Help vulnerable children go to SAMaritan Schools!

In Uganda, the holidays are over. At the beginning of February, all the children returned to school. How wonderful it is to hear the joyful voices of children once again and to see their bright, happy faces! Sadly, behind many of these bright smiles, there are heartbreaking stories. Many children are orphans or come from vulnerable families.

Meet little P, for example. She is only four years old, yet she has already faced so many hardships in her short life. She barely knew her father, he passed away when she was just one years old. Her mother was overcome with grief and could no longer care for her. So P was taken in by her grandmother, who has been looking after her ever since. But life is difficult. Her grandmother works as a farmer, barely earning enough to survive. There is simply not enough money to send her granddaughter to school.

That’s why we want to help! And we can—thanks to the generosity of sponsor parents who cover the cost of school fees and basic needs. Because of them, children like P get the opportunity to go to school, build a better future, and hopefully one day support themselves and their families.

This is how we turn hardship into hope and give children the chance to thrive! From hopeless to hopeful

 Donation match alert! Little by Little Campaign March 25-28^th.

Little acts of kindness can make a BIG difference—that's what GlobalGiving's 2025

 Little By Little campaign is all about!

GlobalGiving has $125,000 in Matching Funds for participating projects!

Donations up to $50 per unique donor, per project will be matched (while funds remain).

From 4.00am GMT March 25^th – 12pm GMT March 28^th or until matching funds run out, GlobalGiving will match ALL online donations up to $50 at 50%. (£40, €47).

Your $10 donation turns into $15.

Your $50 donation turns into $75.

Help us spread the word: share this post with your family and friends to let them know that BIG change can come from little acts of kindness!

Every donation is welcome! Kinderhulp Afrika, who run the schools and the JMC Clinic, at Children’s Welfare Mission, see www.globalgiving.org/42553, rely entirely on donations and we are so grateful for all the support we receive.

Would you like to help vulnerable children in Uganda? Your help makes a difference in their lives. Make a one-time donation or become a sponsor! See donation options below:

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/vulnerable-children-pre-primary-school-uganda/

https://www.kinderhulp-afrika.nl/en/sponsor-a-child/sponsor-a-child

SAMS eye catching joyful new facelift!

SAM’s exterior walls have been brightly painted in playful colours making it very welcoming to the children. It really feels more like a play school than a serious building.

The compound walls have been painted with the “Jolly Phonics” alphabet. They are really beautiful and so much fun as well as being educational at the same time. What a great facelift!

Amazing changes in four years!

The GlobalGiving project leaders and sponsor parents recently revisited the project after a 41/2-year absence having literally had to flee the country due to the outbreak of the Corona Pandemic in March 2020. They were amazed how many changes have been made to Samaritan Daycare and Kindergarten, the Samaritan Primary School and the Namungongo Secondary and Vocation School despite the school campus being closed for nearly two years during the pandemic. The staff haven’t stood still and many improvements have taken place. SAM has had a facelift and has new playground equipment; the primary school has new equipment and various improvements in the classrooms and offices. The secondary school has a new science lab, hairdressing department and improvements are being made to the sports field with new bridges over the small stream that runs beside it. The field will then be upgraded to an athletics and football facility that can de used by all the schools.

The school year is drawing to a close. There are currently 55 young ones at SAM, 31 of them are in the top class and will be “graduating”, as they call it there, to Primary school in February. In the SPS there are 314 pupils of whom 70 will graduate to secondary school next year. The end of term exams are in full swing and the national “O” and “A” levels are in progress.

Improved Access!

The road from Namugongo to the project which has been a dirt track full of potholes and very dangerous in the rainy season, has been tarmacked! The journey now takes an incredible 4-5 minutes whereas it could have taken 15-20 in bad conditions! This road also joins up with the Nsasa road which has also been tarmacked meaning that the campus is easily accessible from both sides and the journey into Kampala is much easier, quicker and safer. This is not only good for the local residents and staff but also a boost to the school making its facilities more amenable and its enhancing its appeal to the wider community.

Proud Sponsor Parents!

As mentioned above two couples from the Netherlands visited the project in October. They were there not only to experience campus life but also to attend their sponsor son’s graduation from University! Both achieved second class honours at Uganda Christian University UCU Mokono. Another sponsor student will graduate from Kyambogo University in Kampala in December. All three were sponsored at the SPS primary school, through secondary education at NSVS and University. It was incredible to be part of these young men’s lives for so long. To see them grow up and develop from young playful boys at Primary School to the grown-up adults they now are. As the motto says: “FROM HELPLESS TO HOPEFUL”!

If you would like to become a sponsor parent or would like more information about how you can support the schools and make a difference to the lives of needy young children in Uganda please visit the website: https://www.kinderhulp-afrika.nl/en/

Give a little extra Joy on Giving Tuesday 3^rd December 2024.

As many of you know, Giving Tuesday is a yearly international day for charitable giving that follows Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This year GlobalGiving (GG) is offering a $750,000 Incentive Fund that will be distributed to all projects proportionally based on final fundraising totals. Therefore, the more funds we can raise during the 24-hour campaign the more ‘prize’ money we will earn!

Help us to Give a little extra Joy to our children and our wonderful staff. We would be so grateful if you could help us do this and make this year’s GG Giving Tuesday a great success! You can donate to SAM Schools via this link:

www.globalgiving.org/42553

You can donate in $, £ or €uros! - ‘Giving Tuesday’ lasts for 24 hours and starts at midnight ET in the USA, which is 5am GMT in the UK and 6am CET across Europe.

Climate friendly Christmas Presents!

Look no further! Sending a GG Gift Card and asking the receiver to support SAM Schools is an environmentally sustainable and long-lasting gift… plus it’s easy!

Just click this link: https://www.globalgiving.org/gifts/ to buy and send your cards digitally. The recipient can then choose which project to support, so it’s particularly important that you kindly ask them to donate their card to SAM! www.globalgiving.org/42553

Every donation is welcome! Kinderhulp Afrika, who run our SAM schools and the Children’s Welfare Mission, rely entirely on donations and we are so grateful for all the support we receive.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the office via the website or myself personally, jill@kinderhulp-afrika.nl, I would love to hear from you.

I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of all the staff at SAM, the Children’s Welfare Mission and Kinderhulp Afrika to wish to and your family a Very Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for a healthier, happier, brighter and peaceful 2025!

Thank you!

They say “A picture tells a thousand words.”

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!