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Savings & Loans Groups Take Off !

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ROWAN has created a Savings and Loans Association for local community members to learn how to save and empower their families! Training came from Care International in Uganda.

Here is how ROWAN Savings & Loans Group works:

Step 1: Friends create a Savings and Loans Group, no more than 20 members.
Step 2: A Constitution is written and signed by all members including rules and regulations of group. Each group member has a role to play: either a key holder, a box holder, a money counter, the chairperson, etc.

Step 3: Each person brings 1,000-5,000 Shillings (equaling .50-2.50 USD) per week, which is documented

Step 4:  The goal is to have the money go out in the form of a small loan to group members, with 10% interest. Each member who desires a loan must apply and have a unanimous vote from the group.
Step 5: The 10% interest must be paid back each week, but the loan must be paid back in 3 months.
Step 6: As money is accrued from interest, the group gains profit for future loans.
Step 7: Welfare account is used for people who are in dire emergencies and need a loan without interest. Must have unanimous vote!
Step 8: After 6 months, most groups have saved up to 1,800 USD and each individual is flourishing in a new small business!
Currently ROWAN has 4 Savings and Loans groups, with more starting every day! This is all part of our self-sustainability plan and process for ROWAN members to empower their families and eventually graduate from our program!
Pastor Paul, Founder of ROWAN calls these groups “The backbone to the ministry.”

“Our passion is to create a culture of savings in our rural communities. Once we have done that, we really have done something remarkable.” -P.Paul

Passion Fruit Planting with Joy

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Excerpt from Joy, our current ROWAN intern:
One of the current micro enterprise projects ROWAN initiated is Passion Fruit! I had the honor to take part in the preparation and planting of the very first passion fruit trees. I joined 20-25 widows from the ROWAN program and what a privilege it was for me to stand next to these beautiful and strong women. I absolutely loved watching them in community with each other, laughing, and working alongside one another. Each one of them carry their own story of hope and it is evident in every way.
Not only is this Passion Fruit garden going to provide income for these women, it is the beginning process for the entire community to adopt and benefit from the fruitful harvest. The trees we planted created a demonstration garden which will be a way for the entire community to learn and begin to plant in their own homes! ROWAN’s hope is to equip and empower the entire community which will in turn have a greater impact on all those in Mawanga and beyond!
*Read more about Joy’s journey into Mawanga and the heart of ROWAN here.

HIV status in Uganda: The Big Picture

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From Daily Monitor Newspaper
September 17, 2010
“Mr. James Kibanga, the coordinator of National Forum of People Living with HIV networks in Uganda, said there is no reason votes should be given to people who will not mind about their health. He said a successful battle against HIV/AIDS is best fought at the pinnacle of government through disbursing funds, commitment and leadership.
‘The 2010/2011 national budget was virtually silent on the HIV/AIDS crisis, yet only one-third of hte people in need of HIV treatment have access to it, and more than 100,000 people are infected with HIV annually,’ said Dr. Stephen Watiti, the chairman of National Network of People Living with HIV.
Although new data show that HIV treatment reduces HIV transmission by 90%, clinics in Uganda are turning away thousands of patients in urgent need of treatment because of insufficient funding.”
In the small village of Mawanga, the local clinic is also turning away people because of the lack of funds for HIV medication. How will ROWAN respond?
Before ROWAN decides exactly how to serve people living with HIV, the organization will take time this year to research, conduct focus groups and bring HIV stakeholders together within the eastern region of Uganda to gain a better understanding of the current conditions.
On October 2nd, ROWAN members living with HIV were invited to a brainstorming meeting. In the end over seventy people showed up from twenty different villages! They shared with ROWAN staff about their struggles, needs and challenges. ROWAN earnestly asked them:
“How can we help you?”
“What are other organizations doing to help you?”
“If we could do one thing to support you, what would it be?”
The responses were overwhelming with social, economic, medical, physical and spiritual needs. So far no other organizations are helping them besides one which gives basic medications, and they are excited to see how ROWAN will play a role.  And it wouldn’t be a meeting without some dancing and laughing (see video above).
We can’t do everything, but we can do something. Pray with us as we find out how.

