Greetings to you all our dear donors and sponsors. What a blessing to have you in the lives of our Children, giving them hope for a better life. Your support makes a big difference compared to any ordinary Child in Uganda. What a great smile you have put on all Children of Lulwanda as they wake up in the morning knowing they have everything they need in life, and are part of a big family where they are loved and cared for. Thank you for showing these kids great love and treating them as part of your families. On that note, allow me to update on some of the activities and highlights of April at Lulwanda.

MEDICAL REPORT

This month largely started off on a good note. Minor dental procedures were taken care of, and there were no serious cases of malaria or any other illness outside of one major case of gastritis, but God has kept His Children well. We do have a current challenge in that COVID-19 has finally found its way into Lulwanda. After much testing we have found five staff members who are positive and have closed the school and quarantined the home to non-essential staff for a period of fourteen days per Ugandan government standard operating procedures. Each person who tested positive has had mild to moderate symptoms but all are recovering. We have had no case of any symptomatic spread within the children and have placed everyone on prophylaxis to boost immunity during this period. Please continue to pray with us that God uses this for His Glory and that no further infection will take place.

DISCIPLESHIP

Discipleship and teaching the Gospel is at the heart of all that we do at Lulwanda. We continue to see lives and hearts changed in response to the love of Christ and fellowship and Bible studies conducted. Currently we are covering typically taboo topics of abstinence and a biblical worldview of sexuality and marriage along with empowering the children to speak up if ever pressured or forced into any sin. Please be praying for wisdom and guidance from the Lord as to which topics we need to cover and that the Holy Spirit will be working in the hearts of both our staff and Children.

SECONDARY SCHOOL CHILDREN

All our candidate Children at O level and A level completed their national exams and now are waiting for results in July and August. We bless the Lord for helping our Children to complete the exams successfully and also keeping them safe while at school, especially through this pandemic of COVID-19. These candidates include Abel, John, Carol, Gift, Norah, Timothy, Arafat, Donna, Jackie, Phoebe, Joel and Brian. Abel, John and Carol will be Joining the University or Trade School while the rest of the kids will be Joining A’ level or Branch to a trade school. Let’s continue to pray for better grades for the Glory of His Name. Meanwhile the Ministry of Education gave guidelines for children reporting back to school in a phased manner. At the beginning of this month, S.1 & S.2 students reported back to school and are now joined by their friends the S.3s who had reported in early March. The children were so excited to get back to school and begin learning. All the scholastic materials have been provided and we have also paid their tuition. We are grateful for the financial support to enable our Children to be in school without any disturbances.

LULWANDA PRIMARY SCHOOL

All the kids have reported back to school including the community Children. Teachers are doing what it takes to help the community children catch up with the syllabus since they did not study during the lockdown. Our Lulwanda kids are at an advantage because they were able to homeschool during the lockdown. All is well at LPS as the teachers found with covid-19 are now testing negative. We are grateful to the Almighty God that we never lost any life.

HOUSE CONSTRUCTION

Construction of houses 7 & 8 kicked off this month and groundbreaking was witnessed by Chairman Larry Hoelscher on his short visit to Lulwanda. Right now the two houses have reached the roofing level and hopefully within the coming two months, they will be ready for use. Houses 7 & 8 will accommodate the secondary boys and girls between the age of 13-17 yrs. What a great joy to have all our Children living in a home like environment where they can receive enough attention, care and love. We are grateful to all of you for the generous donations towards the construction of these new houses.

FINANCIAL TRAINING

Two of our social workers (Irene and Olive) and one alumni Anthony Wanzala had financial training at Mbale Presbyterian Church.  The two days training was facilitated by Virgil Hughes from the US and coordinated by Chairman Larry and Mama Aida Ogenga. The focus was about savings and this was a follow up of the first financial training in December 2020. The knowledge and skills acquired from the trainers will be passed on to the staff members and all the Lulwanda Alumni. We are grateful for this opportunity as it will impact our staff members and Children to have financial discipline and understand the value of savings.

