no more time wasted walking countless hours to get to the Hall of Hope
time + energy reinvested in education + business
fewer safety threats along the way + more accessible healthcare
field trip + exploration opportunities
Pastor Paul made the announcement at the Christmas Party. Check out the video:
There was dancing, praying, singing, and lots of laughing. People tried ice cream for the first time ever, they thanked God, and the excitement was off the charts. See for yourself:
Remember when we fundraised for the Hall of Hope for Christmas in 2017?
Here it is: everyone gathered under one roof.
We’re praising God for how far we’ve come in the last decade and so excited to see where he takes us in the coming decade.
If you’re like most of us, each year while shopping for Christmas gifts you might catch yourself thinking,
“This is great. But it’s all just… stuff.”
Relatable? Well, you don’t have to feel that way today.
Reports divulge that on Cyber Monday in 2018, Americans spent $7.9 billion. On stuff. We’re still waiting to see what the numbers are this year, but we all know one thing: they’ll be up there.
In the midst of the chaos created during what ought to be the most peaceful time of the year,
It’s easier than wading through online shopping ads, it’s faster than cutting coupons, and it’s just downright fun to be part of something important. When you give a gift in someone’s honor, you’ll help them feel confident that they left this world a bit better than they found it. With this gift, you’re saying,
“I know you’re the type of person who would care about something like this; I know you’re a helper. I appreciate that about you. That’s why I gave this gift in your honor.”
Do you have a child or grandchild who rides a bus? Or maybe your little tribe is just starting to feel like they’ve mastered the bus schedule this year. Are you friends or neighbors with any bus drivers? Do you know any teachers who work at schools where buses safely pick up and drop off students each day? How many buses will you see while you’re driving to work tomorrow?
To many of us, buses have become commonplace. We see school buses, public transit city buses, double-decker buses, mini-buses, shuttle buses, luxury coach buses… but in Mawanga, most folks still get around with the same transportation they were born with: their own two feet.
When you give a bus pass in someone’s honor, that gift restores up to 10 hours in an orphan or widow’s day that they would have spent walking. That could be 70 hours in a week… or up to 3,640 hours in a year. Imagine the possibilities.
We just received heartbreaking news that Tikabula Kafuko passed away yesterday at 86-and-a-half years old.
She will be remembered as a world-changer who had twice as much spunk and life in her than most people have at 25. Tikabula dearly loved to dance, was known to speak boldly, and (as Pastor Paul says) you could always count on her to “make funs” (make jokes). She played an integral part of our pineapple and passion fruit gardens at ROWAN. She enjoyed tending to her small garden at her home, and the community will always remember how hard she worked. Here are some pictures of her gardening:
For the last few years of her long and beautiful life, her body struggled with arthritis and joint pain. Ultimately, she passed away of cancer in her intestines. We would like to thank Tikabula’s sponsors, Norma and Philip Tubbs, for helping make her final years her very best. She called ROWAN “family” and never missed an event. Life expectancy in Uganda is currently about 60 years old, and we are so thankful for so many years beyond that where we were able to learn from and laugh with Tikabula. We are missing her deeply but thankful to know she is resting in the Father’s arms.
If you ever had the privilege of meeting Tikabula, we would love to hear and share your stories and memories to honor her legacy.
The International Day of the Girl was last week, but we still want you to meet some of our neat young ladies!
She recently finished higher education. With a heart for her nation and especially the women there, she determined to study mass communication and journalism. Her dream is to speak up for women’s rights by documenting stories in Uganda so that each coming generation is one step closer to gender equality. In a country where women haven’t been allowed to own land, Uganda is coming a long way. But paving the road for women’s rights is not going to be a quick or simple task. Young ladies like Mariam represent the way forward, but they can’t do it alone!
Mariam successfully completed our program, but many other young ladies still need your help on their journey!
When our son, Jake, was at Dartmouth College, he spent part of a summer working with ROWAN in Uganda. Read more about that here! As a result, we began our first sponsor relationship with a young man named Mugabi Cyrus. Jake met Cyrus in the village and said Cyrus was a strong and eager participant in the leadership training sessions. As we prayed about someone to sponsor, God spoke swiftly and clearly that is should be Cyrus.
Mugabi Cyrus
And here’s the thing—while we felt good about helping Cyrus, we had no idea that he would give us far more than we could ever give him. He loves us without reservation and calls us family. As we pray for him he prays for us. He worked hard in school and got an art degree—he is very talented. He calls our sons, Jake and Jonah, his brothers, and my husband and I, mom and dad. He is our “son” that we’ve never met. He has taught us uniquely more about the love of God. His faith in the most difficult circumstances has been a light to our family.
Cyrus graduated out of the sponsorship program but he is still our son, friend, and prayer partner. When co-founder Kelsey Hargadine visited Uganda in May, Cyrus gave her a backpack he made for us—made fully by his hand. She mailed it to us in Washington state and I cried and smiled at the beautiful stitching, the hand embroidered message, the thoughtfulness of a young man who works hard as an entrepreneur and who is now a volunteer for ROWAN. We are humbled and proud to know Cyrus and excited to see how God loves and leads him in the days ahead.