Bringing Healthcare to the Hut

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One major lesson ROWAN learned this past year is although schools and clinics may teach on issues such as AIDS, disease and general healthcare, these concepts do not translate into the individual home environment. There is a gap between knowledge and application.
This month ROWAN volunteers Christopher, John, Aidah and Sam took the time to visit every ROWAN member’s household to teach about sanitation and hygiene. Some people may ask, “Why not simply hold one healthcare seminar?” Although seminars are impactful, ROWAN wanted to make it personal. By visiting each home, our volunteer was able to sit in the kitchen and talk through how to purify water and sanitize food and plates. The volunteer went to the bathing area and taught on the importance of hygiene to the entire family. The families opened up and asked personal questions which may not have surfaced in a seminar setting. And the best part is, relationships are built and the love of Christ is exemplified through our servant leaders on the ground.
As you support the medical mission of ROWAN, you are supporting our volunteers who dedicate their lives to transforming the community one widow at a time…one orphan at a time…and soon…one community at a time!

Handcrafted Jewelry Reaches Singapore

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The ROWAN office in Mawanga has become a bead-making machine after local artisan trainer empowered our women and children to make beads out of local paper and varnish them to create necklaces, bracelets and earrings for supporters outside of Africa. The recent shipment has arrived in Singapore and currently sold at our partnering cafes:
Food For Thought Cafe
8 Queen Street
www.foodforthought.com.sg
Papa Palheta Specialty Coffee
140 Bukit Timah Road
97990420
Anyone interested in buying the jewelry within the USA, contact us.
Thanks for your support!

ROWAN Stories Take Center Stage

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No matter what tribe or tongue, drama is a timeless universal language. A language through which stories come to life, culture is preserved and information on issues like AIDS, can spread. Local drama director, Mugoya Muzamiru, has started to train our ROWAN youth how to use drama as a form of expression and education.
ROWAN is seeking volunteers with a heart for drama ministry to assist in the training of our children. We also are in need of costumes, instruments and funds to continue the training.
We feel that creating opportunities for our ROWAN kids to express themselves through various creative mediums like music, dancing, and drama, will enrich both their lives and the lives of their community. If you are interested to contribute to this initiative in any way, contact us. We’d love to have you join our next team!
Click here to donate to this program

ROWAN Land

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Over the last four months, Pastor Paul Nyende has been negotiating with a local farmer to buy his four-acre plot of land. It us located right next to our ROWAN office. The land holds one large house, one small house and 188 healthy coffee trees.
After much prayer and petition, the man brought his price down to a reasonable level. However, the ROWAN board did not have the funds for the land at that time. So they prayed for a miracle and that same week, ROWAN received a check in the mail for the exact amount needed for the land! The land was marked SOLD that very day!
ROWAN is now in the process of deciding how best to utilize the land and all it offers. So far:
-The widows have planted a second pineapple garden on the land with the suckles (seeds) from their first garden.
-Kelsey Young, ROWAN’s co-founder, is setting up plans to sell raw coffee beans in Singapore.
-The main house on the land will become a ROWAN Guest House for anybody to come get involved in the projects. However, the house needs refurbishing before guests can stay comfortably.
If you have any interest in helping in the areas of coffee, agriculture, or improving the Guest House, contact us.

Typhoid Outbreak

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Hi friends and prayer partners for ROWAN,
Just got an email Yesterday from the local pastor that typhoid has broken out in the community, and even his 6 children are affected. The major borehole is now down, and the villagers are drinking from ponds where their animals drink. I have been on my knees all night- and we are praying about how we can quickly Act on this.
For now, the clinic doesn’t have any medicine to treat the Typhoid, so we are sending over funds to fill the gap. I would suggest that any giving you can do today can go towards this.
Pray with us,
Kelsey

The Harvest is Plenty

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Have you ever been so proud of something that you couldn’t WAIT to show it to off? Well, as Sherlee and I arrived on the scene of Mawanga, Uganda on August 19, Pastor Paul hurried us to the garden where ROWAN widows were picking their first harvest of pineapples. And these weren’t just any pineapples. These sweet fruits became the foundation of discipline and unity between ROWAN members.
Since 2007, these men and women have been labouring for the fruits we saw before us. Who knew pineapples took 2 years to grow? Every other day the widows and caretakers would trek from their homes to till the garden. Our trusty volunteers John and Christopher would take attendance of each woman who would turn up and joke with those who came late! Talk about accountability.
Sherlee and I danced with laughter between the rows and rows of ripe fruit. The smiles of these victim warriors, although currently suffering from HIV/AIDS, drought, malaria and the difficulties that life brings, will forever be etched in my mind. Our joy had little to do with the actual pineapples harvested that day, although it brought in income for their immediate needs. But it had everything to do with building community and hope. These women are empowered. They have each other. They love the Lord.
This is just the beginning.
What does ROWAN do, you ask? ROWAN is in the hope business.