HOME INSPECTION

The Ministry officials again visited the Home this month as mandated in the inspection guidelines to all approved homes. The purpose of the inspection is always to obtain statistical data on key areas and ensure the safety of the Children. As usual, the ministry officials were impressed with the work on ground and encouraged us to strengthen the SOPs during this period when the world is experiencing the second wave of the epidemic.

FARM WORK

We are grateful to our kids that have remained committed to the garden work. It has now become a normal activity for every child because they have enjoyed the fruits of their labor. This month all Children in different houses are busy weeding beans and maize which they planted last month. This is always done during weekends when they are free from school. House moms have been very instrumental in teaching our Children how to dig (cultivate and grow) plus other life skills.

CONCLUSION

Thank you for sparing time to read this report and above all your desire to know more about the Lulwanda family. We are doing well because of your support and every financial help has a great impact in changing the lives of Lulwanda Children. We are grateful to the LMC and US Board of directors for guidance, wisdom and ensuring that all is well at Lulwanda. God bless you all.

In Him,

Paul Isabirye

Administrator

Lulwanda Children’s Home

It’s exciting to bring warm greetings again from the big family of Lulwanda. We are grateful to the Almighty God for the breath of life despite the challenges faced and even losing our dear ones due to the pandemic which has affected us globally.  We are also grateful to God that hope is being restored as we have the vaccination available to prevent the spread of this dangerous disease. Several activities happened this month and allow me to share with you.

MEDICAL REPORT

Medical care at Lulwanda and Tendo has gone well this past month.  We have had no major cases of illness this month and God has continued to show His providence in this area.  Our staff and Children are trained to adequately see signs and symptoms of illness before they become serious which has increased our ability to ensure prompt medical attention when needed.  We will soon be hiring a full-time on site nurse who will attend to all cases at Lulwanda Children’s Home and Lulwanda Primary School as their main role.  This nurse will also take part in education and counselling both at the home and school on subjects such as proper hygiene, wound care, etc.  We also desire this on-site nurse to be involved in the mentoring of our children in preparing them for basic medical care for their own children once they inevitably depart from Lulwanda’s program.  This nurse will work with and under supervision of the Medical Coordinator-Ryan.  Please continue to pray that God provides both the nutritional, emotional, and physiological support for the continued good health of all our children for His glory alone.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL

Due to COVID 19, the school calendar changed from the normal one.  The new academic year will now start in August 2021 and that’s when all Children will be promoted to next classes. Currently schools are studying in shifts until August when all classes will resume. Below is the calendar for opening and closing for each class (all are in this year, 2021). 

CLASS	OPENING DATE	CLOSING DATE
P.7	January 11	March 31
P.6	March 1	May 21
P.5 & P.4	March 6	May 4
P.3, P.2 & P.1	June 7	July 24

The reporting date for Pre-primary (Nursery) is not indicated because public schools don’t have pre-primary. We just assume that they will begin with P.1, P.2 and P.3. However, the Ministry of Education will soon introduce Pre-primary section in Public schools because research indicates that kids who go through Pre-primary perform better than kids who skip it.

Most Secondary schools in Uganda have defied the government guidelines and all Secondary School Children have reported back to school. This means all our secondary kids have reported back to school. However, they will have to follow the new academic year which starts in August.

I am glad to report that all our P.7 and S.4 candidate kids completed their final National exams successfully. The P.7 kids included Marion Neboshe, Madina Akello, Betty Kisakye and Joyce Kibone while the S.4 kids include Gift Naluboka, Norah Masai, Timothy Wandiba, Alafat Gizamabali, Jackie Ngwabe, Donna Nadunga, Brian Webisa, Pheobe Nambozo and Willy Joel Wamono. 

The S.6 kids who include John Mutoshi and Abel Musobal will begin next month (April). Be praying that God gives them courage and wisdom during the examination period.  All the University and Trade School Kids have also reported back to Campus while others are having lectures on line.

