I have a daughter who is my “why” and my reason for trying each day to be, and do, better. She is my greatest joy and my surprise miracle. Becoming a mother opened my heart in ways I never knew possible and I know I am not alone in feeling this way. Bringing a child into your life changes your priorities, your way of looking at life, and adds to that innate desire we have as humans to make things better.
My husband and I had been married many years before our surprise miracle arrived. During that time, I looked for ways to support children and families around the world and in that search I came across ROWAN. As I read through the information online, I knew I had finally found the organization I had been looking for. My heart melted, and tears filled my eyes, as I read of a beautiful baby girl and her grandmother who were in need of sponsorship and I quickly signed up to help sponsor them. That was almost ten years ago, and I have been a supporter of ROWAN ever since.
What do I love about ROWAN? I love that I am able to donate what I can afford and that I can be sure my donation is being used to directly help people in Uganda. I love that ROWAN strives to help widows and children better their lives through education and the opportunities that brings. I love that ROWAN follows the teaching found in Matthew 25:40, “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (KJV) And I love that ROWAN is led by love.
My name is Kirsten, and I am grateful to say that I am a ROWAN supporter.
Children in Uganda, like many others across the globe, have not had access to in-person learning since March of 2020. The effects of this lack of access to education are beginning to show; we have seen some children losing interest in school, older girls are getting married or have become pregnant, and older boys have left home and taken low-paying jobs rather than wait for schools to start back up. It breaks our hearts to see children struggling and leaving the learning path. As we mentioned in our post last week, the Ugandan government is planning to start reopening schools for some of the older children in March, but it will be a slow roll-out and a lot of children will still be left at home with no access to education. To this end, ROWAN has been hard at work on a strategic plan for the new Learning Center we introduced you to last week.
Our local ROWAN members met with the primary children last week and grouped them into four groups:
Nursery age children and those who would soon be joining that age group
Primary 1 and Primary 2
Primary 3 and Primary 4
Primary 5 and Primary 6
We will hold classes for our Primary groups on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with one group coming per day. We will hold classes for the older children not yet in public school on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This schedule allows us to give a large group of children access to in-person learning while also giving them a chance to spend time with their peers and friends.
Our local ROWAN team and board will continue to monitor the Ugandan government’s school reopening plan and will adjust ROWAN’s Learning Center schedule accordingly. The pandemic, and the necessary responses to it, will require our Learning Center plan to stay flexible; there are so many unknowns. Questions like, “Will the children need extra help to catch up to grade-level curriculum and How often will the schedule need to be adjusted?” are questions that only time can answer. The one thing we know for certain is that it is vital for these children to feel supported and to stay motivated about their education. With your help, prayers, and donations, we are taking steps to do just that.
“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:19
A new program called The Legacy Program is beginning for widows and adult members of ROWAN! An enormous amount of prayer and planning has gone into this brand new program for Adults; these Adults are the sponsored Widows, Widowers, and Caregivers of ROWAN.
The Legacy Program is a 4-year intensive certificate program for sponsored ROWAN widows and other adult members.
Program Details
ROWAN leaders have partnered with other reputable professionals to create a comprehensive curriculum that will encompass all aspects of education, training, care, and follow-up. Each year, the Legacy adults will attend specific trainings to help them become successful and independent in many different areas of life. Our new program will focus on these key areas: Entrepreneurship & Financial Training
Health & Wellness Training
Literacy and Educational Training
Family Needs & Healthy Relationships
Life Skills Training
Spiritual Development & Discipleship
Social Training (addressing local issues such as women’s rights and land rights)
How does The Legacy Program relate to adult sponsorship?
88 adults in the first round will move through The Legacy Program together, and a new group will enroll in four years as these incredible members graduate from the program with a well-earned certificate as well as many new life and business skills.
LEGACY will replace our earlier adult sponsorship model. Previously, adult members of ROWAN would enter programs as beneficiaries with no end date. As co-founders Pastor Paul and Kelsey Hargadine evaluated ROWAN programs and plans during his time in the U.S. in 2020, they found that this wasn’t completely accomplishing the vision they set out for.
Sponsorship with no end date placed a lot of pressure on sponsors of adults in contrast with sponsors of orphans, who can see when the projected graduation date will be of the child they sponsor. It also wasn’t as effective at empowering widows toward independence and self-sufficiency as this highly structured, goal-oriented Legacy Program will be.
The Legacy Program will also cover medical care and regular, nutritious meals throughout the 4-year program. When you support a widow, widower, or caregiver… you make Legacy a possibility in more ways than one.
