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Building and Restoring homes


Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12: 43-44.

   


Save Sunshine Shelter Kids has undertaken the responsibility to build or restore, lend a hand on several homes mainly for widows with children, who are in desperate need. This program is one of the biggest and money consuming projects under the many programs we do, the idea to build and restore home arose back in 2009 when Hajara together with other individuals joined forces to build a house for a family in Mityana.

Most of the women are in dire situations can hardly make it through the day to provide for their families and thus makes it hard for them to neither build nor renovate their houses, many of their houses are always licking, demolished on certain sides, not strong for cold and rainy seasons, small and unfit for the kids health.

One of these was for a widow, Proscovia, who has twelve plus children. Proscovia husband had died and the house they were living in was beyond repair. The walls were bulging, the building could have collapsed at any time and floods made it even worse as walking in seemed to be a challenge to them.


 

PROSCOVIA'S HOUSE CONTRUCTION

Restoring the dignity of Proscovia and her family!

To have a stable family and decent living for Proscovia, who has eight children and other family members totaling it to twelve people living in a single room (without the much needed requirements such food, proper beddings, mattresses among others) is still a big dream. With so many families facing challenges, we have been able to provide food to several of these families throughout the COVID pandemic and assist others with rent payments, despite working with a tight budget. Proscovia’s family life is so saddening, makes one tearful just from looking at the house and making it worse if you sit to listen to the way they live and survive. Dire and dilapidated is what would best describe their housing situation. Each time we visited her house to take them food, aside from the strong stench that comes out of her house (which is by a sewage stream) what caught our eyes were the children seated with their hands clenched on their chins taken up in wonder of what tomorrow holds for them. The day before we visited her, it had rained heavily and I found the house in ruins.


Constructed poorly with mud, reeds,rusted iron sheets plus worn out wood (Cardboards), one would wonder how Proscovia would lay to rest in such a soaked house from the previous day’s rainfall. This is the situation each time it rains. A few footsteps from the house was an old pit latrine that was filled with waste that not only attracted house flies to the whole house but also a strong fecal stench that could not allow you eat something at her home. Proscovia, 45 who lost her husband four years earlier had to become the breadwinner for her 12 plus family members with whom she lives in the dilapidated house. Basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing are what any human being would desire in their life but misery knows no boundaries for Proscovia and her family. One would ask why Proscovia would have such a big number of people living with her. Well here in Uganda, it is deeply rooted in our culture that we welcome family members whether you are rich or not and usually the responsibility falls on any person who lives in the city as family members tend to think that people who live in the city live a comfortable and fancy lifestyle.


Giving her the security, she needed and her children.

Proscovia found herself in this situation where she had to have her seven kids plus her grand kids and other family members stay with her in the small house. We could not help but weep to the joy, smiles and laughter that the kids would have on their faces to see us bring them food to eat and drinks. These children who nurse ambitions of becoming doctors, pilots, lawyers among the many big professions they fancy, would jump and run to us to help lift the things and we could not help but imagine how they could be happy amidst the horrible lifestyle they were living, it is that ironical.

Proscovia and her children have always attended our food giving programs since the COVID pandemic where we would give food to the community especially women and we gave her food for her family of over 12 people.





One fateful day, we went to drop the foodstuffs, floods had already taken over the house and everyone had to stand on the already destroyed two beds that they had and the extreme need to lift the ones up yet the roof also needed to be supported lest it fell straight onto their heads.


We pondered in disbelief on what we could do to at least create impact and change a thing or two about how they were living. We fasted for two consecutive days regarding her situation and I finally spoke to our friend about it but with fear especially since we have the shelter which also has its needs and requirements at hand. For the past four years, Proscovia and her family have had to live in this house and the children have to go through situations and bare them with high spirits in hope for a better tomorrow.

She had to endure the fear of raising, especially a girl child, in such a ghetto environment which makes them prone to insecurities and injustices such as rape, sexual molestation and taken advantage of in many ways just because of the dire lifestyle they live. Proscovia’s story is one of the many but well, we can only hope and pray for her as we forge a way out to help her have a reasonable and be fitting home to house her children and nurse their dreams of becoming important people in this world.When we visited them, Proscovia presented us with a bottle of soda and her generosity reminded me of the Bible verse in Mark 12, above.


Special thanks to our friends for making this possible for the family and providing them with a safer home. This photo encompasses the work process from the start to the finishing up of the house and filling it with the needed materials.


