Julius Zziwa, 24, is a bright young man with a very promising future. His story is below, but the short version is this:
He has finished medical school at Makerere University's Medical School in Uganda, completed his internships and begun his residency. He has been diagnosed with a brain tumor that his doctors believe is fully operable, but not in Uganda. They have arranged for the surgery to be completed in India, but Zziwa doesn't have the funds to pay for travel or the surgery required to save his life. Please donate what you can, and above all, please pray for him and for those caring for him during this time.
The full story:
We (Dale and Gann Herman) met Julius Zziwa as a 12 year old Primary student in Mukono District, a lad whose school fees were being supported by a small non-profit called Hope Prisons Foundation (HPF) with help from the faith-based peace and development agency Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) which we represented in Uganda. HPF's leaders introduced us to Zziwa, and to the head of his school. Zziwa introduced us to his twin brothers, 2 years behind him in school, and to his little sister in Primary 1, and his self-respect and love for his family impressed us. His head teacher told us Zziwa was her best pupil in academics, leadership, and moral character.
18 months later, we were hosting a friend from our home church in North Carolina, Dr Curtis Harper, and he came along on a visit to Hope Prisons Foundation's piggery project, which was designed to help families raise school fees for secondary school, since MCC's support for students ended when they completed their primary education. During our conversation with William Kyobe, our host for that day, Zziwa's story arose, and we learned that he had in fact earned the highest possible score on his final Primary School national exams, and had been accepted into a prestigious high school in Mukono District, but was sitting at home because his family could not afford the fees. Our friend Curtis, who had grown up in Jim Crow Alabama and had experienced discrimination on many levels, has a generous heart, so he immediately told us that he would pay for Julius's fees, and to get the boy into school, which had started 2 weeks earlier. Mr. Kyobe acted immediately, arranging for Zziwa's enrollment, purchase of school uniform and books, payment of tuition, all funded by Curtis, and Zziwa was back in school within the week.
Our friend Curtis became ill with pneumonia, left Uganda early and never had an opportunity to meet Zziwa, who thrived in his new school. We learned at the end of Zziwa's first term that his school had a policy of granting a full tuition/room/board scholarship for the following term to the top-scoring student in each class, and Zziwa had earned that scholarship for the second term, despite starting 2 weeks late. He earned that scholarship term after term, throughout his high school years, as he took all the math and science classes offered, as well as computers and French. Our friend Curtis continued to pay for Zziwa's books and a new uniform as he grew taller. When we left Uganda in 2010, our friend and co-worker David Otim managed our bank account and those payments for us until Zziwa graduated with high honors and a full scholarship to Makerere University's Medical School.
Zziwa flourished at the university as well, becoming a leader among his fellow medical school students, and in a Christian fellowship group. He stayed in touch with us through Facebook during his university years, always expressing his gratitude to us and to Dr Harper for the opporutunity to have an education and fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor. Zziwa has graduated, has done his internships, begun his residency, all the while expressing his love for his patients and for the science of medicine.
And now--a brain tumor threatens his vision, his mind, his life, and the health of all the Ugandans he serves so gladly. He has been hospitalized for awhile now, but there is no doctor in Uganda who can do the surgery. Zziwa does have a neurologist in Uganda who has made arrangements for Zziwa to go to a hospital in India where there are doctors able to do the surgery, but the cost is $25,000--a sum far beyond the realm of possibility for Zziwa's family to provide, though very affordable from a US perspective. The tumor is quite deep inside his brain but still operable, just not in Uganda. The surgery must be done within a month in order to have a chance of success. His Ugandan friends have begun to collect funds (and have raised $3,500 so far), but their own resources are slim, so our friend David Otim, who has been a mentor to Zziwa throughout his high school years, reached out to alert us of Zziwa's need and ask for our help. So we are reaching out to you, to ask, if you are able, to also contribute.
David has given us bank account info, and Dale and I will combine all the gifts we receive into one bank draft to save on transfer costs. If you prefer not to make a donation via Go Fund Me, checks can be made out to Dale Herman, with Zziwa in the memo line, and mailed to us. Please email to get our mailing address. If you are able, act right away--we have no time to lose.
And please pray for Zziwa. The urgency of his need lays heavy on our hearts.