At the end of the program, these women and men will attend a ROWAN graduation ceremony where they will be presented with their program certificate and get to celebrate all of their hard work and development. We will celebrate them as a community: our newest ROWAN Alumni adult members!
The Legacy Program will prepare the enrolled members extensively for this day and the ones that follow, as the certificate symbolizes thee official beginning of a self-sufficient, sustainable future. It marks the journey toward building a Legacy through entrepreneurship and a healthy lifestyle.
If you currently sponsor a widow, widower, or caregiver, please send them a note to encourage them on the 4-year journey ahead!
If you’d like to partner with us in transforming a widow’s life and making her legacy possible, please meet our adult members and sponsor one of these heroes today! If you sponsor a Jajja (grandma), thank you for supporting one of the elderly women cared for by ROWAN in their final chapter of life. While they are too old to go through the entire 4-year intensive program, they will join in different aspects and experiences of The Legacy Program as much as they can!
Join us in the coming months!
Please watch this space as we follow some Legacy members throughout their journey to see how God moves in their lives and in the ROWAN community. Thank you for praying for these women and men as they battle to care for the young ones they are raising and the generations that will come after them. With your help, they are well on their way to establishing a legacythat will impact their family and community for many years to come!
Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
In spite of (and in light of) the unpredictable, tumultuous year we all had, God proved faithful time and time again!
Thank you for partnering with us in serving hundreds of orphans and widows in rural Uganda. We invite you to celebrate with us as we see all of the small miracles that came through on behalf of these women and children, our neighbors.
We know that when disaster strikes, it always strikes the marginalized hardest. Thank you for the part you played in alleviating that suffering. Your prayers and gifts will have ripple effects for generations, and we’re already seeing evidence of that!
ROWAN deeply values integrity, accountability, and transparency with our community, and sharing this Annual Report for 2020 is one of the ways we are pleased to follow through on that. We hope you enjoy this snapshot filled with testimonies of hope in one of the hardest years the world has seen.
Just as it is in other countries around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect families in Uganda. The Ugandan government announced last week that schools for older children may begin opening in March. While this is good news for older children, younger children in nursery through Primary Level 5 will still have to remain at home.
What’s the Learning Center and when will it open?
Our ROWAN team in Uganda has been working tirelessly to meet needs and fill in the gaps during this COVID crisis. Due to the hard work of our board and team in Uganda as well as the generous donations we received during our Christmas fundraiser, we are now able to move forward with a way to meet the educational needs of these younger students through opening The ROWAN Learning Center for children in nursery through Primary Level 5 (which is similar to 5th grade in the U.S.).
We are working with the local government and elementary schools to get our Learning Center up and running by the end of February! The learning center will be based in our Hall of Hope building and will have four teachers on staff.
How will it work?
Along with helping to make the Learning Center possible, the generous donations we received from our sponsors also cover regular meals for the orphans, all of the necessary school supplies, sanitizing and hygenic supplies, bus rides on the ROWAN bus to and from school, and new school uniforms!
Sharing the exciting update with ROWAN orphans!
Earlier this week, primary children (aged 4 to 12) were able to gather at the Hall of Hope for the first time since March of 2020. We picked the children up from six different zones using the ROWAN bus that our sponsors helped fund!
It was a joyous day, and Pastor Sam Kuloba said that the children were very excited to all be together again. Our local ROWAN team plans to hold a similar gathering later this week for the older children.
Stay tuned for further updates!
We will continue to post updates on the Learning Center as it progresses. If you would like to continue to support ROWAN in our work at the Learning Center, please click here and select “Education and Training” under the “Purpose” dropdown box.
We appreciate all the support and love you, our sponsors and friends, give so willingly. Please continue to pray for our board and staff in Uganda as they work faithfully to make sure the children are able to continue their education with love and hope in Christ!
“Why am I not receiving ROWAN newsletters and email updates?”
We know you love seeing good news and exciting updates from ROWAN. If you’ve experienced problems receiving our email newsletters, it’s probably that they’re being mistakenly filtered out of your inbox.The good news? It’s not your fault, and it’s easy to solve!
Here are some quick fixes to be sure your email settings aren’t preventing you from seeing our encouraging emails: If you use Gmail: FIRST:
At the top right of your email inbox, click Settings > Mail Settings > Filters (second from the left).
Click the tab that says Create a New Filter.
In the From field, type “info@loverowan.com” and “kelsey@loverowan.com” without changing any other settings on this screen.
Click Next Step.
Check the box that says Star It.
Click Create Filter to confirm.
THEN:
Open an email sent to you by ROWAN.
Click “Add to VIPs.” ….. or …..
Open an email from ROWAN.
Tap the email address or ROWAN (at the top of the email).
