Small investments yield huge returns...more HPF success stories

As part of the storytelling component of our Annual General Meeting last Friday, Hope Prisons shared several success stories from their income generating projects.  Because MCC’s partnership with Hope Prisons only focuses on primary education, Hope Prisons had to think outside of the box about how they could empower families so that children could continue their education into high school and beyond.  With only a very small amount of money for a “pilot project” in income generating activities, Hope Prisons was able to turn this small investment into huge returns.  Because I was so impressed with the stories that William shared, I decided to devote another blog to telling some Hope Prisons stories. 

Here are some of the most inspiring stories of what these women were able to do with a little bit of capital:

 

Beatrice is a single mother who has two children that are being sponsored by Hope Prisons.  Her husband was in prison for several years and then abandoned his family upon his release, and Beatrice had been struggling to provide for her family.  When William first met her, she was living in a very poor house in terrible conditions.  With the money given to her by Hope Prisons, she was able to set up a small food vending business where she cooks food and sells it out of her house.  The income she has earned from the business has enabled her to move into a good house and provide a better life for her children.

With the small loan that Betty was given, she was able to open her own salon.  With the profits she made, she was able to pay for both her daughter and son to attend high school.  Her daughter, who was able to finish high school, is currently studying to be a nurse.  Her son is in his second year of high school and is performing very well.  After serving a five year prison sentence, her husband was released and is back with his family; however he has not been able to find work since he was released.

Florence and her husband separated after he was released from prison.  Although Hope Prisons works with ex-prisoners to transition back into society and encourages them to return to their families, it is common for men to abandon their families after being released.  The combination of having been away for so long as well as the pressure to provide for their families amidst the difficulty of finding employment drives many men away.  With her loan from Hope, Florence was able to open a small retail shop.  With the profits from her shop she is able to take care of her 7 children, 4 of whom are currently sponsored by Hope Prisons. 

The final inspirational story is about a young boy who was almost forced to drop out of school in only fourth grade because his father was sent to prison.  He was accepted into the sponsorship program, and was consistently #1 throughout primary and secondary school.  After finishing secondary school, he performed so well on his exams that he was given a full scholarship to study medicine at Uganda’s largest public university Makerere.  This is one of the most prestigious scholarships a Ugandan student can receive, and it is even more impressive in light of all of the challenges this young man has faced in his life, and the fact that he almost didn’t make it to fifth grade.  He is currently in his second year at the University and is looking forward to become a doctor and give back to his community.    

I'll be sharing more stories and photos from our AGM in the next few posts...

Pigs, clothes, and opportunity...an inspiring Hope Prison's success story

Sarah gives water to one of her pigs

Sarah Kisakya, commonly known as "Mama Musoke", is a 37 year old widow who had been struggling to provide for herself and her three children.  Strong, hardworking, and entrepreneurial, Sarah only needed the opportunity offered by Hope Prisons in order to turn her life around. 

Through Hope Prisons, Sarah was given two piglets along with training on how to raise the pigs.  Because pork is the most popular meat in Kampala and pigs give birth to many piglets in a litter, pig rearing can be a lucrative business.  When Sarah's pigs gave birth, she kept some of the piglets but sold several of them to obtain school fees and other basic requirements for her family. 

In addition to the pig project, Sarah was given a small loan with a low interest rate in order to start a business.  She launched a small business buying second hand clothes from the largest local market and selling the clothes to smaller markets.

As Sarah proudly explained, “The profits I accrued enabled me acquire a small piece of land on which I built a one-roomed house which I intend to rent out to raise more money to boost my business. On the other part of the land, I plan to farm on it so as to raise school fees for my son Musoke Dan when he enrolls to high school."



This Friday, we have our Annual General Meeting which is a meeting of all our partners as well as service workers and friends of MCC Uganda.  I'm very excited that this year we have incorporated a "storytelling" component in the meeting.  We have asked three beneficiaries from three different partners to share their story about how their lives were impacted by MCC and our partners.  I'll also plan to share those stories on my blog in the next few weeks.