With love and gratitude,
Gann and Dale Herman
Charity Herman Strang & Jeff Strang
He has finished medical school at Makerere University's Medical School in Uganda, completed his internships and begun his residency. He has been diagnosed with a brain tumor that his doctors believe is fully operable, but not in Uganda. They have arranged for the surgery to be completed in India, but Zziwa doesn't have the funds to pay for travel or the surgery required to save his life. Please donate what you can, and above all, please pray for him and for those caring for him during this time.
The full story:
We (Dale and Gann Herman) met Julius Zziwa as a 12 year old Primary student in Mukono District, a lad whose school fees were being supported by a small non-profit called Hope Prisons Foundation (HPF) with help from the faith-based peace and development agency Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) which we represented in Uganda. HPF's leaders introduced us to Zziwa, and to the head of his school. Zziwa introduced us to his twin brothers, 2 years behind him in school, and to his little sister in Primary 1, and his self-respect and love for his family impressed us. His head teacher told us Zziwa was her best pupil in academics, leadership, and moral character.
18 months later, we were hosting a friend from our home church in North Carolina, Dr Curtis Harper, and he came along on a visit to Hope Prisons Foundation's piggery project, which was designed to help families raise school fees for secondary school, since MCC's support for students ended when they completed their primary education. During our conversation with William Kyobe, our host for that day, Zziwa's story arose, and we learned that he had in fact earned the highest possible score on his final Primary School national exams, and had been accepted into a prestigious high school in Mukono District, but was sitting at home because his family could not afford the fees. Our friend Curtis, who had grown up in Jim Crow Alabama and had experienced discrimination on many levels, has a generous heart, so he immediately told us that he would pay for Julius's fees, and to get the boy into school, which had started 2 weeks earlier. Mr. Kyobe acted immediately, arranging for Zziwa's enrollment, purchase of school uniform and books, payment of tuition, all funded by Curtis, and Zziwa was back in school within the week.
Our friend Curtis became ill with pneumonia, left Uganda early and never had an opportunity to meet Zziwa, who thrived in his new school. We learned at the end of Zziwa's first term that his school had a policy of granting a full tuition/room/board scholarship for the following term to the top-scoring student in each class, and Zziwa had earned that scholarship for the second term, despite starting 2 weeks late. He earned that scholarship term after term, throughout his high school years, as he took all the math and science classes offered, as well as computers and French. Our friend Curtis continued to pay for Zziwa's books and a new uniform as he grew taller. When we left Uganda in 2010, our friend and co-worker David Otim managed our bank account and those payments for us until Zziwa graduated with high honors and a full scholarship to Makerere University's Medical School.
Zziwa flourished at the university as well, becoming a leader among his fellow medical school students, and in a Christian fellowship group. He stayed in touch with us through Facebook during his university years, always expressing his gratitude to us and to Dr Harper for the opporutunity to have an education and fulfill his dream of becoming a doctor. Zziwa has graduated, has done his internships, begun his residency, all the while expressing his love for his patients and for the science of medicine.
And now--a brain tumor threatens his vision, his mind, his life, and the health of all the Ugandans he serves so gladly. He has been hospitalized for awhile now, but there is no doctor in Uganda who can do the surgery. Zziwa does have a neurologist in Uganda who has made arrangements for Zziwa to go to a hospital in India where there are doctors able to do the surgery, but the cost is $25,000--a sum far beyond the realm of possibility for Zziwa's family to provide, though very affordable from a US perspective. The tumor is quite deep inside his brain but still operable, just not in Uganda. The surgery must be done within a month in order to have a chance of success. His Ugandan friends have begun to collect funds (and have raised $3,500 so far), but their own resources are slim, so our friend David Otim, who has been a mentor to Zziwa throughout his high school years, reached out to alert us of Zziwa's need and ask for our help. So we are reaching out to you, to ask, if you are able, to also contribute.
David has given us bank account info, and Dale and I will combine all the gifts we receive into one bank draft to save on transfer costs. If you prefer not to make a donation via Go Fund Me, checks can be made out to Dale Herman, with Zziwa in the memo line, and mailed to us. Please email to get our mailing address. If you are able, act right away--we have no time to lose.
And please pray for Zziwa. The urgency of his need lays heavy on our hearts.
With love and gratitude,
Gann and Dale Herman
Charity Herman Strang & Jeff Strang