It is not always easy to get information out of Uganda. Surface mail can take a long time. Air mail is expensive. The daily grind of feeding, clothing, housing, and vocationally training children such as those in the photo pushes Internet communication to a lower priority than in other countries. However, we will try to keep a flow of recent information through this page.
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![]() Street children in Kampala |
November/December 2008
Our regular readers will know that October News was all about our response to the crisis at RYDA. They simply didn't have the funds to allow students to sit their final exam. With God's help this was problem was fixed. In this response from Geoffrey Steven Kyeyune, Executive Director, he looks back at some of the critical events of the year. Dear Doug,Hope For 2009 2008 has been very difficult for RYDA. They have not been able to find donors to support their programs - programs that have, in previous years, brought life and vocational skill training to over 300 of the most vulnerable youths in Uganda each year. Programs that need only $US150,000 to be sustained. Instead the organisation has run on a shoestring budget and struggled to provide education, food, clothing and housing for 57 final year students. RYDA cannot continue as beggars through 2009. Begging daily for help from the first world to sustain proven programs. The strain on staff is too great. Of course there will always be a need for individuals and groups to donate and donate regularly, but what St. Margaret's and other friends have been able to do is only the icing on the cake. The problem in 2008 has been that the cake has not been available. RYDA's Board of Directors have begun reviewing their approach for 2009. They are trying to find new ways to use the resources they own - land, buildings, some machinery and tools, expertise and experience - to fund their core mission, which is to support the most vulnerable youths to build their own positive future. They do not yet know where to go. Please pray for inspiration for these leaders. |