Prayers and good wishes to the people of Uganda today as they remember and celebrate the sacrifices of the Ugandan Martyrs. #PrayforUs!
Help us lift up the missionaries and families in Uganda by supporting our scholarship fund, school enhancements, youth development, health fund, and livelihood initiatives.
Donate today!
During holy week this year a big storm blew through Tororo Uganda and took the roof off St. Joseph College’s main classroom building. Leaving students and teachers quite alarmed and exposed. They are currently renting a hall at a guest house near the campus to make up for the lost classroom. St. Joseph College is already busting at the seam with 140 students from Senior 1 through Senior 4 and a P7 class. The missing roof has exasperated the problem and the exposed walls and building to more damage.
We are stepping in to help raise $20,000 to replace the full roof and other necessary renovations to the foundation, walls, windows, and doors. Will you join us to help these youth stay in school getting a good catholic education?
Thank you American Martyrs parish and FOAG for stepping in to help! Construction of the new roof begins this week. We are still seeking funds to help replace the windows and doors, paint, and provide much needed solar power for the school. Join hands with us and donate today!
Construction has begun. Stay tuned for more.
You are invited for High Tea at Williams Place
Saturday, May 20th, 3-5pm
Hosted by Michelle Waters Williams & Laura Frederick
R.S.V.P. by May 18th
Life in Uganda is hard. After two decades of conflict, difficult repatriation, a global pandemic that resulted in further economic hardships, severe weather shifts–too much to too little rain destroying crops most people in northern Uganda are battered and desperate. YOUFRA (Young Franciscans) steered by Sr. Margaret Awor, LSOSF, and her team are working to help counsel and reconcile families, guide faith formation, improve livelihoods, and ensure the next generation of children don’t also miss out on education. We are stepping into help YOUFRA members and their families renew their hope and faith in God and life.
Join us May 20th for High Tea and hear Laura Frederick, Founder of eChange Endeavors, share stories of the lives that have been touched by our support. Laura has been working in Uganda since 2000 and lived there between 2006 to 2011.
We are seeking to raise $14,500 for the YOUFRA Youth Centre in Lira to renovate the building and facilitate greater program delivery. Funds will be used to refurbish the outdoor bathrooms (showers and toilet) at the Centre as well as much needed basic repairs to the building, plus purchase furniture (tables, chairs, and beds) along with materials and facilitation for programs. These improvements will enable YOUFRA to host retreats and trainings for 25-150 young adults in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s at a time. Having a place to take a break from home to sing, pray, laugh, learn and connect with other youth renews their hearts, minds and dreams and builds skills among the youth. Retreats are focused on the Sacraments, spiritual formation, and strengthening families. Trainings cover topics such as shoe making, hair styling, baking, farming, communication, team building, financial management, and beyond. Will you join us and make a gift of $100 to $1,000 or more today?
Donate Now!!
We have reached $9,300 towards our goal of $14,500. Could you help us bridge the gap?
Join hands with us today and give to help this community recover from two decades of civil war. Through counseling, livelihood and life skill training we are helping a generation of youth reclaim their lives. We support former child abductees of the Lord’s Resistance Army who lost their opportunity to education and now economically disadvantaged in the community to thrive and provide for their families. Donate Now!
The new L – shaped design will have 6 toilets with two basins each for the ladies and gents, plus 5 shower stalls. A clean, beautiful and modern look for the area. We are reusing all the bricks we can in the innovations. We are refurbishing the toilet doors for new shower stall doors. Moving the solar water heater that hasn’t been used from the other-side of the center to install on the bathroom to provide warm piped water. We are making use of paint that helps repel mosquitoes to reduce chances of malaria. This will be a great inspiration for the whole community as well as having a functional benefit.
Donate Now!!
Donate Now!!
Greetings Friends,
On this the Feast of the Uganda Martyrs, June 3rd, I wish you a blessed day and year! Thank you for all the ways you support the Catholic Missionaries and families in Uganda. Your prayers are invaluable to me and for them. Your financial support is catalytic. You have kept people from falling into abject poverty. You have helped them realize more fully who God made them to be. You have kept hope alive! You have shared God’s love and mercy. You have helped families set a new pathway in life.
In 2022 alone, Ossana, Leah, Mary, Mark and many other students are back in high school. Gerald was able to buy a laptop and has initiated his online studies in Biology/PreMed with a university in Washington State. Joseph, Esther, Sharon and many young children have been assisted with much needed, even critical healthcare and treatments. Families have kept going because of food aid. Twenty youth learned to make beautiful sandals to wear or sell for additional income. Hearts have been uplifted through the spiritual programs offered through our partners.
