Hope Land Christian Academy
Our God is a God of miracles! We could have never expected what He had planned for these beautiful children! A dream from a teacher, who couldn’t feed his family because of school shutdowns during the pandemic, has resulted in feeding, teaching, and educating 42 students in a remote village in Uganda. There is no way we could have foreseen the miracles of buildings, properties, donations, food, and favor that the Lord has poured over Abenawe Innocent and Kakuru Catherine! Innocent grew up as an orphan in this village, but the community believed in him and supported him. His dream was to return to this community and bring the love of Jesus and education. After befriending and building a relationship with Catherine Stoner, founder of Amatsiko for Uganda, Innocent began to dream once again. God inspired hope even while he and his family were sleeping in an empty school, on thin foam mattresses on top of abandoned desks, in an area that was plagued by crimes of desperation. Only months later, 22 beautiful children have a donated school building, uniforms, shoes, two meals a day, primary education, healthcare, and an opportunity to experience the love of Jesus Christ. God has provided swift non-profit status with the government and they have been registered as a Community Based Organization (CBO), operating in the Buhweju district. The students at the school are learning English (one of the major languages of their country), learning how to use pencils and crayons for the first time, and have done well on midterm tests given by the government. We’ve added staff: a new teacher, Edina, and a cook, John. Additionally, land has been purchased for the future site of the new school, as we have already begun to grow out of our existing space.
Health and Disease Prevention
Sickness, injury, and disease are very prevalent, and can bring a lot of fear. There is no local hospital and the clinic is far away. Obtaining medical treatment can be challenging due to limited resources at the clinic, so the advice and medical knowledge of our medical advisor, Kristen, has been such a gift. Through the generosity of many supporters, we have been able to pay for medical supplies and visits to the nurse as needed. Soap is extremely expensive right now and most of the students’ families cannot afford to purchase it. Many donors have sent money so the families could have soap, our first line of defense against disease. With increased funding, we plan to implement additional ways to provide routine disease prevention for the students.
Sustainability Projects
A big part of our mission is to help the school, as a whole, become self-sufficient through farming and sustainability. We have started a piggery complete with a barn, stalls, feed, and a rainwater catchment system. We now have seven piglets that we will breed and sell. We have nineteen chickens now. For many of the students, it is the first time they have eaten eggs and they absolutely love them. The team has also planted many new crops on the recently purchased land including: peas, an avocado tree, mango tree and more. Transportation is very expensive in this rural area, yet necessary for food, supplies, medical care, and much more. With the help of the local government and generous donors, Innocent was able to purchase a “boda boda” (motor bike) which is the main mode of transportation in their area. This has been a huge blessing in so many ways!