Restored and renovated homes for people that suffered at the hands of natural calamities like floods with in the swampy slum areas and in other suburbs around Kampala. Prosscovia's house was one of several restoration and renovation cases. Her housing situation has since improved and at least she doesn't have to worry about where she will sleep whenever it rains heavily.





RESTY'S PIT LATRINE CONSTRUCTION.

"We Buried The Shame".


Resty is a mother to five children who lost their father immediately after the birth of their last child and the situation became undoubled very hard as all responsibility had to be taken on by her. It was very tough since she wasn't working but rather stayed home to raise her children. She is one of the mothers who has benefited from our food relief supplies and more necessities for the children. On visiting her countless times, she informed us of how the neighboring communities treated her and saw her after the loss of her husband. Blame was centered on her as many viewed her as cursed which is a common identity attachment to women after their husbands die and more so if the death is unsudden. Resty not only had to deal with the misery and failure of not being able to feed her family but struggled with the fact that she didn't have a pit latrine for her family to use and this meant they had to go into people's homes to ask if they could use their pit latrine.
This intensified problem for her as children would sometimes mess or lose the lock and this aggravated the pain as the community saw it as shame and often laughed at them for not having a proper latrine.
Resty informed us of the situation and we prayed together how best to help her and see that this family could be relieved from the shame and the hostile treatment they were receiving from the neighbors who kept laughing at them for not having their own pit latrine. It took us a week to build the pit latrine, Mark, Francis served as the helpers during the construction of the Pit Latrine. We worked very hard to articulate and live by our core principles that we want families such as Resty's to have a safe home and a pit Latrine of their own that way they don’t have to live in shame of what society was turning them into because of their lack and loss.
PIT LATRINE BEFORE.



" ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away"

Resty's family, especially the children were filled with gratitude and so much joy that they knew that God's plans and hopes for them were not over yet. It is this kind of hope that we want to share and live in with the many comminuities, with people that we meet and remind them of how God's work never stops until He makes it happen for families. We are well aware that the small things that God makes us able to do not only allows us to live by our core principles and set goals but at the same time allow us to worship and glorify His name through sharing and living by His word and this remained us of the Bible verse in Revelation 21:4 above.

 
 

''Our dream was to see the FAMILY have a pit latrine and so we began and pursued it upto the end. We BELEIVE in solving as many problems as we can so that families can have the joy of raising their children”

Resty's family, especially the children were filled with gratitude and so much joy that they knew that God's plans and hopes for them were not over yet. It is this kind of hope that we want to share and live in with the many comminuities, with people that we meet and remind them of how God's work never stops until He makes it happen for families.




GERTRUDE'S EMPOWERMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY.

"A Comfort to heal the Wound".



 

SHE REARS PROJECT

 

RESTORING HOPE TO UGANDA'S GREATEST RESOURCE " HER ELDERLY WOMEN"

Jjaja Getrude is one of the most welcoming and appreciative people we have served for some time, her smile and joy makes you feel like all is okay until you get to have a sit down with her. The details of the suffering she has endured are gut wrenching and very saddening. After she lost her sole provider, her late husband, her situation went from bad to worse so quickly.

She now had to fend for herself and provide for her grandchildren. Even with her physical disability, and only a tiny plot of land that she had been left, she stayed resilient and hopeful that better days would dawn on her or eventually her own grandchildren. She suffered at the hands of thieves that stole her livestock (her other only prized possession), she became so miserable and depressed. We started supporting her with some food relief and upkeep money to see her through.

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Later on an idea of her getting back into rearing animals popped up on witnessing the sale off of a pig within her community. This was in a bid to take her thoughts off the loss of her livestock (Cow). We know how pigs grow quickly and produce many young ones which can assist families when they sell off the surplus piglets and keep those that can produce more for future sustainability. One target was to set Gertrude and give her chance to heal as she supports herself and the grandchildren.

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TEDDY'S SUSTAINABILITY JOURNEY

 

A picture of the Teddy's family. Mama Teddy the mother to Vicent a young boy who we found during our street programs and resettled him immediately before getting addicted to the street behaviors. Providing Teddy with some amount of helped get her garden back on track and thus sustainability as per now she is able to feed all her children and only asks for assistance with school fees and medical.

 

FARM WITH A PURPOSE PROJECT

 

"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,and he will reward them for what they have done.” -Proverbs 19:17

Teddy is a single mother to five children, who has raised her children alone without the help of their father. Teddy and her children survive largely on subsistence farming on a small scale and our first start of meeting them was trough finding her fourth born on the streets and we worked on his re-settlement. We met Vicent on the streets of Kampala and his reason for leaving home was due to the food insecurity.