SARAH GIMONO AND IVAN MUSAMBAKI

God has blessed us with two of our children who showed interest in studying Nursing and Midwifery at certificate level. Sarah Gimono has just enrolled for year one at Salem School of Nursing while Ivan Musambaki is a second year student. After a full year of sitting home because of Covid-19, the two reported back to school. We shall ask God for the provision of all the school requirements, tuition and personal shopping to enable them to have a smooth learning. We hope to support them at diploma level if they maintain a high grade at certificate level.

 BUYINZA MOSES AND ISAAC WATERO

 It is with much gladness that we would like to report that two of our young adults, Buyinza Moses and Isaac Watero were restored into our program on reduced benefits. They are now enrolled for driving training at Mount Elgon Driving Institute.  Buyinza Moses had failed to complete S4 and had rebelled in his lifestyle.  Moses has now come back and been given some restoration in that despite his rebellion he is now being given an opportunity to earn a living now that he has humbled himself.  Isaac completed a certificate in IT successfully, but found it hard to find work and had also desired to go for driving as there are many jobs in that sector.  Thank you to God’s provision through the GICF USA board in helping these two obtain a means of earning a living.

DISCIPLESHIP REPORT

The ongoing evangelistic and discipleship efforts are producing fruit both in LCH and also amongst Tendo and Alumni.  This month I am pleased to announce fifteen children confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and made the personal decision to follow Him. Praise the Lord!! This is without a doubt the fruits of a Christ-first centered Lulwanda and testimony of the hard work undertaken by all staff to ensure that their spiritual lives will remain the most vital aspect of their lives.  This profession of faith was during one of the recent group devotionals conducted by Pastor Martin.  Tendo Bible study has also resumed and issues of sexual purity and a Biblical world-view on this subject is being covered.  We have 16 Children who have pledged to remain sexually pure until marriage.  Please join us in prayer that the Spirit of God will continue to go before us and prepare the hearts of all those we disciple and evangelize.  Our sincere desire is that God be seated upon the throne of all of our children’s lives.  Please also be praying for further professions of faith, along with a 1 Corinthians 6:18 approach to the lives of our older children. 

MINISTRY SAFE REPORT

Late last year the board of GICF USA tasked us with taking our staff through sexual abuse awareness training.  This training has been extremely beneficial and we are grateful for it being provided.  Currently all staff (excluding those on leave) have completed the training successfully.  We are in a better position organizationally to root out sexual sin both by predators that may seek employment within, and within our peer groups of children.  Please pray for God’s protection over the purity of our children at Lulwanda and that this training not be a certificate we all hang on the wall, but one we live out as watchful shepherds over our flock.

ASSESSMENT OF NEW CHILDREN

We have embarked on the assessment of new orphaned kids who need rescue.  We have reports of such kids who are total orphans and vulnerable, and the social workers are currently assessing such families. The number of Children who are orphans and vulnerable is overwhelming but we shall only bring in 11 this year 2021 due to budget constraints.  Very soon a joint team involving the government officials and Lulwanda team will visit those families before sending the final list to the US board for approval. Keep on praying that God guides us to the rightful families that are in critical condition and qualify to the expectations in our LCH policy.

HOME INSPECTION

After the National assessment by the Minister for Youth and Children’s affairs in line with the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in February 2021, this month we had another inspection with a technical team from Mbale District. This is mandatory under the District Probation and Social Welfare department to periodically inspect and assess all Home care institutions. The exercise went on successfully as we scored 3.7 total Marks out of 4.0. So far we are the top in the district as far as providing care and services to the Orphans.   

CONCLUSION

We are grateful to everyone who ensures for the wellbeing of our Children and above all, for guiding us in successfully accomplishing these activities. We appreciate you greatly and may God bless you abundantly. 

Yours in Christ,

Paul Isabirye

LCH Administrator

Greetings from the Lulwanda family, I hope that all is well with you. A lot of activities have taken place at Lulwanda even through some challenges as a result of the pandemic which cuts across the globe. Overall, we are well by the Grace of God, and I am glad to report some of the things that happened in February.

