Plant Seeds of Hope for 110 Ugandan Single Moms

Over the last several months, COVID-19 has swept across the globe, wreaking havoc on nations both wealthy and poor alike. Uganda was no exception, and has been hit particularly hard as the majority of the population lives hand to mouth. As the country went into lockdown in March, many vulnerable families were in danger of starvation within just the first week.

Project Matthew’s on-the-ground team promptly checked in on our program participants to assess immediate needs. We identified 50 of the most vulnerable families of single mothers, their children and the elderly in Ndejje, Namasuba and Kawaala (suburbs of Kampala) for emergency food supply from our Nourish Program. We also provided emergency food supply to Amari Uganda, an organization committed to the rescue and rehabilitation of street kids. In all, we successfully distributed 1,400 pounds of essential dry food rations including corn flour (posho), sugar, rice and beans to some of the people who needed it most.

We are pleased to share a few testimonies from our program’s most recent recipients so you can hear firsthand about the impact that Project Matthew is having during this pandemic.

“I’m a single mother of seven (including my late brother’s three nieces). Before the pandemic started, I earned very little money ($2 USD) washing people’s clothes whenever I had the opportunity. This was the only income that allowed me to feed my kids. My husband had abandoned us after I lost an eye due to domestic violence. When the lockdown was announced, I was left with almost nothing to feed my children since my work was hand to mouth. Thank you so much, Project Matthew for reaching out to me and my family with food supply!” - Rose*

“I’m a single grandmother of three grandchildren. Before the pandemic, I collected plastic bottles to sell for food. When the lockdown occurred, I had nowhere to sell. We spent two days with no meals, only drinking boiled water to survive. I’m grateful and thankful for the food hamper that I received from Project Matthew during this difficult time of COVID-19. It was surely a great miracle to me and my family.” - Kiki*

“I’m a mother of three. Before COVID-19, I worked at the local primary school as a teacher where I earned income to support my children. When the uncertain times came, my job disappeared and I had hardly anything left to feed my family. Thank you so much, Project Matthew team, for standing with us. The food basket you gave us truly made a huge difference. May God bless you!” - Winnie*

GlobalGiving—our fiscal sponsor and crowdfunding platform—awarded Project Matthew a special $1,000 USD fund in early April for COVID-19 relief efforts. This allowed us to expand our reach and help more of these at-risk families and street children. Thanks, GlobalGiving!

A special thank you to our monthly partners for your faithful sacrifice, and to all our donors who remember the most vulnerable during this pandemic. We truly could not continue our mission to nourish, equip and empower single mothers and their children without your generous support. As we say in Uganda, “Webale nyo, mikwano! Yesu Yebazibwe!” Thank you, friends! Praise, Jesus!

*Names have been changed to protect identity