She had to fend for herself and provide for her children which isn't easy especially with someone having more than one child. At that time her major challenge was food and so we provided food supplies and weekly check-ups in order to enure Vicent receives all that he needs that way we reduce on the number of children joining the streets everyday.

We took it upon ourselves and ensured that we paid every amount that was needed for her garden to be cleared and well prepared so that she can plant crops again. Farming is the main the activity many women partake in other than animal rearing. We helped to get her garden set and in doing so we wanted to cut on costs she would incur in purchasing on a daily basis for a larger number of children. Vicent settled home and we continue to pay school fees for him and his young sister. We want to keep families united and in a better FAMILY UNIT.

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CESSPOOL EMPTYING PROGRAM

 

"We couldn’t let mothers, children, the elderly and the communities at large suffer when we could do something about the pit latrines.

Ensuring sanitation in the community is one of our major reasons to better the environment for many people especially the mothers and the elderly who suffer very much whenever the hygiene is in a poor state. We have lost many mothers due to poor sanitation and hygiene and on discovering how bad the pit latrines were in the different communities we serve. We took it upon ourselves to draft means of how to ensure proper ways to navigate and keep the latrines clean.

Many mothers continue to struggle in various dire communities especially low earnings from the small business set ups that they are able to run. And living in the ghettos is surety that the pit latrines are in worse and unhealthy conditions as majority of the people only rent small spaces that they afford and the cheaper the rooms the worse the pit latrines.

The start was not easy as we had to set up community advocacy/awareness meetings on how to go about the pit latrines situation in the various communities as needed so as to ensure the health of the children and many mothers. This was a very difficult situation as many landlords who are illiterate thought we were after taking their properties and reporting them to the state. It took us two months to ensure we were on the same page with people and involving chairpersons and counselors of the villages in order to start on the cesspool emptying of the pit latrines and putting a few in areas where they were needed urgently.

To our surprise many areas didn’t even have any pit latrines in place at all and because of this we had to set up measures and put up pit latrines, this was a huge program as we needed landlords to cut on the rent for many mothers since we had helped construct the pit latrines. We mobilized the communities and their leaders so as to work on the whole work process which brought an easy since the people themselves lent a hand in their community development.

We have improved and renovated many pit latrines in various communities. So far we have put eight of them in the different communities that we serve in order to bring an ease in the lives of the children plus their mothers. Many mothers are thankful to have proper pit latrines and as their hygiene has improved. Whatever we can do to bring ease in the lives of many individuals. We continue to maintain our pit latrine program as many communities are still in giant need.

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REBUILDING MARIA'S WORKING SPACE

 

HER DISABILITY DOESN’T STOP HER IN DOING HER WORK AS A WOMAN DESPITE THE STIGMA

We supported Maria a disabled lady who we continue to assist out with food supplies, we helped rebuild her wooden small business space so that she can be able to work and attain independence which is often hard for her.

We worked very hard to see that we finish Maria’s small business room and guard her from the rain which was a huge success and well completed. We left her with a proper start in her business and in doing so we aimed at allowing her a chance to work and reduce on the stigma that she continues to face.

Together we can do so much and make the impossible possible for many women as Maria. We want our work not only to represent what God asks us to do but to be the voice for many women who suffer in silence and are often denied chance due to their disabilities.

Maria continues to do her work and enjoy her wheel chair as it brings easy for her in movements. We want to continue blessing as many women as Maria because it is through them that we get to live out God's love and fulfilling the job that He requires us to do. Changing lives for the better is our aim and going disciples is next.

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We enjoy to see what happens when the right resources are provided and given to the women who want to work and become independent. Recognizing her autonomy and being aware of her strength and weaknesses, Maria sets her goals in terms of what she wants to achieve and our role is to make sure it is able to achieve what she would want us to assist her in and we fulfilled by ''REBUILDING HER SMALL SHOP AREA.''
 

BED A FAMILY

 

"Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,and he will reward them for what they have done.” -Proverbs 19:17

Through our Bed A Family program, we were able to provide two bunk beds and all the needed sleeping kit materials such as mattresses, bedsheets among others for the family of Diane a mother of 7 children two of whom suffer from a deadly disease. Through our former friends we were able to provide for them beddings that they needed and further we sent out mattresses to other families.