MEDICAL REPORT

Medical wellbeing at Lulwanda is great. We have a well-trained team of mothers and now Children who recognize when illness is present and it is promptly addressed. We had no major case of any illness this month. Ongoing care continues for those with existing medical conditions along with a strict compliance with COVID-19 SOPs (standard operating procedures). All guests are required to have their temperatures checked, hands washed and face masks worn while on site. Thankfully God’s provision has seen us through some of the toughest months of this pandemic in Uganda. Please continue to pray that God gives all of us wisdom and good health in the coming months.

DISCIPLESHIP

Discipleship is ongoing, both in the individual home setting, and within small groups. Church is conducted on site by Pastor Martin due to the COVID restrictions that mean Children are unable to attend community Church. We are seeing a breakthrough in the lives of many of our Children as they become more disciplined in Christ. Bible studies for staff are also done weekly and the Word is being proclaimed throughout Lulwanda. Tendo and town/resettled Children Bible study are set to resume mid-March now that the Kelley family has returned, but has continued virtually and in the Tendo home. Please be praying for the Holy Spirit’s movement in awakening the hearts of our Children and staff to the truth of the gospel and the hope it presents in their lives: not just in the reception of God’s Grace, but the application of Jesus’ teaching in their daily lives.

MINISTER’S VISIT

This month we hosted the Minister for Youth and Children’s affairs Hon. Florence Nakiwala Kiyingi and other government officials who accompanied her during the countryside visit to all Child care institutions. The purpose of her visit to Eastern Uganda was to check on the condition of all homes, quality of services offered to the children and give her recommendation. Some of the homes that were found not offering quality services to the children were closed immediately. The Minister was impressed with the good work at Lulwanda. She was very impressed with the construction of the new houses which gives Children an opportunity to live in a home- like environment. Care is very good due to the manageable number of Children under every house mother. She thanked the Lulwanda donors and sponsors for helping the Uganda government to raise up Children who will be the future leaders and better citizens. We requested the Minister to help us to renew our home approval Certificate which is expiring in May 2021.

JANE KATAIKE

Jane was successfully resettled with her family relatives in Pallisa District. She was placed under direct care of her paternal Uncle Richard Bumba and his wife Tino. She has been enrolled for a certificate in hairdressing and she loves what she is doing now. She was unable to complete the P.7 grade due to the low grades scored and most of the time she would repeat every class twice or thrice. She had also outlived the age for staying at Lulwanda and yet Tendo would not be the best option. The social workers took her through counselling and psychosocial support during this transition and she has adapted well to the environment.  We hope Jane will be able to make money after one year of study as she perfects her skills, rather than continuing with the formal education with little or no chance of succeeding.

ANNUAL SHOPPING FOR CHILDREN

We bless the Lord for the gift of provision for our children through this entire season. Annual shopping has been ongoing and the children have been provided a number of items and they are so excited. This is always the most expensive month where we spend a lot of money during the opening of the new year. Among the items purchased include bed sheets, blankets, mattresses, school stockings, bags, mosquito nets, underwear, shoes and sandals, scholastic materials etc. We only remained with secondary and primary personal shopping and still hope for God’s provision. Overall most items have been purchased and this was good back up for them to live a happy life.

RENEWAL OF CARE ORDERS

Through this month, we had another group of children whose care orders had expired and had to be renewed. The paper work of each Child was done with current photos attached and submitted to the probation officer for approval and in turn submitted to the Magistrate’s court for renewal. I am glad to report that all our Children have updated care orders which is the first requirement from the government.

ABANDONED CHILD

Timothy Wataka, a Child from St. Kizito Babies Home, was brought by the City Probation officer and placed under temporary care of Lulwanda Children’s Home. Timothy is a 4-year-old young boy who had outgrown the age for staying at St. Kizito Babies Home and there was need to secure his protection. He was abandoned in a pit latrine by the mother and the whereabouts of the father is unknown. The mother also disappeared after being released from prison, and her whereabouts are unknown. He was first taken for the Covid 19 test before admission. He was attached to house 4 under the care of Mama Beatrice and he was so happy, calm and positive upon joining the Lulwanda family. He plays well and interacts with his friends and caregivers freely. We are hoping that Timothy will be one of the 11 kids to be rescued this year 2021. Great thanks to the GICF board for reviewing reports about this boy and accepting him to join and be part of Lulwanda.

