Academics The school year has started, with emphasis to Primary seven class (the final class in the primary school). This class is supposed to sit for the national examinations in November whose results determine which child shall proceed to Secondary level. The Ministry of Education’s official opening time is 1st February 2010, but to catch up with the syllabus demands we had to start a little early.   The rest of the children were busy doing the home activities with the mothers and Ms. Natalie.   Health Center The health unit seems to be taking strides in the right direction. Through it we have centralized the storage and issuance of drugs to all the patients at the home. We have agreed in principle that the mothers play a leading role in administering the drugs and the Clinical officer helps them where necessary.   Dr. Lew Wilson visited with Mr. Cal Boogard and Ms. Michelle Smith; Dr. Lew had a long discussion with our new nurse / clinical officer Ms. Pam and agreed on most of the anticipated activities to be undertaken by the health unit.   Dr. Wabrokho of St. Martin Clinic in Mbale Town and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Mbale Referral Hospital agreed to be the doctor on record for our Health Unit.

There was no referral of cases to Mbale hospitals this month as the clinic managed all the ailments and all the people attended to responded positively.   Through the continued generosity of Doctor Lew, the clinic acquired a brand new water dispenser, a sterilizer for equipments and other clinic materials and a camera. In addition they donated a laptop to the clinical officer and a printer to easy her work.   Home activities The Children have been busy during the school recess and we have made all effort to engage them into productive work. The girls have been crocheting and house keeping and the boys have been a key in the animals and farming.   The mothers have also made their effort to guide the children and be with them all through. Other staff members have also been active in executing their duties and we continue to make the necessary effort to ensure that they have all they need to do a good job and serve the children better.   Social welfare of the children During the holiday a number of children received some of their next of kin who came to see how they were fairing.   However the big challenge we were faced with are the many requests from some former guardians who wanted to take the children for some weeks. This we need to agree with the Probation Officer to see how best it could be practically done so that the children may some times in the course of the year go back to strengthen their roots and social back ground.

Farming Ms. Michelle Smith from South Africa got in touch with an Agronomist who went in the field and analyzed our land. His report is encouraging and our land has the potential to produce some good food yields if properly utilized according to the seasons.   However, it is important that we get a Tractor to help us for better agriculture and getting a substantive person who should reside there and do the farm work.   Challenges Piped water to the facility became a big challenge as our ground tanks could not get filled up due to corrosion within the feeder pipes. In addition because of the community tapping off our main line, the pressure is not enough to bring water to the facility.   We have talked with National Water and have agreed to give us a new water supply line specifically for the children’s home with its growing infrastructure in mind but this shall be done at our cost.   We need to hire some school teachers and we need your prayers that God brings people on board who are going to add value to the children.

Work ahead We are making preparations to receive a container of school supplies sent from the USA. This involves a lot of paper work and moving from office to office.   The land preparation for farming is being done so that we can be ready in the planting season.   Preparation of the primary 7 candidate class to ensure that our children pass requires intensive effort. As I write this, the mothers have already revised their schedules to exempt the candidates from some work so that they can concentrate on their studies.   The home has been added on the district list of institutions to be supported for tree planting and this requires our input in terms of land preparation and planting and maintenance of the fields planted.   Ms. Pamella Awor our clinical officer is working on the renewal of the Medical unit license that expired last December 2009.   There is also need to carryout routine repairs and maintenance so that we keep our facility in good functional order.

Finally I and my family do extend our gratitude to you all for your prayers and support that has seen us through one of the toughest time of our lives when our daughter Nellie under went two major neurological surgeries. She is currently at home and recuperating and we believe that in March 2010 she shall be able to go back to school. I also thank you all for being so patience with me.   Wishing you a prosperous 2010 as we continue to serve the children for His glory,     Edward Mukiibi