Welcome Home

Over the past week our team in Uganda has had the opportunity to meet the 3 girls from the Restoration Home who are in need of immediate medical attention.  Through your generous donationof $25, $50, $100, $250, or whatever you are willing to give, you will provide access to the crucial medical care that the girls need.  You can donate today by visiting www.passionpartners.org/donate.  Thank you for taking this opportunity to #GetLocal with us!

Restoration Home Medical Needs Fundraiser from Passion Partners on Vimeo.

Recently, Passion Partners learned that 3 of our Restoration Home girls in Wakiso, Uganda were in need of additional medical care beyond what is accounted for in our annual budget. To raise the money that is necessary to provide the girls with the treatments they need, we are asking for you to take part in our #GetLocal campaign. Your tax-deductible donation of $25, $50, $100, $250, or whatever you are willing to give, will go a long way to meeting the medical needs of the girls. To donate TODAY visit www.passionpartners.org/donate.

To learn more about the needs of the Restoration Home girls, watch the video below to hear directly from our partners!

Restoration Home Girls Fundraiser from Passion Partners on Vimeo.

May God Be Glorified

In late may, the other members of the Uganda Purity Project Team and I visited a girl named Josephine Nakato. She is a Junior at Kikandwa Community School. When Josephine finishes school she aspires to become a doctor, and she is working as hard as she can to ensure that she attains her goal!

At a young age, Josephine lost both of her parents and is now living with her brother, who already has several children of his own.

As we visited Josephine and her brother, we encouraged her to continue studying and to trust the Lord with everything she does. Josephine explained to us how she had become a Christian early in life, and we were so happy to hear her testimony!

During our visit we presented Josephine with scholastic materials like books, pens, pencils, and a Geometry set. We also brought her family a variety of other necessities such as rice, bread, sugar, cooking oil, shoe polish, Vaseline, and soap.

Josephine and her brother were both so thankful for all that the Uganda Purity Project provides for the girls of Wakiso,Uganda.  Some of the other services that the Project provides include: counseling, teaching, guiding, and the purchasing of sanitary pads for the girls.

Before we left we asked Josephine and her brother for their prayer requests. Their main prayer request was for help in finding the money to send Josephine to school.  Without this money, Josephine will not be able to reach her goal of becoming a doctor.

Please join us in praying for Josephine and we hope you will consider supporting the Uganda Purity Project by visiting our website at www.passionpartners.org/donate.

* Sam Sempijja is the director of the Uganda Purity Project based in Wakiso, Uganda.

How the Belmont Nurses Christian Fellowship

“Got Local”


By Kelsey Maguire

As I stood beside the other members of the Belmont Nurses Christian Fellowship in a room full of thousands of feminine hygiene pads, I couldn’t help but beam with unashamed excitement at the brightly packaged products piled in mounds atop the tables. This was our third year hosting “The Pad Project” on Belmont’s campus, and the anticipation was welling up inside each of us as we gathered to count and send off our donation to Passion Partners.

Passion Partners gives these pads to hundreds of young women each and every month through their support of local ministries on the ground in Africa. These pads are the entry point to impoverished young women who are learning about their health, their worth, and the Gospel.

The story caught my heart from the first moment I heard it. I couldn’t believe that a pad was all it took to open the door for counseling and care to many impoverished girls. These simple packages of pads keeps hundreds of girls in school, gives them a community to belong to, and empowers them to take control of their wellness.

To get involved was simple.  All that my group had to do was set up boxes across campus and begin spreading the word. Year after year, these boxes have effortlessly been filled in increasing numbers.

There’s something so sweet about God’s intimate attention to detail. The way He uses the seemingly mundane, like these pads, or the seemingly small, like our little student organization, to do big things for His kingdom never ceases to amaze me.

After weeks of collecting pads all over campus, we stood in the classroom full of donated pads with our hands over our mouths, anxiously awaiting this year’s final count. In our first year we were able to raise over 3,000 pads, and in the second year we were able raise over 5,000 pads. Yet this was only a fraction of what we were able to accomplish this year.  As one of our classmates scribbled the final total on the board we shouted with excitement, we had raised 7,800 pads!

This project allows my group to “Get Local” each year and reminds us that we serve a God who makes big things happen through even the smallest and least likely of means.  We are grateful for this opportunity and we look forward to what God will do through “The Pad Project” next year!

*Kelsey Maguire is a recent graduate of Belmont University and the former President of the Belmont Nurses Christian Fellowship.  She traveled to Africa with Passion Partners in 2013.

Meet Rose

A widow, a mother of three and an AIDS patient, Rose served as one of the most reliable employees to date at the Ashburn Ohuru Medical Clinic.  After losing her job in 2012, Rose was subsequently hired as a nursing assistant at the clinic and worked steadily until her death.  “Rose was one of the best staff members to work for us,” Wilfred, the Ashburn Ohuru Medical Clinic manager proclaimed.  “Rose was the first to arrive at the clinic in Siaya every morning…no later than 7:00 A.M.”  Serving as the sole breadwinner for her family, Rose desired and always wanted to prioritize the schooling of her three children.  Reflecting upon Rose’s excellent work at the clinic, Wilfred sought to meet the schooling needs of Roses children after her passing-to instill each of them in school and to provide the means and support for each.

Rose had three children: Mackrine, Dickson, and Faith.  Each of their faces carry a story much more larger than themselves.  Our team had the opportunity to visit Mackrine, Dickson, and Faith at their respective schools across Siaya on Saturday afternoon.  Let’s take some time to get to know each child.

