Floored!

Mesach and his grandmother

Margret Nantumbwe is a 56 year old widow who lost her husband in 2001, leaving her with eight orphans: five boys and eight girls. Sadly, one of her daughters died of AIDS, and this was the mother of one of our sponsored kids, Mesach, who is also HIV positive. 

It has not been easy for Margret to take care of her family. Most of her kids did not manage to finish school, and some got pregnant while at home, adding more burden. By the time her husband died, he was building a house which they're now living in. However, it’s been hard for her to finish it. Thank God for Mesach’s sponsor who has been so supportive to this family. She has extended extra support to Margret by sending a monetary gift of 150,000 shillings. 

that is bring a smile to not only Margret but to the entire family  

Because at Kids First we do not agree with hand outs, I sat with Margret to look at the best way that she could use this money to improve her family's standard of living. When I asked, “what do you want to use this gift?” she gave me a huge smile and said that she wanted to work on the floor of her house which was so dusty and unclean for her and her family. We immediately called a builder to see if he could work within our budget. When he said yes, tears of joy ran down Margret’s face. She knelt down, lifted up her hands, and started praising God. As we talk now she has a new clean cemented floor.

I am so sure we did not only provide a new floor, but also reduced any illness that can come as a result of dust, damp, and poor hygiene. Thanks a lot to Mesach’s sponsor for changing lives in Uganda.

Yours,
Joshua Kizito

Mesach and his gran standing on their dirt floor

Magret sitting on her new clean concrete floor

A note from Mary: The woman who sponsors this child has a very compassionate heart for the women and children of Uganda. She is the teacher I have been working with since 2010 and it is her students who have helped sponsor the soccer program. She also helps coordinate the penpal program here, helps students with their fundraising, and helps me whenever I need it...as she did last Saturday when I did an all day craft show.  

I am so grateful that Joshua takes the time to not only investigate how to use 'gift money' but to share the positive end results. It means everything to sponsors to receive such stories and photos of their children.

I am attaching one photo of Judy taken last Saturday as she helped me set up for the craft show.