TEAM BUILDING EVENT

Mercy, who is a finalist at UCU (Uganda Christian University) Mukono, organized a two-day team building event at Lulwanda. She organized the inter-house competition with various activities like cooking competition, dancing and this involved the house mothers supervising the Children. Winners of each category were rewarded with gifts as a way of appreciation for the job well done. The event was crowned by a campfire at night where there was pork roasting and counselling of the young ones at Lulwanda. All of the Children were excited and happy.

CONCLUSION

We shall continue to extend our gratitude to all of you for the unceasing support through this great journey. Our prayer is for the Lord to bless you and continue to meet all your needs according to His will. We shall keep you updated on every event that takes place at Lulwanda. Thank you all.

Best regards,

Paul Isabirye

Administrator- LCH

 I bring New Year’s greetings from the Lulwanda family. It has been God who enabled us to get through the year amidst the unprecedented pandemic. We still believe He will remain faithful to all of us and get us through this New Year successfully. Thank you for supporting us even when you had more challenges back home. I know the love of God and great passion for kids drives you to live a sacrificial life to help them reach their full potential. Thank you so much. Allow me to brief you about the activities of the month of January.

MEDICAL

I am grateful to the Almighty God for His protection of everyone at Lulwanda. We can’t just take it for granted as all the Children have been in good health. Coupled with our daily routine medical checkups and close monitoring, this made our Children stay healthy and strong. We keep in touch with our sister medical agencies to ensure that all our Children and staff are safe. 

DISCIPLESHIP

We continue to guide our Children to grow in the fear of the Lord though weekly Bible study and evening fellowship. Our Children have gone ahead to have memory verses and make skits out of the lessons learnt and present them every Sunday.

NEW YEAR THEME

Our theme for this year is ‘’training ourselves in acts of Godliness’’ (I Tim 4:7-9) as we serve the Children that the Lord has entrusted in our hands. All the staff members seem to understand the theme well and have started implementing it practically.  Recently some female staff members donated a batch of both new and old clothes to the big girls who recently joined Tendo. I have observed a spirit of team work among the staff members and we pray that this will continue for the good of the home. Teacher Harriet of Nursery section bought 100 kgs of rice and donated to our Children. Again when there was need to raise money for the Children who did not have shelter, the staff members pledged significant funding. This was done out of Love and also appreciating GICF for the support given especially during the coronavirus period. The very strong bond and attachment between the staff and Children is really admirable.  We agreed that training ourselves in Godliness involves being accountable to the Children and the organization.

CANDIDATE CLASSES

Our candidate students have reported back to school; please we need to be praying for them as they will soon begin the final exams. The P.7 Candidates will begin on March 30^th/2021, S.4 will start on February 26th/2021 while S6. Start in April /2021. Currently we are coming up with the budget for the blessing of the P.7 candidates as they prepare to sit for UNEB exams. We have fully paid up the fees for all our kids and provided all the scholastic materials. The University Children have continued to study on line as Universities are still closed. Meanwhile the LCH Children of lower classes have continued to study at home using the new houses as classrooms and teachers are busy helping our Children to complete the syllabus.  Due to coronavirus disturbance, the academic year will certainly change. The academic year is most likely to start from August and end in July.

HIRE OF SYLVIA AS A SOCIAL WORKER

After graduating from Uganda Christian University with a bachelor’s degree in social work and social administration, we decided to employ Sylvia Logose, an LCH child, as a social worker. She becomes the second Lulwanda Child to be employed (after Dison Junior who is currently teaching at Lulwanda Primary School). Sylvia is doing very well in the social work department and we are proud of her work.