You have blessed so many lives. May God also richly bless you! Laura
Ocer Campion Jesuit College (OCJC) and Eastside High School (Franciscan) have been paving the way for success for the children of poverty-stricken families. These schools depend on generous donations to support both student tuition and school improvements. For OCJC, over a third of its students rely on scholarships provided by sponsors. For Eastside High School, that number reaches over half of the student body.
Leah is one student at Ocer Campion JC who has been given the opportunity for success thanks to the kindness and generosity of scholarship sponsors. The second of three children, her mother was widowed after her father passed away due to Hepatitis C in 2010. The family has struggled with poverty since, and Leah’s mother, a farmer, has found it difficult to provide for her children’s basic needs, even more so for an education. Since economic crashes following COVID restrictions, the family has faced further poverty and health problems, threatening to keep them out of school. Leah and her siblings have been blessed to continue their education entirely through scholarships, an opportunity that gives them hope for a better future.
Another student at Ocer Campion JC who has received aid via the gracious giving of sponsors is John Mary, eldest of three children. John Mary’s parents have been active in youth leadership programs, youth activities at their parishes, and Church choir. The family lives in the capitol city of Uganda, Kampala, and has faced many challenges in paying for rent and food. With prices steadily on the rise, and no stable income for either of John Mary’s parents since businesses closed due to COVID, sponsorship has been a saving gift enabling John Mary to pursue his education.
Wondering how you might help poverty-stricken children in Uganda stay in school and achieve success in life? You can support the poor rural families in Gulu and Tororo, Uganda by offering prayers, joining our monthly giving program or making a one-time donation. Just click the red donate button on the right side bar.
Scholarship sponsors play a vital role in providing students at Ocer Campion JC and Eastside High School with the opportunity for an education and future success. Please consider sponsoring a student today and giving them the chance for a better life!
Would you consider donating $25 to cover the cost of Christmas dinner for one family in Uganda?
We had such a positive response to our Christmas dinner initiative last year by both the giving and receiving families, we have decided to do it again this year!
Life continues to be hard in Uganda. Schools were shut down again in June and still not yet been allowed to open again. This has left many at home with not enough to do. Teenage pregnancies have soared in the country. The weather went from too much rain in 2020 to too little rain in 2021 further destroying crops. The President and administration continue to shutdown markets and business activities, despite minimal cases and few deaths from COVID. Economic problems abound causing a ripple effect of despair and discouragement. In this season of hope, you can spread God’s love and mercy with a small gift of $25 for one family.
We want 50 families to experience the unexpected joy of Christmas this year. Families with special needs children, as well as teachers, students, widows, orphans, and individuals with disabilities.
To have a good Christmas in Uganda is to attend Church followed by a dinner feast together that includes meat. Children look forward to this day all year long. Without our support this year shall be just another meal of beans and portio (corn meal).
Just $25 will buy 1 chicken (or equivalent beef/goat), plus rice, additional sides, sodas to share, and Christmas cake for a family of five to eight.
Will you help us bless 50 families with a Christmas Dinner gift?
We have already received contributions for 10 Christmas Dinners!
May God bless you and your family this Christmas season for unto us the Christ child is born ever new in our hearts!
“O give thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his love endures for ever.”
Psalm 107:1
Former Head Teacher at Ocer Campion Jesuit College, Fr. John Chachu, passed away on July 22 at 59 years old. His loss was a devastating shock to the OCJC community, as he had been involved with the college for several years, and was well established in the college community. Fr. Chachu was a Jesuit priest originally ordained in Sudan in 1988, later sent to Ocer Campion Jesuit College in 2014. Under his leadership, enrollment at the college had risen from just over 600 students to over 700.
Upon the news of his death, many in the OCJC community began to raise money to bring his body back to Gulu so he could be buried there. The community truly loved him, so much so that, when news spread that only 20 people could attend his burial due to Covid restrictions, a cause went up to request that his burial be open to the entire community. Parents, students, and teachers alike wanted to be able to attend, and after some discussion, the burial ceremony was opened, and 700 people attended (double the projected 250 mourners).
Fr. Chachu came from a family of 6 children, and was one of two surviving members; he and one of his sisters. He had been raised in Sudan in a faithful family. In Gulu, he was the only Jesuit priest there that spoke the local language, a skill he was very proud of, noting that he was “very much in this place.” He embraced Gulu as his home, and felt very connected to the community. Likewise, the community loved him. Many students paid homage to Fr. Chachu at his burial, and others sent messages and stories to the school. The students at OCJC truly saw him as family. At his burial, one of his students, Susan Akera, noted “he was a father to many of us who were orphaned.” Another student expressed, “we will miss our father, our parent.”
