Please meet Abia, whose story is a testament of what your love and compassion can do. Read in her own words how her life was changed thanks to your generosity!
Happiness, Happiness, Happiness!
Once hopeless, but now overjoyed with pleasure and blessings.
I could never have dreamt of being who I am today because of the worries that had surrounded me and my younger siblings after the passing away of both our parents.
Daddy passed in 2002 and left the whole family on mum, who followed him only three months later.
Hell befell on me! I had two younger siblings, Shirah and Isaac, who needed to be taken care of. I was always worried about my brother Isaac. He was born with HIV, and we didn’t have money to get him the medicine he needed. How was I supposed to shoulder every responsibility of both mum and dad at the age of 13?
I cried my eyes out every day and every night, but no relatives or friends of my parents could help me. I was miserable and started cursing the day I was born.
Oh alas! Thanks to Jackson Kaguri's dream of building a school for orphans, I was resurrected from the sorrows of pain. The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project completely dried not only my tears but also the tears of my sister and brother.
It was February 2003 when I joined Nyaka Primary School and got a breath of relief.
Even though I was only a young girl in primary school, I was still head of the household. I would run home from school to prepare a meal for my younger siblings, but we didn’t always have food and would sometimes sleep on empty stomachs. But then Nyaka Primary School began to have breakfast and lunch for us every day! Me, Shirah, and Isaac would always be fed. Besides food, we also drank good water and had medicine when we were sick. Nyaka even paid for Isaac’s HIV medicine and made sure that he would always have it.
Nyaka became our parents. Their love and support were endless, and they treated us like their own children. Life got better over the years, my siblings and I were healthy and in school. I graduated from Secondary School in 2013 all because of Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project. I then joined an institution to become a certified teacher. I went from a nobody to a somebody, that is what I call from “grass to grace.”
Guess what! Now I’m a teacher at Kutamba Primary School teaching the nursery class. I started in the beginning of 2016, and I can’t believe it. I sometimes pinch myself to wake up from sleep, but it is real and true. I am not dreaming but teaching. I have come full circle, teaching my fellow orphans whom I love so much.
I am very much honored to be among the lucky orphans who have been helped by the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project and the people with big hearts who are my heroes. I can’t express my full appreciation through this, but my heart tells it all. Thank you for loving Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project and supporting it for our children’s sake.
I remain yours faithfully,
Abia
Abia is living her dream every day, fulfilling opportunities that she never thought possible when she was a young girl. What a difference YOU have made for her! Make a donation today to help other young orphaned children, like Abia, thrive into adulthood.
Thank YOU for making a difference!
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The third and final school term of 2016 started on September 26th and students are working hard to finish the school year with high marks! It’s a very busy time for teachers and students as they prepare for the end of year exams. Thanks to your love and support, they are able to focus on their studies because they are healthy and strong. The healthcare and food that you provide to them is vital to their success.
Most schools in Uganda have a lack of food or poor nutrition programs. Hunger negatively affects performance. Students cannot concentrate in class when they are hungry. However, your students are given nutritious meals to keep them healthy and alert. Some food is bought from farmers in the village and the rest is supplied by Desire Farm and prepared at the schools. The secondary students at NVSS are even giving back by starting a garden at the school to grow maize.
The healthcare that students receive is also essential so that common illnesses don’t keep the children home sick. They can be seen at the school clinic when they feel ill and be treated right away. Health education is also provided at the schools to teach the importance of personal hygiene, sanitation and abstinence. Every term, students are dewormed and assessed for malnutrition. The girls in secondary school are also screened for pregnancies, which were all negative at the beginning of this term!
In addition to healthcare and nutrition, you provide your students with uniforms, shoes, textbooks, notebooks, clean water-- everything they need to be successful! These children have felt great loss and sorrow in their lives, but your support allows them to have the opportunity to go to school and focus on their studies in order to have a bright future. Thank you very much!
Please continue to support your students by making a donation today!
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YOUR students at Nyaka and Kutamba Primary Schools have become champions in the fight against HIV/AIDS in rural Uganda! Both schools have student groups called the Anti AIDS Club, which work diligently to educate schools and communities about the disease. The clubs sensitize students in schools, church congregations, as well as the whole community, about HIV/AIDS. The students do community education and outreach through radio programs, concerts, and plays using songs, drama, poems and dance with HIV/AIDS messages.
The Anti AIDS Clubs also create awareness about the plight of orphans, children’s rights, family planning, HIV/AIDS prevention, disproving stigmas, hygiene, sanitation and other issues affecting the community. As a result, the program staff and nurses who make home visits have begun to see positive and informed changes in behavior – especially in the homes of people who have seen or heard the Anti-AIDS Club perform.
The Nyaka Primary School Anti AIDS Club was recently on a radio program on the Kanungu Broadcasting station which had about 20,000 people listening in. The Nyaka club also had a live performance which reached about 800 people including students from two schools, teachers and community members. Unfortunately, the Kutamba Anti AIDS Club has not carried out any activities lately because their van is in poor condition and can’t be driven very far, but they are still busy practicing.
YOUR generous support has showed these children the importance of giving back through education. Thank YOU for inspiring your students!
MORE BIG NEWS- August 2, 2016 marked the 15th anniversary of The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project.
Thank YOU for making this milestone possible! YOU have made Nyaka 15 years strong!
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It’s extremely difficult to concentrate and be motivated when you don’t feel good. Thanks to you, your students receive routine health care to stay healthy so they can do well in school! There are two nurses and one part-time doctor at The Mummy Drayton School Clinic who provide services to the students at Nyaka Primary School and at Nyaka Vocational Secondary School. There is also one nurse at Kutamba Primary School to care for the students there. The most common illnesses that students are treated for are respiratory tract infections, common colds, gastrointestinal illnesses, and malaria. Preventative care is also provided for the students such as HIV screenings, nutritional assessments, health education, and deworming. The nurses also conduct at least four home visits every month to identify risks such as lack of mosquito nets and poor sanitation.
In June, your students received additional medical care from professional volunteers at the Mummy Drayton School Clinic. There was a three day Dental Camp held at the clinic where students had thorough dental exams. They received information about the importance of proper dental care and hygiene, and received treatment if needed. An Eye Clinic Camp was also held for students to have their eyes examined. Students with vision problems were fitted and given donated glasses.
Thank you for keeping your students healthy so they can succeed in school! Want to do more to help your students break the cycle of poverty and grow up to be great leaders? Donate now and change a child’s future.
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YOU are changing your student’s futures by preventing hunger!
Many children leave their home early in the morning to make the long walk to school without any breakfast at all. They get to school and can’t concentrate, or sometimes even fall asleep during class, because they are hungry. Thanks to you, your children are provided nutritious meals at school! For some children, these are the only meals they have all day.
You give them a breakfast of porridge and a snack AND provide them with lunch which differs daily and can include beans, peas, groundnuts, meat, posho, vegetables, rice, matooke (green bananas), sweet potatoes, and Irish potatoes. Also, the meals at Nyaka Primary School include eggs from the Desire farm!
Your student’s school performance is no longer affected by their hunger. Their stomachs are full now and they can concentrate in class. You are giving them the opportunity not only to be healthy and grow up strong, but the opportunity to excel in school and not be affected by hunger!
Thank you for giving YOUR students healthy meals at school!
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