ASSESSMENT OF FAMILIES

We carried out assessments among three families of children who were reintegrated with their families. These children include; Grace Egulasi, Mariam Bahati and Joyce Neboshe. The assessments were done to identify the current family situation and how best we can help them fit in with their respective families. These children’s home situations are tough and challenging due to unavoidable circumstances. For instance Bahati Mariam has no home and family, she was just picked up near the swamp by a Good Samaritan. Tracing has been done for all these years that she has been under our care, but no family member has been identified except the caregiver who picked her up.

Grace Egulasi and her siblings (Dee Emmanuel and Clement Kuddo) happen to be born of one mother but different fathers. The mother died without telling the clan members the identities of the biological fathers. Nobody has ever come up to claim any of the Children in both cases and the families are struggling and unable to provide for the children.

Joyce’s issue is different in that she has been attached to her maternal relatives and her mother is still living on the streets of Mbale as she is mentally challenged. The father has never shown up but the maternal Aunt accepted to receive her after resettlement. Our goal here is to ensure she is in good health and to enable her to complete her studies.

MINISTRY REPORT

We submitted a six month report to the Ministry of Gender, Labor and Social Development. It’s a legal mandate to furnish the Ministry with a report twice a year. We are in the process of renewing our license for the next five years and the file is almost ready for submission.  We have all that it takes for our license to be renewed. Keep praying for us that all will be well when we face the Ministry officials.

CONCLUSION

We continue to provide counseling and career guidance. Our goal is to enable our kids to reach their full potential in Christ.  Once again, I thank you very much for supporting the Children and providing the funds needed to buy food, medical supplies and tuition among the many activities that need funding. Be blessed.

In Him

Paul Isabirye

LCH- Administrator.

Merry Christmas to you all! I bring warm greetings from the little beloved Children and staff of Lulwanda as we conclude this remarkable year 2020. We are grateful to the Almighty God who enabled us to get through the year amidst a lot of challenges. Thank you for standing with us and supporting Lulwanda Children as part of your family. As we approach our 20^th anniversary of the initial plans for rescuing and supporting these orphans (who were once rejected and abandoned by society), you have been faithful to God, and we are now harvesting the fruits of your labor. I thank you for supporting this noble cause that has brought positive changes in the lives of our Children. Allow me to brief you on the highlights of the month of December.

MEDICAL

All our Children and staff members are doing great physically, emotionally and socially.  We had minor cases of flu, cough and malaria which were handled at the home. Also a few cases were taken to Joy hospice for further investigations to rule out any suspicion of Covid. We had a one day medical camp organized by Hope medical Centre within our area of operation and offered free medical services to both the Children and staff members. The activities involved HIV/AIDS screening, deworming, counseling and education about sexually transmitted diseases and hygiene.

FIRST GRADUATES

Allen Muhijja and Sylvia Logose graduated this month both with a degree in Social Work and Social Administration. They are a living testimony of the work that God is doing at Lulwanda.  They are now a source of inspiration to the rest of the Children. This was evidenced on the day of the Christmas Party as each gave a speech and all Children were very much touched and promised to work hard. We plan to have a graduation party next year 2021 to thank the Almighty God for this great achievement. Thank you very much for all that you have contributed to ensure Allen and Sylvia realized their dream in order to have a better future. We are expecting more University Children like Mercy, Ivan and Doreen to graduate next year March 2021 if they complete the examination papers and other requirements successfully.

Junior Dison Osangada qualified with a Grade III teaching certificate and currently he is employed at Lulwanda Primary School. He is doing a great job to teach his little brothers and sisters. He is a source of inspiration to the Children who have disciplinary issues and an example on how to turn your life around.

SECONDARY HOLIDAY (CANDIDATES)

Our secondary finalist Children (S4 & S6) are back from school after the government had allowed them to report back for learning in October 2020. We are glad that all are healthy and free from Covid-19 which was our biggest worry since they had interacted with so many people at school. They are enjoying the Christmas break but are also reviewing notes in preparation for the final exams due in March 2021. They are expected to report back to school on January 18^th/2021 along with semi-candidates after the presidential elections in January 14^th/2021. We are not certain when the rest of the students will be reporting back to school.

