The Village Hope

Many of you know that David and Matthew and I recently visited Africa to visit with a young girl have been sponsoring for the last 10 years.  While Liz is an orphan and has lost both her mother and father, her grandparents are still alive and we went for a visit.  Liz has been telling me of their living conditions for years, so I should not have been surprised, but I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the primitiveness of their conditions.  Granny and Grandpa live in a house made of dirt and cow dung.  Their kitchen is in a separate building and is a simple fire pit with a window overhead to vent the smoke.  


We were treated with great kindness and couldn't help but feel guilty when we realized they had butchered a chicken earlier that morning just for us.  In addition Granny had worked all day over that open fire making Ugali, which is similar to our grits, and kale and a flavorful flatbread called chipati.  People came from all over the village to see the visiting Mazungas (white people).  We heard over and over that we were the first happy Mazungas that they had seen.  How sad is that!  

Lizzie then shared how Granny has to ask one of the village children to get her water every day.  Fresh water is not readily available.  Instead the villagers walk over an hour away to get a single bucket of water from a nearby well which is really just a dirty hole in the ground.  

Liz also shared how because the rainy season was just ending her Granny was able to provide the food for our dinner.  But if it was the dry season, vegetables don't grow readily in their garden and the chickens have no food to eat.  If they can't grow vegetables and get eggs, they have nothing to sell and then they cannot buy flour or cornmeal to supplement their diets.  Liz and her sister try to visit during these times and bring food with them, but that is not always possible because the village is many hours from the girls home in the city.


Liz's Grandparents are not alone in their struggles.  Many elderly in the village of Uloma struggle just for a bite of food or a sip of water.  

But we are doing something about that this year.  In anticipation of the upcoming dry season we are working to provide many of the elderly in Uloma with a Christmas gift that will help them through the tough times ahead. 

But we can't do this alone.  We need your help.  For just $10 your gift will provide one elderly person and their family one bag each of flour and corn flour, a bag of sugar, some cooking oil and a loaf of bread. Just $10.  Our goal this year is just $1000 and if we get more than $1000 we will extend the efforts to the widows and children of Uloma.   This modest amount of funding will go miles towards helping many families get through the next year.

Won't  you help just one family? No our gifts are not tax deductible. This is the first time we have done this and we are trusting the kindness and generosity of the people that we know. But if things go well, I expect this will not be the last Christmas where we help.  I do know and trust Liz and I am confident that every dollar we raise will go towards food for the elderly in Uloma. Please consider a donation to make these people's lives just a little easier.  It shouldn't be so hard for someone to get a drink of water or a bite of bread. 

Thank you for your kindness.  Thank you for your generosity.