We believe that God’s love is what cultivates true resilience and strength in the face of adversity, so we make it our priority to share His Word and hope in Christ to underserved communities. By turning to the Bible, the grandmothers, single mothers, and widows who have taken it upon themselves to care for the vulnerable children of their communities are comforted and empowered to live a life full of purpose. We ensure we include community in our works that way we are able to prevent more children from joining the streets of Kampala.

We are beyond grateful that one of our friend was able to provide mattresses and all the sleeping materials such as decker beds, mattresses, bedsheets, towels and everything needed by the family. This is a family of three sickle cell children and the mother struggles to provide for them and she is always in hospital 24/7 due to the pain and crisis that the kids often suffer.

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OUR SHELTERS

 

"With being a girl child its self is a huge challenging factor on the streets as predators are always on the peak of their game to use and introduced these young girls to a number of dangerous and inhuman programs."

Hajara’s work intensified as many girls came to the programs with each having their own story and a challenge that put them on the run for their lives such prostitution, abuse, violence, death of parents, HIV/AIDS among others. With many girls coming from different backgrounds, there was a need to bring all the girls under the same umbrella in terms of relating with each other in the one roomed house as most of them were coming from different streets with each having its own characteristics and behaviors which created huge tensions among there.

Rescue Sevens is a small center for the babies that we often rescue and those that get dumped at our program centers. In many of the dire communities that we work in often young teen mothers are faced with hardships that lead them to throwing away their children at times.

The Rehabilitation shelter provides a loving, safe place for the children to stay temporarily as they settle into life away from the streets before returning home to their family. During this rehabilitation process, the children are given and provided with regular counseling, all time checkups as each child has a different need, requires emotional support, proper feeding, beddings and then join the learning center(educating them) as we continue to learn of his/her story and be able to trace for their families.

To nurture the healthy development of pregnant teenagers, young parents and their children. To enhance lifelong positive outcomes for pregnant young women and young parents. We not only want to raise them with discipline and integrity but also as children who can work and participate in any activity at the shelter so they can have a chance to participate in the challenging and changing World. We want them to have a chance in any activity that there is and better their futures.

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DEBORAH'S LIBRARY

 

"The world is full of magical places, and the library has always been one of them for me. A library can be that special place for our children." "A library takes the gift of reading one step further by offering personalized learning opportunities second to none, a powerful antidote to the isolation"

We are truly very grateful of how impactful our libraries continue to be for many children in the different communities we serve. We continue to use them to rehabilitate many children who would have ended up joining the streets of Kampala and more so the dangerous gangs in the dire communities.

The major aim of our libraries is to reduce on the illiteracy measures that continue to negatively impact many communities especially those in a very dire need as majority of our library children are. Many of the children come from single headed homes and are often left to fend for themselves which continues to expose many children to very unlawful behaviors and risks their lives tremendously as many young boys have lost their lives due to stealing and being forced into small gangs that their parents fear themselves thus losing a huge portion of our generation.

This library continues to reduce on the tension and fear many parents have for their children as they are aware that we aim to provide safety and ensure that these children have a chance to learn until we are able to push them into schools for further studies. We so far have 12 children from the library who have joined schools and we hope with more resources we are able to send more and draw more into joining us at the library.

The libraries, to many children all over the World, are safe gates for children to earn, create and become the wonderful writers that they dream of becoming. A library to Hajara was the safety place that she would confine herself in while at school and even outside the school. Due to her reading at a popular supermarket Hajara was able to lead many street kids to transformation as they were attracted to her and thus in the end lead to what Save sunshine shelter kids is today. The library continues to reach more children everyday.

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RE-SETTLEMENT

"Building families together for the betterment of the children!


We believe that every child has the right to a family. Therefore a big part of our work is to get to know the child’s story and work towards resettlement back to the family. Many children leave home due to harsh circumstances at home such as abuse, rejection or because of poverty and the vision of Kampala being the city of opportunities. When they finally get there, they realize street life isn’t as easy as they thought and they have no money to return. We have rescued many children and each year has a huge number compared to the other depending on the problems pushing the children back on the streets.




 

EMPOWER A WOMAN, EMPOWER A COMMUNITY

 

Restoring the integrity of our women and the community at large.

Women are the backbone of our communities at the entire country at large and because of that we have set out problems to assist women in different aspects.

We have renovated many houses, engaged women in vocational training schools, paid health care for many of the women and their children, paid rent bills for mothers who were at the peak of getting kicked out of their houses.

Empower a woman