REINTEGRATION

We have reintegrated sixteen (16) youth because they have reached the age of 17 years and are no longer eligible to stay at Lulwanda. They will spend the next two years at our transitional facility-Lulwanda Tendo. This will help them to learn more life skills.

FOLLOW UP OF RESETTLED CHILDREN

A follow up of all resettled Children was conducted this month. A list was forwarded to the Local management committee for consideration of some Children who have reformed and need to be restored back. This list is still under scrutiny by the local management board. Once it’s done with recommendations, we shall forward it to the US Board for further scrutiny and advice.

FINANCIAL TRAINING

Our social workers Irene Mutuwa, Olive Kalenda plus Anthony Wanzala a Child of Lulwanda attended a financial training session facilitated by Virgil Hughes of New Vines International, inc. (NVI). The training was carried out via Zoom and was organized by Mama Aida Ogenga and Larry Hoelscher. The training was aimed at equipping the participants with skills of how to save money and protect the savings through financial discipline. It’s important to have saving goals in life and work hard at achieving such goals and this was backed up with scriptures. Upon completion of the training the trainees will come and train the rest of the staff members plus the reintegrated Lulwanda Children. This will help our reintegrated Children to start up business enterprise from the savings they have secured. Great thanks to Larry Hoelscher who financed the training which included other Church members from the Eastern Presbytery.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

It was all joy when we held the Christmas Party for all the staff members and the Children. The party started with different activities like dancing, sack racing, water bottle filling, and football between the staff and Children. As expected the Children who are skillful in football beat the staff members and took the trophy. The party turned up to be a reunion with our older kids who were reintegrated with clan members and had taken quite a long period of time without visiting Lulwanda. We felt the joy and love of God as we hugged and shared a meal with our Children. We used the same opportunity to counsel our Children to embrace Christ who will secure their bright future both on earth and after life.

Apart from the Christmas party, our Children have been involved in singing, learning to play instruments and playing football. We organized a football tournament with the community people and our team played so well even though it ended in a draw. Since we are in the campaign period, some politicians grabbed the opportunity to campaign and donated some little money to the two teams. All was well during this Christmas period.

CONCLUSION

All I can say is Ebenezer! It has been a year of challenges but God Has been faithful and His grace has been sufficient. The world has been greatly affected by Covid-19 and we shall live to tell the next generation, but let us continue to fix our eyes on the creator of Heaven and Earth for the ultimate solution. We are praying for the quick recovery of our friends who are sick of Covid-19. Thank you for the love and support given throughout the year. As we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the initial idea of Lulwanda, just know that we appreciate all of you for the kind heart towards the orphans of Lulwanda for the Glory of His Name. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2021 FRIENDS!

IN HIM

PAUL ISABIRYE

LCH-ADMNISTRATOR

I bring joyous greetings from the Lulwanda family. The year is coming to an end and it’s hard for us to realize that you will not be able to visit us this year. I know all of you are longing to see our kiddos! Our prayer always is for God to protect you and grant you good health so that we meet again come next year 2021.  A lot of great things happened this month and we are grateful to the Almighty Lord for what He is doing in our midst. It’s now a full month since certain measures were lifted after the lockdown by the government.

Many people have lost their lives across the globe and life has changed for all families due to the effects of covid-19. The pain and fear shared by all the people across the globe is still fresh on our minds and our prayer for 2021 is total healing and recovery from the Coronavirus. As we re-opened the Home to allow staff members like teachers to return, and community candidate kids reported back to School as announced by the government, we had great fear that the virus could easily be spread to the Lulwanda Children.  Thankfully we have not registered any related covid-19 case and we are grateful to the Almighty God. Continue praying that nothing will ever happen to our Children and staff members.

