Dear Smith Family Foundation,
We recently returned from Uganda and I wanted to give you a report on your donations and the good they are already doing!! I also wanted to thank you personally.
First of all, after a hard year of fundraising globally, your surprise donation was such a source of encouragement!!! And the letter you sent along with it? It encouraged my heart and soul DEEPLY. Thank you. Truly. As a leader doing hard and holy work daily, your letter made me feel seen and encouraged in so many ways. Thank you for giving generously and encouraging generously!!!
Here is a breakdown of how we are using your funds throughout 2023!!
1. $7500 -- Funding Olegei Literacy Center!!! In Olegei Literacy Center 150 mamas are able to (weekly) be empowered by Ateso speaking literacy coaches in reading, writing, math, sanitation, hygiene, business and agriculture!! With so many of our mamas never having attended attended school as a child (their families saying it wasn't worth educating a girl) - not only are they learning to write their names, help their kids with homework and read their prescriptions after taking a child to the doctor, but they are no longer getting cheated at the market since they know math!!! They are making business plans and forming businesses, they are working together on group businesses and more! They are also working as teams to improve their homes in hygiene and sanitation and have better (and safer!) housing for their families! It's TRULY remarkable what these mamas are doing with empowerment and knowledge! AND a safe community of friendship. Stephanie Eisner added Leslie Thorngate to the Olegei group on FB to receive monthly updates on what the mamas are learning, but if anyone else wants to join, let me know!! I'd love for you to get monthly updates and stories on these amazing mamas!
2. $6800 A well in Agirigiroi Village! I'm attaching a thank you video. I sent the funds right before we headed to Uganda and the well is already drilled. The mamas are SO thrilled (as you can see!!) The mama "translating" is Marion - a mama in charge of that entire area (even Olegei) who single handedly is gathering women to join our program. This well will provide clean water not just for the women in program, but for 1,500 villagers!!! (Note for the video: our partner NGO is called DECODI so you'll hear the women reference thanks to DECODI. We always want them thanking the Ugandans instead of us!) (We will have MORE photos and videos after our well opening ceremony in June!!!)
3. $2700 - Retreats for our team. When we were in Uganda last week we did two retreats for our two teams. One retreat was with our main team of 16. An overnight retreat to Pian Upe, a game park a few hours away from our home base of Soroti. We took a bus with the team and were able to talk about group dynamics, peace, connection and more. It was SUCH a sweet time. We even sang worship songs and asked Jesus to bring out animals to show them. JUST as we began to worship, an entire herd of zebras appeared!!!! The whole staff was in awe. We spent the night nearby and woke up to amazing views. I led them in meditation and breathwork overlooking the mountains as we praised the Lord for what He had done and prepared our hearts for what was still to come in 2023. The interesting thing about this trip was it took place in an area called Karamoja. In the past, the Karamajong people have been raiders to the Teso people and have caused much harm. For this reason, a lot of our staff have a lot of bad feelings (and understandably so!). They've never entered this area and had NO CLUE it might be beautiful and full of mountains. With the price of fuel being so high, Ugandans NEVER travel far for no reason. We, instead, took the long, beautiful route. (thanks to YOU!). More than one staff member came to me and said, "this completely transformed what I believe about Karamoja. This is beautiful. The people are beautiful. They're just really, really poor." <3
For the next retreat, we took our team that cares for our teen mama safe house and our child headed household kiddos. (Our 60 kiddos that have lost both parents). We brought them to Entebbe to a special island that houses orphaned chimpanzees!!! These 4 staff members had never been on a boat, so we rented a speed boat to take us to the island! It was such an adventure!!! Then, they got up close and personal to get to see these special animals and hear their stories before heading back. They LOVED it. We then went to the market in Entebbe and out for dinner before they got to go to a hotel for the night. With a smaller team, they got to do a little fancier before dropping us off at the airport in Entebbe at 2 am! They loved being treated special and us telling them over and over, "Just like you tell our kiddos they are worth it....so are YOU!!"
4. $3000 - Belovedness Workshops. While in Uganda, we did two separate workshops and a specialty dinner. The two workshops were 1) for 170 teen moms and 30 older single mamas who would mentor them and 2) for 220 of our most hurting mamas that were chosen by their leadership (on Valentines Day). For both of these days our focus was the same --- identifying the lies and the whys and replacing them with truth. We spent time identifying how the enemy lies to us and in what situations. (i.e. if they were sent to school as a child, the enemy might have whispered they were unworthy. If they got pregnant and thrown out as a teenager, the enemy whispered they weren't worth protecting, etc). Together, they wrote the lies or a depiction of the lies on paper and then shredded those papers for themselves and for each other (I attached a photo of this SACRED moment!!!). After this, we listened for the TRUTH of their belovedness. Then we had them make a canvas of this truth for them to hang in their homes. They could then make bracelets that said "I am loved" in Ateso to wear always to remind them of the truth. We also had a photo booth for belovedness pictures. It was truly holy and healing!!!! We also had food for them and their babies <3
After our FULL day of healing with the 220 mamas, we brought them SWIMMING since we did that session at the conference center at our hotel!!! It was their first time!!! It was the kiddie pool (so no danger of drowning), but such a JOY to end a day of hard, emotional work with utter JOY and dancing in a pool fully clothed in our dresses!!!! Then we headed over to the teen mama safe house for a full Valentines Dinner to speak LIFE and HOPE and ENCOURAGEMENT to the 8 mamas and their babies who live there. They had lights strung and candles lit and it was absolutely precious. Our time together was sacred and full of healing <3
Thank YOU for your donations and your encouragement. YOU made this healing, these sacred moments, these dreams come true <3 Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Please feel free to reach out with ANY questions you might have at all!!!!
- -Empowering together so others may Heal + Thrive,
Brandi Lea, Executive Director
Heal + Thrive Global
