second House

Our second house all painted and looking great. Thank you so much Jim & Debby for making this possible. It is so exciting to see two beautiful homes on the property.

So Much Going On!

The children's village is a busy places these days. 

 The second school building is nearing it's last phases and the construction crew just broke ground for the soccer field.  Before long we will be able to hold some exciting games with other nearby schools.

Fred and the staff have been spending the last few days meeting with a group of street kids. Today they received  new shorts and shirts as an early celebration for their Independence day.

Fred wrote:   

The young girl in the school uniform is Zubedah Atime.  We have taken her of the street and she has been with us for one week.,We still want to get more information about her including her family, right now what we are doing is to familiarize her and for her to develop trust in us and we shall go to her relatives to get detail information about her. 

Here is the video of the birthday party for all the children at Saving Grace in Uganda.  It makes us all a little homesick for Uganda.

Happy Birthday Party

Decorating for the party

Three cakes and lots of soda makes for a great celebration!

 Everyone had a great time Saturday celebrating their birthday. Fred bought one big birthday card and read it to all the children while they lite the candles. Add soda to that and you have one awesome day!

Staff leading the children in the happy birthday song.

Here We Go!

Fred was standing by with a shovel no doubt.    But what a way to start!

Fred

Growing Up

 The children's village is growing by leaps and bounds and the children couldn't be happier.  After years of being in town at Uncle Fred's House the children are so happy to have room to run and play.

With all that good clean air I think they have all grown a foot since last year.

Ten children are anxiously waiting to move in to the new house. All that is left to do is  painting and placing glass in the windows.


If you are interested in having a House Warming Party to raise funds for the following:
5 bunk beds, 11 bedsheets,  10 mosquito nets, one single bed, one dresser, 10 footlockers and one picnic table. Contact us and we will get you started with the House Warming Party Packet.

Kids Receive Bibles

Hey mama,Papa.

We were blessed today, by one of the Bible society in Uganda and we were
the only school who requested Bibles and got them today. All 
our children and the community children got Bible and all the teachers
also received a copy of bible, it was an amazing experience today.


Uncle Fred

How exciting it is to watch the next house being built. I think it's time for a house warming party! Check out our gift catalog on our website.

Thanks to a very special couple we have another home going up. With so many children coming into the program we have already out grown what we have.

Our Girl's Show Off Their New Uniforms

Fred writes: Hey Mama & Papa.

Greetings Mama, we are all fine and school is doing great. In the pictures our young school girls are welcoming Ester, Nancy and Miriam on their first day of school. The girls are wearing their new after school wear. It was a very excited time for our girls to received such wonderful welcome and sign of love by the community children. It has made Ester much more comfortable to have her age group welcoming her in this lovely manner. Ester said that she has never experienced that anywhere before.

Our Attention Turns To Street Girls

Our Attention Turns To Street Girls

SGU has started a new program to rescue girls that are living on the streets.

It is much harder to locate girls as they are quickly scooped up by wicked men and trafficked

into force labor and sexual exploitation. Fred & Quinto search the streets at night to rescue

young girls that may be selling their bodies to earn money. These girls are required to give the

money to men who control street children to make a living. In return for their earnings, the

men provide the girls with a "safe" place to sleep but the girls are then also sexually exploited

by these men and the street boys. Fred & Quinto located one little girl in January who had been

sent away from home by her grandmother. After learning that her mother had died, Fred and

Quinto were able to find her father. After speaking with the father about the situation, Fred

placed her back in her father's care.      

 


Fred wrote:

"On the streets, we have been able to identify four more girls. One we have placed back with her family.

Nancy, Esther and Miriam are at Uncle Fred's House while a home investigation is going on. Two of the

girls were working at a small hotel in town and were both sexually abused. We had them tested and both

are cleared for HIV and AIDS. Esther however suffers from malaria often. Miriam was placed in our care

after being notified by local police that a very young girl was spotted on the streets. All the girls have

started school this week. Esther is going in primary five and Nancy and Miriam is in primary one."

Esther, Nancy, Miriam and our Sarah

Students

One of our new primary school signs that will grace our property thanks to a good friend.

Students heading into class.

Picture of our younger primary students during prayer time.

                                         Our boys in their new dress uniform.

The girls heading to class.

School Day

 How exciting to have both of the bath houses finished. Each building has two toilet stalls and one bathing stall.
One is for the girls and the other for boys.

 The pictures below show each classroom with there bright and cheerful colors.
The teachers are now working on putting up all the classroom decorations that we sent over.

Our goal is to visually stimulate the mind and make learning a new adventure.

 The new school desk are large and stained in a light color to keep the rooms looking bright.
With no electricity at the school, keeping the rooms well lit is very important.

Our classes are small at this time due to this being our first year to open. Next year we will probably have a full house and then some.

New Pictures

 Thank you