Tap ‘Create New Contact’ from the menu at the bottom of the screen.
If you use Microsoft Outlook:
Login to your Hotmail or MSN Mail account.
Click on Options > Junk Mail Protection > Safe List.
In the box provided type in “info@loverowan.com” and “kelsey@loverowan.com”.
Click “Add”.
When you see the address you entered in the Safe List box, click on the “OK” button.
If you receive your emails through Yahoo! Mail:
Login and click on Mail Options (on the right of your screen) > Filters (on the left of your screen) > Add.
Assign a name for this filter: “ROWAN Emails”, for example.
Go to the top row labeled “FROM header” (it’s underneath the heading “if all of the following rules are true…”).
Click the dropdown menu. Select Contains, then type “info@loverowan.com” and “kelsey@loverowan.com” in the box.
At the bottom, where it says “Move the message to:”, select “Inbox” from the dropdown menu
Click Add Filter to confirm.
Need more help?
Click here for in-depth directions to help make sure your email settings are correct based on your email provider. If you’re still having trouble, please email kelsey@loverowan.com.
Please note: Regardless of your email provider, if you see an email from ROWAN in your Junk Mail folder, click “This Is Not Junk Mail” to avoid having ROWAN e-mails sent to the Junk Mail folder in the future!
While the number of Covid-19 cases in Uganda remain low, the number jumped 106% this last week. The country continues its response by asking people to follow guidelines and distance from others which will also keep the healthcare workforce safe. Another example of Uganda’s response is this: The Minister of Health and State Minister for Health in charge of General Duties have established the first border health laboratory at Mutukula border entry point shared by Uganda and Tanzania. The border is crossed easily, daily, and now, given the rise of Covid-19 among truck drivers, those drivers accessing this entry point will be tested by the new health lab and receive results in 45 minutes. The lab can process 64 samples per hour.
An ongoing concern in Uganda and all of Africa is food shortages. According to the World Health Organization on March 14, 2020:
“COVID-19 is unfolding in Africa against a backdrop of worrying levels of hunger and undernourishment, which could worsen as the virus threatens livelihoods and household economies,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Hunger and malnutrition heighten vulnerability to diseases, the consequences of which could be far reaching if not properly addressed.”
In Africa, it is estimated that one in five people is undernourished, and that 30% of children under five – approximately 59 million children – have stunted growth, greater than the global average of 21.9%. Wasting occurs in approximately 7.1% of children in Africa. The continent has the highest burden of malnutrition compared with other parts of the world, in terms of percentage of the population. While there has been little research so far into malnutrition as a co-morbidity for COVID-19, people with weakened immune systems as a result of undernourishment are at greater risk of a range of serious illnesses and so are likely to be more severely affected by the virus.
Recent estimates of food insecurity have suggested that as many as 73 million people in Africa were acutely food insecure. COVID-19 is exacerbating food shortages, as food imports, transportation and agricultural production have all been hampered by a combination of lockdowns, travel restrictions and physical distancing measures.
The burden of movement restrictions and lockdowns is being felt particularly strongly by low-income households and those working in the informal economy due to their loss of livelihoods and inability to access markets.
ROWAN continues to deliver food to the widows and orphans in the ROWAN villages. But the need is great and we need your help. Any gift will go directly to food for our sisters and brothers who are locked down but need to eat. Thank you for praying for these dear ones and giving as you’re able.
“Oh God, our help in ages past Our hope for years to come Our shelter from the stormy blast And our eternal home…” Isaac Watts, 1708
As of today, May 14th, 2020 at 8 pm EST, 160 Ugandans have tested positive for the coronavirus, of which none has died and 63 have recovered.
Although the virus infects a mere fraction of Uganda’s 43M citizens, the pandemic’s impact on the economy and government resonates nationally. Measures to slow the spread often clash against the normalcy of daily life and the vitality of essential trade. As information about the virus emerges daily, Ugandan policymakers must propose national recommendations that adaptively balance the physical and economic well-being of their people.
Second-hand clothing markets annually reap $200M for the Ugandan economy.
Illustrating this volatility, bans that were placed on the second-hand clothing market were reversed on May 8th – just 24 hours after their institution. Although they may remain open, clothing sellers must abide by heightened hygiene mandates such as fumigation before they can make any sales. While the government did not release any comments concerning this policy reversal, its desire to maintain the $200M industry and to prevent backlash from the U.S. – the main source of imported clothing – may have motivated the decision.
Ugandan truck drivers have been mandated to carry digital tracking devices.
