Happy One-Year, Kyabakuza!

We thank God for these little ones who have grown more in one year than we ever could have imagined. Smiling, they are always ready to participate in school, Saturday Club and our other fun activities! The majority have even learned to read and write this year! Most importantly, the children of our Kyabakuza site are experiencing the healing love of Christ. 

Site Manager Aunt Beatrice, reports, “All of our children have had the opportunity to hear the Gospel and some have accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Those that have been saved have received further help to develop a meaningful relationship with Christ. This has resulted in a tremendous change in behavior.” She adds, “Our children are thriving due to a number of trainings they participate in at Saturday Club, like hygiene and sanitation training, child rights training and many others.” The children have also grown in different key areas of life; they are receiving a good education and are now healthy because of the nutrient-rich food they are served at Saturday Club and other site gatherings.

 Since the site’s opening, the children have come to realize that they are deeply loved by God and are highly valued; this is evident in the way they behave and interact with each other.

 One parent shares of their child’s growth, “Hope Alive! has helped my child develop self-confidence, and he knows his worth. It has helped him improve in his academics because he now attends school without missing days due to the inability to pay. My child has also learned good morals from Hope Alive!, like respecting people and obedience. He has also learned to socialize with other people in a positive way. I would say, my child has indeed attested to what a bright future looks like, all thanks to Hope Alive!.”

 Most of our children at Kyabakuza come from challenging conditions. Some come from families where the father has neglected them and left their mother to support the child(ren) on their own. Through your sponsorship, most of our children have been relieved of these memories and have built new, beautiful ones to hold on to while envisioning a bright future ahead of them.

 One of our students, Ssali Shafik, shares of his time as a sponsored student, “Hope Alive! has made me forget my past experience which was full of rejection from my father and his family members; I now feel loved and appreciated. I am happy now.” Coming from a Muslim background, Shafik also attributes his growing love for Christ to Hope Alive!. “Hope Alive! has helped me and my family to know about God by preaching to us the Gospel. I can now sing Christian songs and recite memory verses,” he reports. “I also enjoy the meals we have at Saturday Club and the take home food supplements provided by Hope Alive!. I want to say, I almost ended up on the streets but Hope Alive! restored my hope and I am forever grateful,” says Shafik. 

 We want to expressly thank Aunt Beatrice and her staff. They’ve done such an excellent job building up these students in the Lord. We also extend our sincerest thanks to our student sponsors and ministry partners who have helped support the new site so that the children enrolled would have all the extras the students at the other sites have – shoes, solar lights, water filters – to name just a few. We are so excited about the joy and hope that Hope Alive! is bringing to the children and families of Kyabakuza. We look forward to seeing a new generation of young, mature Christian youth become agents of change and disciples of Christ in Uganda.