our impact in East Africa
We work in the local communities of Uganda and Kenya to assist in Education, Health, Business, and more!
Our COMMUNITY In Uganda
The Empower a Child community center is located approximately an hour and a half north of Kampala, nestled in the community of Zirobwe, Uganda. Though its distance from the city is relatively short, this community has struggled to re-build from a war that took place over 30 years ago and the devastating toll the surge of HIV/AIDS took on the region.
Read About COMMUNITY Development
This past year, you helped make a tangible impact on the lives of two families in both Uganda and Kenya. These families were blessed with new and improved homes to call their own, helping each family improve their living conditions and provide for themselves on the land. Kato’s family has lived in Zirobwe, Uganda for over twenty years. Kato is a local manson who lives with his wife, Nalongo, and their 10 children. Kato and his family initially moved to Uganda when they were displaced from the 1986 war, but unfortunately were never able to reclaim their property, so they stayed in Zirobwe. Kato’s family was blessed with donations that helped them purchase a 2-acre piece of land for the family. Kato’s and his eldest son, George, who graduated from our sponsorship program with hands-on skills in building and carpentry had the skills to build their own home, but lacked funds for building materials. Since, they could barely afford school fees and could not afford to build a permanent home on their property, they continued to live in their mud hut that cracked bit by bit during each rainstorm. Thankfully, in 2018, donors joined together brick by brick, to build them a bigger, 3-bedroom permanent house for the family. Nalongo responded to her new home was, “I have always dreamed of having a place where my children will have space away from the chickens, and myself having private space. I will forever be grateful for the unconditional love, care and taking care of my children.” Celestine Auma’s family from Kenya, was also blessed with a new home. The Auma family has lived in the Kibera slum, the largest slum in Africa, for over a decade. Kibera is riddled with disease, drugs and despair, with little to no job opportunities. The father worked as a blacksmith but was unable to provide more than renting a shack of a room for his wife and children to share. The Auma’s owned land in the village but did not have enough funds to build a home. Through gift funds Celestine’s sponsor gave, the family was able to save and invest in building a permanent home. The Auma’s now have a home on their own land in the village. Building their home has empowered the family even more as it has allowed Celestine’s mother to farm on their land, harvesting crops to sustain the family and create some income and to save money as they no longer have to rent. The family is beyond grateful for their improved living conditions and quality of life. Your partnership has made a direct impact not only on these families, but also on other families in the village. Currently, people, like you are helping a grandmother and grandson build a new home so they too can transform their lives and have a safe place to live. Thank you for your generosity.
Let me introduce Samuel to you as he will be managing the sponsorship programme in Tanzania. His passion is to see children from his home village supported through their education. The Reverend Samuel Maduma was born on 16th September 1978 at Kijungu village in the Kiteto District in Manyara region, Tanzania. He is the third child of four in the family of Maduma. He has one brother called Moses and one Sister called Esther. The first born in the family was a sister called Lucia who died in 2009 with liver cancer. Samuel acquired Primary education at Kijungu Primary school from 1987 – 1993 and in 1994 he was chosen to join Kiteto Secondary School. In 1995, when he was in form two, his father died and life became even harder for the family; so Samuel was considering leaving the school because he was unable to pay the fees. Fortunately his uncle Michael helped him enabling him to complete his studies in 1997. During his schooling time his favorite subjects were social science subjects (History, sociology and civics). During his time at secondary school Samuel met Jesus and felt God was calling him to serve in the Church. Soon after he completed his secondary education he started to work in the Church as Youth Coordinator at St. Philip’s Parish in Kibaya. In 1999 Samuel was sent by the Church to Munguishi Bible College in Arusha to study Theology. In 2004 he completed his Theological Studies and returned to Kiteto to continue with the work of God. In 2005 he was ordained to be a Minister and made a tutor to train Evangelists and Pastors at Kiteto Christian College, under the Leadership of Bishop John Hayden in the Kiteto Diocese. In 2009 Samuel was appointed to Diocesan Secretary in the Anglican Diocese of Morogoro. He worked in this position for two years after which he went for further study at St. John’s University of Tanzania where he acquired Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Theology and Contemporary Issues. His current position is Principal of Morogoro Bible College, alongside studying for a Doctorate in Transformational Leadership. Samuel married Neema in 2007 and they have three children, Emmanuel, Victoria and Leah. Neema holds a Diploma in Childhood Development. Samuel’s passion is to see his community in Kijungu transformed. Because of his knowledge and experience of the poor social-economic conditions he witnessed in his family and his community, Samuel started initiatives bringing poverty down. He believes that is an achievable goal and has started partnership with Empower a Child in order to fight for social-economic betterment of the people of Kiteto and Tanzania in general. Please encourage Samuel and Neema by joining them in their initiative so that they are able to fulfill their dream of transforming this community for the glory of God.
