Child Protection Uganda Project #23355

House of Hope Orphanage and School

by Grassroots Uganda- Empowering African Women

Project Report | Mar 18, 2019
Jenifer

By Lee Koelzer and Jenifer Tumwizere | Director GRU/ Director HOH

"I just find myself happy with the simple things. Appreciating the blessings God gave me. Naming them, ONE by ONE."
~Jenifer Tumwizere

Today I want to talk a little bit about the driving force behind House of Hope- Founding Director Jenifer Tumwizere.

I met Jenifer about 13 years ago. She was fresh out of University with a teaching degree, her father had bought her a piece of land, and a woman in her church contributed $5,000 USD for her to build her dream. Jenifer was young, motivated, strong, and outrageously naïve as she struggled to create a home for many children in an area she had ministered to with her father- in Nakateete.

With her passion and dedication she convinced me and other funders to join her cause.

In a rural area where culturally women are supposed to be seen not heard, and definitely not educated- Jenifer shined and made her presence known.

Jenifer built House of Hope from the ground up and she works every day to ensure that her kids have food, education, clothes, and that they are safe and loved.

Jenifer is an inspiration. With people like her in the world, and with the support of donors like you, the hopeless are hopefull.

Links:

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Dec 17, 2018
Merry Christmas!

By Lee Koelzer & Jenifer Tumwizere | GRU Director, HOH Director

Sep 24, 2018
Annet

By Lee Koelzer | Director

This in Annet. Her parents passed away when she was very young and an elderly couple in the village took her and her siblings in to raise as their own. All three of the kids belong to House of Hope, but fortunately they had a warm loving home to live at- just no money for school. The family lives in a two room mud hut on a hill about a mile away from House of Hope and the kids walk to and from school every day. As the family had no mattresses and just slept on blankets on the dirt floor, Annet built herself a raised bed suspended above the ground on a raft of poles. She covered it in dried grasses, then topped with banana leaves to make it soft and comfortable. The day I first went to Annet’s house she was 12 years old and EXTREMELY proud of her bed. It’s one of the cutest and most resourceful things I have ever seen! (Since then we have supplied the family with mattresses and other bedding to help keep them comfortable and warm.)

When Annet was 13 she started menstruating. In rural Ugandan culture, this marked her as a woman and it was time for her to be married off and start a family of her own. This was rather heartbreaking as she is such an intelligent and ambitious young woman! She loved coming to House of Hope every day and had a passion for learning.

So House of Hope Director Jenifer had a meeting with her guardians. One reason girls are married off when they reach ‘maturity’ is because they are an extra mouth to feed, and her family was taking care of her siblings as well as a couple other unrelated children they had taken in. Jenifer negotiated with them that if Annet could remain in their house and stay in school, House of Hope would cover addition costs for them housing her- such as her clothes, hygiene needs, extra food, and supplies. House of Hope was already providing her schooling and all her school supplies. Her guardians agreed, and Annet remained living with them for another six years until she graduated from O level High School in 2016.

Since then, she has married a husband of her choosing and they have a beautiful daughter together.

Annet is a success story. She was fortunate to have a family who loves her and an organization who supported her. With your love and support success stories are possible. With your love and support, the hopeless are hopeful.

Outside her home with her siblings

Links:

Grassroots Uganda Facebook Page

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