HEALTH

All our Children and staff members are doing great. We have all the first aid medical supplies to take care of the minor illnesses like flu, cough and minor injuries as they play during the free time. All our Children including the house moms received a dose of Albendazole tablets for deworming this month. We are in touch with our health partners like Joy Hospice in case there is a need to carry out laboratory tests. We have given our Children supplements of daily vitamins to boost their immunity. Mary Namari still has the challenges with her sight which has affected her studies at school. She was taken back to St. Benedict Eye Centre-Tororo and placed an order for a special pair of glasses which will improve her sight.

SOCIAL BONDING

We shall NOT take our Children in the villages for social bonding with the clan members as has been the case previously. We can’t risk the lives of our Children where we are not sure that the Ministry of Health guidelines and procedures will be adhered to during the Christmas period. It’s again a blessing to celebrate Christmas with all our Children. We plan to have a number of activities to simply enjoy Christmas and also teach our Children the real meaning as to why Christ came into the world.

TENDO CHILDREN

A total of 12 Children have completed the two year stay at Tendo and will be exiting it by December 2020. At this point, we believe all of them have acquired the necessary life skills to survive outside Tendo. This will help us to create space to accommodate the new entrants who have been reintegrated after reaching the age of 18 years. I will be sending the updated list of Children entering and exiting Tendo next month.

UNIVERSITY CHILDREN

 We have six Children who should have joined the University by August 2021 but due to covid-19 this has not gone to plan. Peace Ayombe, Brenda Namakoye, Mary Nalumansi, and Joseph Wabuyi have been admitted at Uganda Christian University Mbale. Ambrose Mutema was admitted at Livingstone University Mbale and Malvin Nakayenze at Makerere University- Kampala on a government sponsorship. This month, Peace Ayombe, Mary Nalumansi and Brenda Namakoye are conducting online studies right now while Joseph, Ambrose and Malvin will begin next year January 2021. The ones studying online are doing well and have shown interest in the studies. University and trade school is becoming very expensive due to the increasing number of Children joining every year.  We continue to pray for God’s providence in catering for the educational needs of our Children. The final year students were meant to graduate this year 2020 but due to the closure of all schools and Universities, they were unable to complete and graduate last July 2020. Right now they are winding up the assignments and hopefully, they will be able to graduate next year 2021. Continue praying for them that nothing hinders the way as they wind up with their studies and let the Almighty God protect them while at the University.

SECONDARY REPORTING

All our secondary kids who reported back to school are doing well. We did not have an opportunity to visit them due to covid-19 restrictions. We provided all the scholastic materials and requirements needed at school including the fees. However, we are in touch with the school administration in case there are additional needs.  They will be breaking off for holidays on 18^th/December and go back to school in early January 2021 as they prepare to do the final exams in March and April 2021. Let us continue praying for them to excel in the final exams.

LULWANDA PRIMARY SCHOOL

All is well for the primary school as teachers are busy helping our children to complete the syllabus before the closure of the second term. The candidate Children have been registered with the Uganda National Examination Board (UNEB) and they will be sitting for the final exams in March 2021. The Lower primary kids are equally busy learning from Home as schools are not yet open for lower classes. The candidate Children will break off on December 18^th and come back early January 2021.

FARM

Our Children have harvested maize and beans they planted in the first season and they are soon harvesting for the second season. Children together with the house mothers have participated greatly in the garden work and they do it out of love because it’s their responsibility and duty.  We have small vegetable gardens around the new houses and Children enjoy picking a few leaves to add to their diet. Our children enjoy taking milk from the farm cows on a daily basis.  This has helped to save money which we would be spending to buy milk to boost the immunity of our Children. Once in a while our Children eat pork slaughtered from our piggery farm and once we raise more chicken, then our Children will start enjoying Chicken meat.

CONCLUSION

Thank you for the support and we are so grateful for your kind hearts. As we get close to celebrating Christ’s birth, let us reflect on the hope, peace, love and joy brought by Christ. His arrival brought transformation in the world which can’t be disputed by all loving Children of God. We are planning to have a Christmas party for the staff members together with our Children on December 19^th 2020. Sending you all lots of love from Lulwanda and wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

IN HIM

Paul Isabirye

Administrator – Lulwanda Children’s Home