Jonah Casale, in the USA, holds the backpack handmade by his brother-in-Christ, Mugabi Cyrus!
ROWAN would like to share with you some breaking news from Uganda. The Ugandan government is tightening up their demands and requirements on NGO’s (non-governmental organizations that are nonprofit). There have been too many briefcase NGO’s (fraudulent nonprofit organizations set up only to obtain money from donors but having no programs on the ground) in the country, so the government is making every NGO, including ours, go through complex hoops to re-register and confirm our legitimacy.
The good news is, ROWAN has favor in the government and goes above and beyond with financial integrity and with our our local work in our districts. The only difficulties we face are that this process takes time and money; local leadership must travel to Kampala and spend time gathering data and filling out all the paperwork to meet deadlines.
ROWAN used to be a community-based organization (based upon our size), but since we have grown across four Districts, we are now an official NGO. ROWAN has been registered locally since we started in 2008. We value the importance of local authorities and laws regulating our work. We pray this intensive process will only further validate the work and ministry happening at ROWAN! Please join us in prayer for a smooth process and positive outcome as we continue to serve our many members. Thank you!
Kelsey Hargadine honors local ROWAN leaders. May, 2019.
It doesn’t matter if you are from the west and have never been to Africa. It doesn’t matter if you are from Africa and have never been to a western country. Our circumstances may be vastly different but our capacity to grieve and care for one another are human capacities.
Will you let me introduce you to Daniel Okola? The ROWAN team met Daniel less than than four months ago when they visited Uganda. Daniel’s wife just died in March, in childbirth. While this pain may be unfathomable to many of us, Daniel continues to love and care for his eight children. Daniel had no livable house and his biggest challenges were finding places for his children to sleep at night and his inability to work due to caring for his children. When the team visited Daniel, he told them he receives strength from looking up at the face of God.
ROWAN put out a call for help to build Daniel and his children a house. Many people donated and the money was raised. Today, Daniel’s house is under construction and soon he and his family will be living together in their very own home! ROWAN thanks everyone who donated for helping Daniel in this difficult time and transforming his sorrow to hope with a house for his family. There is a long road ahead but a safe home for his family to live and sleep in together is life-changing for each one of them.
Daniel and most of his children have now been sponsored and we praise God for that. The last child that needs sponsoring is sweet Godfrey. Would you consider changing Godfrey’s life and supporting Daniel in his desire to be a father that stays with his children? There is so much strength in a father to stay with his children in such a dire situation. In addition to the loss of a mother, culturally, many men run away or send the children to family members. Daniel is choosing to stay and we want to support and bless that! Thank you for considering sponsoring Godfrey:
Look for an update soon on the Okola house and family and please continue to pray for them as they navigate the loss of a wife and mother. Thank you very much for reading their story and comprehending that no matter where we live on this earth, we are bound in compassion, grief, and love, as the family of God.
“While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life’s joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world’s sorrows, tasting the coming joy.”
That’s right, we are putting all our eggs into the goat basket.
Ingredients for our current goat farm:
200-250 goats (3-5 male goats, rest female)
17 acres
goat house
Managers House with full time manager
office and part time room
grass and water
fencing
laptop for financial tracking
local market to sell goats
What reward will ROWAN receive in return?
Every initial goat is given back to ROWAN from each of our members. They were gifted a female goat back in 2016, and today each one of them is gifting back one baby goat.
Each goat is worth about $85.00 when sold.
As the goat farm grows, and we begin selling goats, sustainability is created.
All sales from local goats (About $20,000-$30,000 per year) will go toward sustaining the 20 local salaries in Uganda.
What is the only ingredient missing?
We need a goat well.
It sounds strange, but now you can see why the need is so great. This is the last and final piece needed to really take off. The current water source is over 2 miles away, and we need water right on our land.
Obviously the big day is long gone for this year. However, we hope you will all agree that these photos are too cute not to keep to ourselves. As part of our flashback theme, lets go back to 2011 & see images of some of the happiestlittle faces (& some big) on Day of the African Child 2011.
Day of the African Child 2011.
Looking Back
We always enjoy looking back at special days & events like this. Especially as they have have all grown so much since these images were taken. Most of the children pictured here aren’t even children anymore! We want to celebrate them anyway. Here are some of the best shots from that day, enjoy!
Loving Uganda
That’s all we have for today, but check back for more pictures of this festive day soon. In the meantime, why not come to Uganda & take some amazing photos of your own?
Obviously the big day is long past this year. But we hope you will all agree that these shots are cute enough to appreciate every day. As part of our fab flashback theme, lets go back to 2011 & see images of some of the happiestlittle faces (& some big) on Day of the African Child 2011.
Day of the African Child 2011.
Looking Back
As always, it’s great fun looking back at special days & events like this. Especially as they have have all grown so much since these photographs were taken. Most of the children pictured here aren’t even children anymore! We want to celebrate them anyway. Here are some of the best shots from that day, enjoy!
Loving Uganda
That’s all we have for today, but check back for more pictures of this festive day soon. In the meantime, why not come to Uganda & take some amazing photos of your own?
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