advent calendar days 11-15

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Advent calendar day 11
In June they began to harvest the heirloom tomatoes they started from seeds. The rains had ended. But the neighbors had nothing to harvest because we discovered they didn't have any money to buy seeds ahead of the rains.
They began regular MOPS meetings using the global MOPS curriculum. These are Bible studies that have a great number of discussion questions. It gives the women a chance to really talk. We are grateful the curriculum has been translated into the local language. The women have really enjoyed their meetings.
The women from Lilly Avenue stores sent 4 women to a craft fair in Jinja. They received a lot of very positive feedback for the things that they make. Unfortunately, they didn't receive any orders. The tourist market has dropped 80% since Covid, and Ebola. Thousands of people who relied on anything tourist related have been hit hard in Uganda. Hotels, food, guides, and sales of local crafts. Everything our women are able to make has no market. It's a challenge. I hope there is a recovery. But we can't rely on tourists.








Advent calendar day 12
Last June they had a harvest. They had planted seeds ahead of the rains. And the seeds grew. In June and into July they kept busy harvesting the crops. Food security is very strong on our radar. We care a great deal about preventing teen pregnancy. Girls in Uganda are sold as child brides because families lack food to feed them. Girls move from the village to Kampala seeking jobs because families lack food. In the city, they get abused. Many end up pregnant. Some are trapped in the sex trade. And the entire damaging thing begins with a family's inability to grow enough food.
In January we also had bricks made. Unfortunately, the bricks were not as quality as we would need to build buildings. So instead of counting it a total loss, the bricks were turned into raised garden beds. These beds are beautiful. They define the pathways. That's important for safety. Snakes hide in the grass. If you walk on a clear path you are much safer. Anyway, bricks made in January got turned into raised beds in June. And it really improved the look of the center.




Advent calendar day 13
In July we decided we needed to invest in some commercial agriculture to pay the monthly costs of running our program. We decided to invest in ginger. We had two options, the local market or the international market. The initial price of setting up an international ginger farm is high but the price of ginger is nearly 3 times as much on the international market. We partnered with Greening Uganda. They coach the partners and assure sales. The fields had to be plowed 2 times. There were massive amounts of organic fertilizer and manure spread over the fields. Then 3 acres of ginger were planted by hand. And they have had to do the back-breaking work of weeding the fields and spraying the ginger with organic pesticide made from oil, chili, and rabbits urine. So far the crops are thriving. We did get a scare in September with fungus. That was treated with baking soda and Ash. Harvest is in April 2023. Hopefully, it will provide a large part of the operational budget for the vocational school. This has been an expensive investment. And the women spend hours doing very hard work weeding by hand. The next time you buy organic ginger you will understand why it's so expensive. It's so much work! These are Teen moms. I am so proud of them for the amazing things they are able to accomplish!



Advent calendar day 14
In July we considered what we could do to capture as much water as possible ahead of the rains. Uganda has two dry seasons and two wet seasons. We are without access to any public water. We hoped having a pond would help us have enough water to support the agriculture on the property. The pond has actually been very helpful. They use the water constantly. But we have no buildings or roofs that we can capture water from to divert to the pond. At least not yet. It only fills from direct rainfall. It's 110,000 liters. It hardly fills to 1/4th its capacity right now. That's discouraging. This is why we feel a well would be helpful. If we could keep the pond full we could have fish. We could have solar water pumps that drew from the pond to water the crops. We will find out in a few weeks if a well is a possibility. If not we will use the money raised for water to do additional water captioning at the center and to have some local wells renewed. If we need to we will have water trucks come put water in the pond during the dry season. It is a giant blessing to have the pond. It already serves us well. But it has the potential to give us fish. And it's got the potential to hold water. Without water, we are in trouble.




Advent calendar day 15
August brought the rain. In a dry land, the rain is both a blessing and a curse. We had a ten thousand liter water tank we rushed to have built on a concrete platform before it could get filled. We had the new pond we hoped to see full at the end of the rainy season. But some people face flooding. Or in our case, the ginger was too wet and we had to fight fungus. The cases of malaria rise in the rainy season. In the dry season, you dream of the rain to fall. But when it does, it's extreme.
They treated the ginger with chili and ashes and baking soda. It thankfully saved the crop. They bought mosquito repellent soap for everyone at the center and in Suubi Teen MOPS in Kampala. And we had to replace the torn fabric on the green shade damaged by the weather.






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