Bringing hope to Uganda's prisons

When William and Everest were imprisoned in a Uganda prison in the 1980s, both of them experienced a powerful conversion as they came to know about the hope and new life available through Jesus.   With a new dedication and commitment to follow Christ, William and Everest were eager to serve the Lord when they were released from prison in the 1990s.

They felt a strong calling to return to the prisons to minister to the prisoners and their families.  They had firsthand knowledge of the many challenges that prisoners face, both during their prison term as well as when they are released and have to try to find work and support themselves and their families.  It is not only the prisoners themselves who face steep challenges; wives and children of prisoners often face huge challenges in financial provision and getting the children through school when their husbands and fathers are in prison.

William and Everest’s vision to reach out to prisoners gave birth to a ministry called Hope Prison Foundation, which has been an MCC partner since 2005.  Hope Prisons engages in various activities to support prisoners and their families in the Kampala area:

Everest, back left, and William, far right, with several of the children sponsored by Hope Prisons

-          They make frequent visits to the prisons to provide spiritual teaching, counseling, and mentorship to current prisoners

-          They sponsor 48 children of prisoners to attend primary schools, which is funded by MCC’s Global Families program

-          They have a revolving fund which is currently benefiting 50 women, where they give out small grants for wives of prisoners to begin small businesses. 

-          They offer support and encouragement for prisoners to reintegrate into society and reunite with their families when they are released from prison.  In the upcoming months, they will be beginning a brick making project to provide employment opportunities for ex prisoners.

Muigai and I have really enjoyed getting to know William and Everest, and we have been inspired by their strong faith and their commitment to prisoners and their families.  Next week I will share a story of one of many people who have been assisted through Hope Prisons.

Update from the past two weeks, it's a busy season for us!

We spent most of last week in Entebbe where we hosted our biannual East Africa Reps meeting, when all of the MCC country reps from East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and South Sudan) gather together.  With the exception of Kenya, all of the reps were with us in orientation, so it was great to get a chance to catch up with them and check in about how we all are doing now that we are almost one year into our assignments.  The location of this meeting rotates among the five countries, so this was our turn to host.  We are grateful for our great staff who worked hard to ensure all the logistics ran smoothly.

Unfortunately, our driver/logistics assistant Daniel was picking up one of our partners at 530am to bring him to the meeting and he was in a car accident.  A boda boda (motorcycle taxi) cut in front of the car and he had to slam on the brakes.  He doesn’t remember what happened next but from the damage to the car it appears that it rolled into a ditch on one side and then rolled back on the other side.  Thankfully, he only has very minor injuries, which we are so grateful for.  Unfortunately, the person who stopped to “help” him called his brother and then took off with his phone and wallet. 

We are now in the middle of the very complicated process of trying to get insurance coverage for our car, which is pretty badly damaged.

Please pray for us for strength and rest as we’re in the middle of a very busy season with work, on top of the two unexpected recent trips to Kenya, one for the funeral of Muigai’s grandfather in Feb (Muigai only) and the recent travel for his father’s funeral in March.  We are now planning for our Annual General meeting, Advisor’s meeting, and reporting seminar for our partners, all of which will take place on May 16^th and 17^th.  We are also short staffed at the moment and are beginning the process of recruiting and hiring a program manager.  In addition, we are hoping to travel to Gulu in Northern Uganda sometime in the next month or two.   

I've also been spending a lot of time lately coordinating some orders for cloth diapers.  I made some for a few friends and received orders by word of mouth, then trained a local tailor how to make them.  I'm really excited about this small project that is finally taking shape....more on those in a future post.

Thankfully, we are also beginning to plan for our vacation, which we are really looking forward to!  We plan to travel to the US for three weeks in July/August, and we can't wait to spend time with family and friends.