I have recently returned from a wonderful visit to Adonai Family Uganda and would like to update you about some of the amazing work that they are doing with these needy children and their families.
(Site plan sketched by Christine’s husband whilst there – very useful! The report is divided into sections with sub-headings and each has a paragraph and a photo gallery. Keep scrolling until you reach the bottom – you won’t want to miss anything!)
Adonai Infant and Junior Schools
When the children returned to school earlier this year the classrooms had been empty for 2 years due to Covid and were in rather a sorry state with rats having moved in etc. So I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were clean and all in use by the children – whose job it is to sweep them out each week, so they’re obviously doing a good job! Some rooms are clearly in need of a lick of paint but apart from that all good. It was personally moving to see the Nursery building once more, which was built in my late father’s name and houses 3 classes for the youngest children. We met a teacher, Juliet, who was once an Adonai pupil herself and has returned to teach at the school. How wonderful is that!
The School Kitchen
The kitchen had not changed but still served its purpose with some enormous cooking pots that supplied the children with breakfast and lunch. The meal queues are always VERY long as they may well be the only food of the day.
Goats (but no chickens)
The goats are still thriving and producing important milk to add to the children’s porridge for extra nutrition. Sadly the chickens have gone due to the feed being too expensive to make them viable. In fact we were told that the price of eggs has greatly increased.
A new dormitory for the boys
Carrying on past the goats we came to what will be the new boys’ dormitory funded by the USA and hopefully in use early next year. This will free up the existing boys’ dormitory for the girls who will use this as well as their current one which is just next to it if you look on the plan of the site. There is a need for more girls accommodation next year so this will be a great solution.
Adonai Medical Centre
The medical centre is situated at the top of the site and is accessible from the road by the local villagers whom it serves. This is such a wonderful facility and serves a number of pregnant mothers who are able to get a scan there and even give birth in the labour ‘suite’. It was a highlight of my visit to meet a former Adonai pupil, Henry, who has trained as a lab technician and has returned to work in the Adonai medical centre. Here he does blood tests etc for diseases such as malaria, covid, Ebola and probably more that I haven’t heard of! He told me that any Ebola case he came across had to be immediately notified to the government and transferred elsewhere. The staff were concerned about Ebola since it was in another school in Kampala, in fact we have since heard that all schools have had to close early to try and contain it.
Henry was very proud of his achievement, and rightly so, and went to put on his graduation gown for us which we duly photographed! We at Adonai UK are very proud of him too and he is a real success story for our work.
Safe Water
An amazing addition to the Adonai site has been the water taps which deliver clean drinking water for everyone. There is a water pump which is powered by solar panels and pumps water from an underground well. What a difference for the children who used to fill up jerry cans from one tap and carry them up the hill in order to use it! It was a joy to see children filling their cups from a tap and drinking it!
Sewing Skills Centre
We had a lovely visit to the Adonai Sewing Workshop where we found 3 girls working away on some Singer ‘treddle type’ sewing machines! One of the girls was training the others and they were proud to say that they had made the dresses they were wearing! This is a large building which was derelict and has been funded by one of our supporters. It has been very well finished and will help train more girls next year using the other rooms. They just need to find more sewing machines!
Give Her A Chance (dormitory and training for older girls)
There is a house for the older teenage girls on the land at Aloysious and Abby’s home which has suffered from recent heavy rains. As it is unfinished the current flat roof has caused a leak in one of the bedrooms which is now being used as storage. This building needs a further storey (Aloysious would like a further 2!) and a proper pitched roof so watch this space for our next fundraising project!
Community Water Project
Aloysious has also been involved in a water project near his house where solar panels power a pump which pumps clean water from some huge water tanks just up the hill from his home and delivers it to various taps in his local village. What a difference he is making to all around! Amazing!
It has been a real joy to see the difference your support has been making over the last few years and I want to thank you on behalf of everyone at Adonai, both in Uganda and the UK, for your generosity and compassion for these wonderful children and all the staff who are making such a difference to many lives. Thank you!
Christine Allwright (Child Sponsorship Co-Ordinator)