June Mission Moment

A Brighter Tomorrow

In the Kasagamaa Sub County of Uganda, it’s not unusual for children to serve as the heads of households. Of all of the countries on the African continent, Uganda has one of the highest percentages of people living with and dying from HIV and AIDS, leaving many children orphaned and to fend for themselves.

Sentongo Abdul’s parents died of AIDS in 2006, leaving Sentongo in charge of looking after his younger sister and brother. Without the help of their parents, the Abdul children were often hungry. Although there is a free primary school in their community, the children did not have the required school supplies to attend.

“Well-wishers gave us food once in a while, but no one ever offered us money to cater for some of household essentials and scholastic materials,” Sentongo says. “It hurt me so much to watch my friends attend school on a daily basis, yet I could not afford basic materials which everyone took for granted.”
But thanks to a partnership between ELCA World Hunger and the Rural Action Community Based Organization, a local community service organization in Uganda, the Abduls’ lives are changing.

In 2011, the children were given a new house, a water tank, household utensils and two pregnant goats as a part of a larger initiative that distributed 280 goats to 90 households. For people in Uganda, a goat is as good as money in the bank. Goats can provide nutritious milk and meat, but more importantly, they can be sold when a family finds itself in need.

In the next phase of the project, the program will also provide gardening and food preparation training to children who lead households and people living with HIV and AIDS with the hope of increasing food security in the region.

In Sentongo’s case, the Rural Action Community Based Organization taught him how to properly care for his goats including how to build a pen, how to feed them properly with locally available foods and how to keep them from falling ill.

His goats each had two kids, and when the organization saw how well Sentongo was caring for his animals, they gave him two more. He was then able to sell four of the goats to procure books, pens, pencils and school bags for his siblings. Now Sentongo spends his days taking his goats to graze on the fresh grass in the hills where he lives, while his brother and sister get an education.

“I had given up all hope for life after our parents’ death. My siblings’ dreams of becoming teachers can now be realized because of the goat project. My future and that of my siblings is surely brighter.”

Thank you!! Your gifts help make stories like Sentongo’s possible. You are a life-changer!

We cannot be quiet about what we have seen and heard! Acts 4:20

Christine Donahue, Mission Interpreter Coordinator

May Mission Moment

Called Into the World-Together

Abel Makungwe is the field officer for the Lutheran malaria program in Zambia. One of his best tools is a little flat stick that costs just about one dollar. 

That little plastic stick is in the main part of a malaria test kit that’s perfect for the open clinics that Abel holds in rural areas far from hospitals or clinics.

Here’s how it works: Someone comes to the open clinic table, and Abel pricks her finger to draw a tiny drop of blood. He puts the drop in the tester, and the results are clear just 15 minutes later. If two lines show up in the window on the tester, she has malaria- and if so, Abel reaches into his supplies and gets her started on effective medicine right then and there.

These inexpensive test kits – Rapid Diagnostic Tests, to give them their proper name – make it possible for Abel, as well as many pastors and other volunteers he has trained, to test and treat people in the villages and in rural churches, close to those who are most vulnerable.

Abel and the others he has trained always start with education, teaching people in and through the churches about the importance of early testing and treatment.

That’s the key to the work of the ELCA Malaria Campaign. We believe God is calling us into the world- together. Together, we can do so much more than any of us could do alone, and Abel’s work is living proof. Because of our church-to-church connections, we’re able to reach people right where they live- and we’re able to break down some surprising barriers.

A village leader explains, “People used to be scared to have their blood tested for malaria because they thought it was going to be used for Satanism. But now, after the malaria education we had at the church, they are more than willing.”

That leader was the first one in line to be tested at Abel’s open clinic. He says, “We thank the church for bringing this program to our area. Please continue with the good spirit of having a heart for the poor. Thank you!”

People like Abel Makungwe are working hard every day to make malaria history – teaching, testing and treating as many people as they can, and training more volunteers to join them in their work.

Your support is helping people who are at risk for this treatable, preventable disease- and they’re already saving lives. Thank you!

Click here for more information.

ChristineDonahue
TLGCS Mission Interpreter Coordinator