The Good Neighbor Program
We had the giving out of the hygiene kit in the course of the month. We also gave out the scholastic materials for next school term during the last Saturday of the month fellowship. We are working on the review report. It gave us an opportunity to visit some of the families in the neighborhood and to sound out the participating families about the project so far.
The preliminary findings indicate a positive impact of the project to the beneficiaries and surprisingly some of the goats given out have already produced some kids. Some TGN families have also donated some chickens to their counterpart in LCH as a gesture of growing friendship.
Child focus of the month
Florence Naali is 5 years old; she has grown up with her maternal grandmother. She lost her mother in 2002. Her unknown father abandoned her mother and to this day his where abouts remain unknown. Her Grandmother is aged and could not fend for the child and therefore she was recommended and committed to LCH for care and support in July 2007.
Staff focus of the month
Rebecca Makuma-Malemo, aged 57, is a teacher by profession and joined LCH in 2004. Before then she was teaching at a local school in Mbale called Kings’ Education Centre. She had also taught in big schools like Konkojeru Primary School and Grace Primary School in Mbale town but she never had peace. She rationalized that maybe it was due to the loss of her husband. She would leave home at 6:00am only to come back at 6:00pm, giving her no time to talk to her own children. She worked under a very horrible supervision whether good has been done or not there was no difference. All she could get was abuses.
She prayed to God and thought of resigning until God answered her prayers by bringing her to LCH. She says she never enjoyed teaching in her life like she is enjoying it now. She says she feels comfortable and peaceful. The conditions are more favorable for one to explore her teaching profession. She promises to make use of all that she has to offer these children. It is good to be here and Rebecca always prays that God continues to bless this home.
Maintenance works
Work on the plumbing and electrical systems is in great shape and I continue to monitor the performance and do all the necessary repairs immediately any problem is identified. The major challenge remains water flow, I just don’t know what the real problem is but these days we have a problem of water flow.
The challenge remains about the electricity bill but we are doing all that we can to ensure that this power bill also goes down.
Staff issues
Starting this month under review, we have started paying the salary increases as we had earlier on agreed. I do believe these new salaries will further improve the staff motivation to continue offering the much needed quality service to our children.
Emerging challenges
With the increased number of children dish washing has become a heavy and time consuming duty for both the staff and the children. I am suggesting if possible securing for us a durable dish washer. This will enable us to reduce the time and release many people from the task of dish washing.
Due to the heavy rains that we have experienced during this season our access road has continued to deteriorate. For sure it is in a bad state as I write and a remedy is needed to make it useable.
We also need to find out how to handle the issue of bathrooms for the school. With this much rain, it has become increasingly difficult for the children and staff to walk all the way to the only bathrooms behind the main building.
Edward Mukiibi, Administrator
