A young Uganda lady called Jane arrived from North Uganda with her husband and two children about 18 months ago. Sadly, Jane’s husband died and she and her children were left in the most appalling conditions. She couldn’t manage and desperately needed help.
This is where Jane used to live with her children
Rhona wanted her October ‘09 visitors to have the experience of building a mud hut so the local authorities were contacted to see if there was anyone in need. The LC, local council official, thought of Jane and said that we, CRU were going to pay for a mud hut to be made then they, the council, would GIVE her a piece of land to build it on. We were thrilled! Rhona asked that local people should start to construct the mud hut so when the visitors arrived in Uganda they could help to finish the mud hut and see it finished.
Jane and her children outside their half built new house
We also wanted to buy goods for her home and make sure she had a good start. Maria’s Care manager, Jackie Oba, suggested the visitors gave Jane a sack of charcoal so she could start a little business by selling small amounts of the charcoal. Jackie said she would show Jane how to save money to buy more charcoal and have a small profit to feed her family and send them to school. Rhona said, “We had been given a chicken by one of the Grandmothers but decided one chicken wouldn’t go around the nine of us, so we gave Jane the chicken and two goats to really get her started.”
jane and volunteers with all the donated goods outside her new home
The goods for Jane’s home and the goats were all paid for by the team who built her hut and donations they had brought with them. The group had a wonderful time mingling the mud with their bare feet. They sang and laughed, the local Ugandan’s looked on with wide eyes as the group thoroughly enjoyed themselves.