Merry Christmas & Blessed New Year to our friends
From all of us here at URF, we wish you
December 2018
Dear Friends,
Christmas greetings and lots of love from the children at Hope! May the joy and peace of this season fill your heart!
I am excited to share that 2018 has been a great year because through you, our dear friends, God has blessed us so much. Together we have accomplished many things. With your support, our Hope Junior School (the kindergarten and elementary section) has improved tremendously and partly also due to the leadership of Teacher Deo Kasigwa who joined our team as head of school this year.
Deo was among the seven pioneer students when Hope Academy (the high school section) opened in May 2008. Coming from a child-headed family, URF awarded him a full scholarship to attend Hope and also built him and his sister a new house. Their parents died and left them in a small dilapidated mud and stick house. After becoming a teacher, Deo chose to return to teach at Hope Junior School as a way to give back.
“I could never have become what I am today without the help of URF and the many volunteers who built us a new house and sponsored my education at Hope. I realized that the best way for me to show gratitude is to come back to teach and inspire kids who are struggling like I was at the time when URF rescued me. I feel privileged to be part of the URF team that is changing so many lives. Thank you friends! Please continue helping us so we can make Hope Junior the best school in Uganda where children can excel not only academically and in leadership, but also learn faith, discipline, and the value of service to their communities,”- Deo Kasigwa
What remains now to complete this beautiful Hope campus includes:
– Doors (13): $80 each
– Windows (50): $100 each
– Plastering walls: $150 for fifteen bags of cement
– Roofing kindergarten classrooms: $200 for twenty iron sheets
– Floors: $300 for four trucks of gravel ($2,500 for one classroom)
– Construction of the
boys’ dormitory: $500 for 11,000 bricks
We invite you to please continue walking with us toward the finish line, with the goal of completing these facilities the children need by February 2019 when the school year opens. A contribution of any amount will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! Webale nnyo!
In addition, you have also helped several children receive life-saving medical interventions: Ibra, 12, came to Richmond for a rare type of cancer treatment; acquired wheelchairs for: Uthman, 4, born missing one arm and one leg; Josephine, 13, who couldn’t walk because of a big open wound on her leg; Cathy, 4, who was paralyzed by a meningitis attack; and Phionah, 22, underwent extensive surgery to correct deformities in her legs caused by polio as a child; as well as ongoing support for Leticia, 5, with heart disease and other medical complications. Thank you for saving their lives and giving these children a new hope for a better life. You are a special blessing to them and there are many other children crying out for help. In the pictures on the attached flyer you can see the impact you are making in the world.
On behalf of everyone at URF and the children at our Hope Schools, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year. The children and I pledge our daily prayers for you and your loved ones.
Yours in humble service,
Fr. John Mary Lugemwa, OSB
President
