30/10/21: please help me spread the word!

Over the last few months I’ve been helping 4 organisations looking after young people put together simple websites. They’re all now up and running, so I thought it was a good time to ask for help in spreading the word!

Pictured above is Kampala Christian Orphanage. Alex Mumpe, the director, on the right of the picture, tracked me down through Facebook some years ago, I was able to visit in August 2019 whilst located in the UK. It was that visit which was a major contributory factor in wanting to come here to work. Find out more by checking out the website!

Through Kampala Christian Orphanage I got to know Ludger, a Christian from Germany who does an amazing work supporting initiatives going on in East Africa. It was through Ludger that I was introduced to Little Souls Ministry:

run by Bridget Nakayiwa who does an amazing work looking after 16 youngsters in Kawaala, North West Kampala. Bridget has the most amazing story to tell, but I’m not going to tell you it here, look at the website!

Again through Ludger I have got to know Youth Initiatives for Sustainable Development in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, run by Justin Dunia:

Goma is amazingly beautiful but also a very unstable part of the world, I was hoping to visit over the Christmas period but have come to the conclusion that to do so would put not just myself but also other people at risk. we have an alternative plan but not sure whether we can make this work, watch this space!

And then finally for the moment God’s Love Home and School in Kibwa, again North West Kampala:

James Mukiibi, the project leader, tracked me down through LinkedIn and invited me to visit a few months ago, when I arrived I was thinking he was a student I had worked with in Dar es Salaam – but no, that was entirely my imagination! James and I are pursuing a number of lines of thought, I’m really appreciating a really powerful working relationship.

So that’s it! I do have to remind myself sometimes that I have a full-time job and this is some voluntary work on the side, but it’s become increasingly important to me over the last few months. In summary:
Kampala Christian Orphanage near Wobulenzi, Luwero District, Central Uganda
Little Souls Ministry in Kawaala, North West Kampala
Youth Initiatives for Sustainable Development in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
God’s Love Home and School in Kibwa, North West Kampala

Please do check out these websites! A few points on the thinking. I’m very aware that help in the short term can cause long term problems, and I’ve made reasonable attempts to resolve this – I hope! Firstly, all these websites are free from WordPress, WordPress, thank you, thank you, thank you for this, so grateful! I’ve given administrator access to each of the leaders and am in the process of showing them how to upload their own blog posts with a view, ultimately, to withdrawing from the process myself – or deleting the blog and anything time sensitive and leaving a permanent website. But I do think a blog is really important as a way of encouraging people to return to the website over and over again which is what we are hoping is going to happen.

All of these organisations operate without state funding and are reliant, to a very large extent, on foreign donations. Meanwhile – and forgive me for being deliberately vague here – I am becoming increasingly disenchanted with large organisations which claim to be helping, apart from the money which goes into a large number of salaries across the world, there can be an astonishing lack of understanding about local realities. Happy to discuss this further in private if you’d like to get in touch.

Meanwhile, whilst I’ve yet to visit Goma, I have visited the three in Uganda each on multiple occasions. I have a salary from my full-time job, any contributions which come through me I pass on in full, I pay my own travel expenses and make all reasonable efforts to ensure that my visits don’t cost anybody any money. Meanwhile, each of these organisations really struggle to make ends meet. They really need support which is not forthcoming either from within the country or from large organisations which claim to be helping.

So, please help here! Look at the websites and prayerfully decide if you can help, either on a one-off or regular basis. Also, can you help me spread the word about these websites? If everybody who reads this contacts everybody on their contact list, that would just be amazing. I’d love to answer any questions you have – geoff@geoff-tennant.com – and listen to any thoughts you might have. Thank you!

Just one final thing before I go. If you’ve looked at the four websites listed above, you might like also to check out the website of local artist Stanley Bia. Any similarities in format entirely non-coincidental! Thank you for reading, I’ll be back again soon.