Empower a Child's 6th Annual Medical Camp took place this summer in Zirobwe, Uganda. Through medical professionals, volunteers from Empower a Child, members in the community, and Empower a Child staff, over 1,800 people received free medical care while getting to hear about the love of Jesus, who is the ultimate healer both spiritually and physically. For those of you wondering, the medical camp is an annual project whose purpose is to give FREE access to medical treatment to the people of Zirobwe sub-county and neighboring villages. The medical camp is geared towards meeting the holistic approach of Empower a Child to make sure the community is being served academically, spiritually, and physically. The three-day camp included the following medical services: dental, optical, general health, family planning, HIV testing and counselling, spiritual counselling and prayer. This summer's volunteers, ShyAnn and Kathy, tell their experience with Empower a Child's medical camp below. "This summer I was given the privilege to serve as our Lord’s hands and feet in a Ugandan community called Zirobwe. One of the events I was able to participate in while in Zirobwe was the Empower a Child medical camp. In these three days, we were able to see over a thousand patients, ranging from newborn babies to elderly patients with a variety of medical concerns. One specific memory I have from the Empower a Child medical camp was a young girl and her mother. The girl was about five years old and suffering from Malaria, a common disease in the Zirobwe community. Malaria is a disease that is very curable if treated properly, but if left untreated will take a person's life. The mother had told us that they had walked an hour to come to the camp to receive medical treatment. Immediately, the staff was able to treat the young girl. After treating the young child, her mother broke down in tears and prayed over us. She was eternally thankful for the services the Empower a Child was able to provide to her daughter. She told us that without the medical camp, she did not know how she was going to provide treatment to her daughter. This experience is one that I will always cherish in my heart. We were able to give medication to help heal this young girl of a disease that very well could have taken her life. A life that is so young, with so much potential to do great things in her community. A life that was saved because of the medical camp. Overall my experience with the Empower a Child medical camp was a fulfilling and heartwarming one. I was able to see God work in many ways throughout my trip, but seeing him work in the Zirobwe community through the medical camp was certainly the most rewarding experience of my trip." - ShyAnn "I had the privilege of going to Uganda and serving at Empower a Child with my two daughters and my daughter's friend. During our first week, we assisted with a three-day medical camp. During the medical camp, we provided services such as medical, optical, dental, family planning and blood testing. People came from the surrounding communities to get much-needed services that they would otherwise not have received. In total, we provided over 1,800 services in the three days! What I loved about the camp was the practical way it was meeting the needs of the people in Zirobwe. In addition to meeting physical needs, I loved that we had people there to meet and pray with those who were waiting to be seen by the doctors. It was not just about meeting the physical needs, although this is such a significant way to earn trust and to show God's love, but also about showing God's grace by being present to listen and meet the spiritual needs of the people. We felt very blessed to be a part of this initiative and pray that God moves in people's hearts because of the seeds planted." - Kathy We want to say a BIG thank you to ShyAnn, Kathy, and all the other volunteers and supporters who made it possible to put on this year's medical camp. Most importantly, praise God for modern medicine, volunteers, and His ultimate healing.