On May 12th, Ugandan officials ordered all truck drivers to carry digital tracking devices. This strategy came in response to a disproportionate rate of infection that was reported among these workers last month. Although preventing the spread of the disease remains paramount, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni emphasizes, “We need the cargo. We need the goods.” … And they certainly do. Stifling the dispersion of COVID-19 has necessitated significant economic sacrifices. Already, the International Monetary Fund, a multinational organization working towards global financial security, has loaned $491M in relief to Uganda’s COVID-19-related economic downturn.
President Museveni’s final campaign rally from 2015.
Beyond the economic strain, the country expects a postponement of polling for its 2020 general elections. Should the pandemic remain out of control through July, President Museveni predicts a delay of the elections until early 2021.
The Nalubaale Hydroelectric Power Station, where the blackout-causing blockage occurred.
It gets worse. As if COVID-19 did not pose great enough hardships, the Ugandan people now face extreme flooding – the likes of which they have not seen since 1976. This month alone, the floods have killed 4 people, trapped 200 patients inside of a hospital, and displaced 5,000 others for the sake of emergency relocation. Recently, the record 44-ft rise in Lake Victoria dislodged an island of vegetation – measuring 2 acres –from a riverbank. Ultimately, this floating island clogged one of Uganda’s four main hydroelectric power stations, which precipitated a brief, yet nationwide power outage.
Greetings from a quarantined world! Due to the Coronavirus, Uganda has been under one of the strictest lockdowns on the continent of Africa. On May 5, 2020*, according to Reuters, Uganda began to loosen their restrictions.
Reuters continued to report:
The country of 42 million reported 97 confirmed cases* and no deaths in 45 days of restrictions, and President Museveni said it was now better equipped to trace and detect new infections faster.
“We have somehow tamed the virus,” Museveni said in a televised address late on Monday.
“It is high time we … start slowly and carefully to open up, but without undoing our achievements.”
However, Africa also has extremely low levels of testing, with rates of only around 500 per million people.
Uganda, alongside neighboring Rwanda, had some of Africa’s strictest lockdown measures, including the shutting of all but absolutely essential businesses, dusk-to-dawn curfews, and bans on both private and public transport vehicles.
Businesses including hardware shops, restaurants, wholesale stores and others will now be allowed to reopen.
Public transport and most private vehicles would still remain prohibited, however – meaning that workers for reopened businesses will have to commute either by bicycle or on foot.
Schools and international borders were to remain shut, Museveni said.
After a 14-day period, he said, authorities will announce the next level of reopening.
While this is good news for people who can work again, there are still several restrictions in place. Challenges remain for the people ROWAN serves. Widows, who are the sole providers for their children (and who were already up against incredible odds before the virus hit), are dealing with severe food shortages. Additionally, there has been no word as to when children can go back to school. If you are able, please consider donating. We are thankful to have a good relationship with local law enforcement, which means we are able to continue to use our bus to deliver food directly to orphans and widows in their homes.
Pastor Paul and Mama Edith remain in Colorado waiting for borders to open in June. ROWAN staff members are using this time to pray, work, and plan for ROWAN. God has been loving and guiding during this difficult time. He is always faithful and brings us Hope!
Children in Uganda, like many others across the globe, have not had access to in-person learning since March of 2020. The effects of this lack of access to education are beginning to show; we have seen some children losing interest in school, older girls are getting married or have become pregnant, and older boys have left home and taken low-paying jobs rather than wait for schools to start back up. It breaks our hearts to see children struggling and leaving the learning path. As we mentioned in our post last week, the Ugandan government is planning to start reopening schools for some of the older children in March, but it will be a slow roll-out and a lot of children will still be left at home with no access to education. To this end, ROWAN has been hard at work on a strategic plan for the new Learning Center we introduced you to last week.
Our local ROWAN members met with the primary children last week and grouped them into four groups:
– Nursery age children and those who would soon be joining that age group
– Primary 1 and Primary 2
– Primary 3 and Primary 4
– Primary 5 and Primary 6
We will hold classes for our Primary groups on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with one group coming per day. We will hold classes for the older children not yet in public school on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. This schedule allows us to give a large group of children access to in-person learning while also giving them a chance to spend time with their peers and friends.
Our local ROWAN team and board will continue to monitor the Ugandan government’s school reopening plan and will adjust ROWAN’s Learning Center schedule accordingly. The pandemic, and the necessary responses to it, will require our Learning Center plan to stay flexible; there are so many unknowns. Questions like, “Will the children need extra help to catch up to grade-level curriculum and How often will the schedule need to be adjusted?” are questions that only time can answer. The one thing we know for certain is that it is vital for these children to feel supported and to stay motivated about their education. With your help, prayers, and donations, we are taking steps to do just that.
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