In an unreleased interview, Fr. Chachu spoke lovingly about the community. One of his biggest concerns was that many prospective students could not afford to attend OCJC, but even some who could not pay were still welcomed into the program. Fr. Chachu cared deeply for the situation of those children in Gulu, commenting, “they literally have nothing, and as a school now, we cannot… send them away.” According to many in the community, Fr. Chahcu was a stern, disciplinary teacher at OCJC, yet even so, he was loved and widely known to have loved everyone. He kept close contact with the families, even outside of school, and was very encouraging to all of his students. His student Susan Akera described him as “the most forgiving priest I have ever come across. He would quarrel on us and within minutes he would start making jokes to us.” Another student agreed, stating, “He created a social environment that was equal for us all irrespective of who you are.”
The OCJC families and staff will sorely miss Fr. Chachu, and his contributions to the community will not soon be forgotten. Fr. Chahu was known for truly loving his students and for being a well rounded, disciplinary role model to the children at OCJC. It is with great sorrow that the OCJC families and teachers say farewell to Fr. Chachu. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
The Catholic Boys Scouts in Uganda is one of the few youth organizations in the country that provides youth development for anyone. Through the Scouts youth have the opportunity to learn loads of skills such as setting up tents, tying knots, first aid, sourcing safe water, proper sanitation in the wild or at home, cooking, science and care of the nature, as well as leadership and team building. Skills they desperately need for a productive and cooperative life at home, work or in the community.
Fr. Ceasar Matuvo has been working for 10 years to develop Chiro Camp along Lake Victoria in Masaka district of Uganda. The land was donated by the Archdiocese of Kampala. With the help various donors, hard work and tenacity on the part of Fr. Ceasar, George K., George M. and other scout leaders and troops they have built a main hall, a few bungalows, and limited water and sanitation infrastructure. They are in need of quality tents that sleep 3, 6 or 8 campers, which are two season and can endure the heavy rains. We are currently seeking $2400 for tents and additional $1200 for additional equipment for the kitchen and training hall.
Chiro Camp hosts about 300 youth each quarter between the Scouts and the Xaverians, a local Catholic youth service organization. You can enable a multitude of youth to have a fun and educational camp experience with just $25, $50 or more. Help make the future of Uganda better. Give Today!
Join us as we launch a monthly giving circle to share our blessings. We are called to build up the Body of Christ, the Church. At eChange Endeavors we do this by supporting widows, single parents, orphans and those with disabilities either directly or through local Catholic institutions. We seek to leverage previous investments made in education, personal development or institutional capacities to ensure those at risk won’t fall by the wayside. Together we are helping to transform problems into opportunities inspiring hope and strengthening community!
We help hardworking mothers such as Gloria to ensure they can provide for their children. When she needed a hip replacement surgery due to an accident, we stepped in to help. We also supported Pascal to finish University after his Mother died and his Father was no longer able to generate enough income for both him and his younger brother who was still attending high school. When Esther’s husband died, we assisted with food and helped her start a micro business. Later when the eldest reached high school we helped with the higher fees. We have given a small grant to Children’s Community Care to finish a classroom for children with mental disabilities so that mothers would have a safe, clean, and stimulating environment in which to leave their children while they went to work in the street markets.
We also raise funds for OcerCampion Jesuit College both scholarships and an additional housing for international volunteers to work at the school. We are seeking resources for technology and textbooks for St Athanasius Primary School, which serves mostly poor families living in the slums of Kampala. St. Elizabeth’s Home & Vocational Institute rescues young women from the streets, trafficking and prostitution. We are seeking to raise funds for a solar solution and sewing machines so that local money collected can feed and support more women. We are seeking to help rural health clinics diversify their service capabilities to create a more sustainable model. None of these good works would be possible without your generous support over time.
So join us today and become part of our circle of giving to ensure we can say YES to helping our brothers and sisters in Uganda when we receive their requests. To join simply click on our DONATE button that will take you to a PayPal payment page. You can pay via PayPal, credit or debit card. Just make sure to tick the box for re-occurring payments and your giving will be automatically processed each month.
$10/month enables an entrepreneur to start or grow a microenterprise
$20/month enables young adults to participate in Catholic youth camps
$25/month provides one teacher with a mini-laptop
$30/month supports a student in primary school
$50/month provides a small grant to a health clinic or partner
Thank you for becoming part of our Endeavors Circle of love and hope in the world!