Meet Mackrine

Wilfred, Peter, Alisa, Margaret and I began the afternoon at Nyamonye Girls Secondary School, where Mackrine attends.  We waited in joyful anticipation as the head master informed Mackrine that she had a few visitors waiting and that she was excused from class for a twenty minutes. Within minutes, a graceful, beautiful girl in a red and white plaid uniform quietly turned the corner.  As she walked across mangled roots toward our team, her lips fought hard to cover her smile.  Margaret embraced Mackrine’s gentle spirit and figure tightly.  Mackrine then reached for Alisa, craving closeness.  The weight of the past few years set deep in Mackrine’s dark brown eyes.  Her body, her communication, and her demeanor were all covered in a layer of timidity.  But Mackrine was growing in strength-both academic strength and physical strength.

Margaret, Alisa and I asked Mackrine a few questions about her school year.  She responded softly, but she began to let a smile creep across her face.  Agriculture and Swahili were the courses that Mackrine said she enjoyed, while mathematics she labeled as a struggle.  Alisa met Mackrine’s gaze time and time again and consistently whispered, “We believe in you.”

Meet Dickson

Dickson is the youngest of Rose’s children and attends Medula Academy, a private boarding and day school in Siaya.  Our team conversed with the deputy and headmaster of Medula about Dickson’s progress over the past year.  “He is one of our best speakers, we are very much sure of him. He can take care of his things as well.  There is a big difference from last year-he is much more communicative,” the headmaster explained.

Our team was locked into conversation when Dickson peeked through the office door.  He stood stoically in his faded green uniform shirt and striped socks.  A few fearless nods upward and a couple of soft words were Dickson’s responses to the questions our team asked him.  Alisa, Margaret and I extended hugs, but high fives and fist pumps were perfectly o.k. in Dickson’s book.  Dickson says that one day he wants to be a policeman; hope is beginning to resound from him one day at a time.

Meet Faith

Wilfred confidently drove our team throughout the windy, dusty roads of Siaya county; our team gazed out our windows as we reflected upon the time with Mackrine and Dickson.  We arrived to the Lwak Girls Primary School, excited about our final visit, with Faith.

Light in her countenance and spirit, Faith walked into the Lwak office to greet our team.  Faith was glowing! Buttoned and dressed in her uniform, Faith swayed from side to side smiling as Margaret, Alisa and I engaged her in conversation.  Margaret showed Faith pictures of Mackrine and Dickson that she had snapped on her phone. Faith lit up when she recognized her brother and sister in the photos!  April 11th is the beginning of school holiday and is the date that Mackrine, Dickson and Faith will be reunited at their grandmothers house.

Faith expressed that she needed new books, a new uniform for form 5, new shoes and a new school bag.  These supply materials are tangible needs that Passion Partners desires to meet.  The Lord is providing a means for these three children.  Even more so, He is delivering them from the shadow of death and reminding each of them that there are those who are fighting for them.  Providence and protection are lavished upon Mackrine, Dickson, and Faith as they are in circumstances that could manifest themselves into uncertainty and fear.  What a joy and honor it is for Passion Partners to grow alongside of these children!

*Becca Vinson is a fellow with Passion Partners through the Nashville Fellows Program.  Becca is currently in Africa with other members of the Passion Partners staff.

Ding, Ding, Ding! The bell rang at 12:40 pm and everyone at the Usingo Primary School knew what this sound signaled…lunch time!!! Students ran out of classrooms to form two lines in front of the kitchen. Empty plastic bowls in every hand, were soon to be filled with a colorful mixture of corn and beans.  As each student received his or her meal, they found a place to munch…the older students clustered across the front field to gain some quiet space and the younger ones skipped around and eventually settled under nearby trees.  Smiles spread rampantly and energy heightened steadily.  Three cooks stood attentively to ensure that every student was offered a hearty meal.  Slowly but surely, the satisfied students trickled back into classrooms to finish class for the remainder of the school day.  This is the Usingo Feeding Program at work.

What are the effects of the daily distribution of 150 grams of maize and 40 grams of beans to each of the 413 students at the Usingo Primary School? The population of the school expanded by nearly 200 students, two students were accepted to a national school (one of which was the only boy to be admitted out of 20 schools in Siaya county), all but one of the graduates were accepted to secondary schools, the chance of a student attending a university has increased significantly, and the anthropometric measurements of all students currently meet the national average. What encouraging statistics about the effects of the Usingo Feeding Program since its implementation in October 2012.

Everlyne Mwalo has been hired as a nutritionist for both the Ashburn-Ohuru Medical Clinic and the Usingo Primary School feeding program.  Alisa, Margaret and I spent time with Everlyne today as we watched the Usingo Feeding Program in action; we sought Everlyne’s wisdom about the proper nourishment of communities like Usingo. A bright, innovative young lady, Everlyne is committed to the improvement of health, including the quantity, quality and hygiene of food, among the Usingo Primary School students.

It is exciting to see a program create such change among a community! “This is where these children have been planted, but they are finding joy,” Margaret said as she reflected upon the day and shared a story of a favorite little one she met named Moses.  The Usingo Feeding Program is not only keeping students in school throughout the course of the day, but this program is a providing a firm foundation for the trajectory of these students’ futures.

*Becca Vinson is a fellow with Passion Partners through the Nashville Fellows Program.  Becca is currently in Africa with other members of the Passion Partners staff.