An Update of Sorts

Sorry the updates have been severely lacking. Our wonderful intern Margaret has left Uganda so it is only our social worker Susan working for Obukuumi. We get updates from her if there is a problem with a child but we don't get any pictures so it's hard to update the blog. Kelsey and I will be heading back to Uganda for three months in May so detailed updates will pick back up then :)

We're also actively blogging at www.arisehome.blogspot.com about our future plans.

Here are some exerts from the Christmas letter we sent out to sponsors in case you missed it :)

We started this year off by sending a couple more children home to their families. Kelsey left Uganda in the spring, leaving our social worker, Susan, in charge of the program. In the fall our first intern, Margaret, arrived in Uganda. She was a HUGE help to us- both with keeping Kelsey and I updated and handling some tough situations with a few of our kids.

We are committed to the families currently in our program but over the last few months we have not added any families to the program because Kelsey and I feel called to focus more on prevention. To take a more holistic and preventative approach we have launched Abide Family Center. Please visit our website www.abidefamilycenter.org to learn more. We are in the planning and fundraising stage but in spring 2013 we will both move to Uganda and officially open Abide Family Center.

We are still encouraging our social worker Susan to help Amani find families and encourage parents to take them home, we are just not offering sponsorship money at this time. Amani has graciously offered to assist in any medical emergencies the families might have once taking their child home. We have found this type of situation to be one in which families do desperately need assistance and monetary support.

We are also trying to find better ways to empower our families to be able to transition out of sponsorship, although we believe every family’s situation is unique and no matter what we will do everything to ensure the children and families are taken care of. For this reason, it may be a slow process. We will keep you updated on your sponsored child’s unique situation and the changes at Obukuumi.