Maisha Foundation Newsletter

January 2020

Hi Sponsors! We wanted to give you an update on all that God is doing in Uganda through Maisha and FUSION Leadership Group in the past 6 months! Our team had the privilege of visiting the school this past November and we have nothing but INCREDIBLE NEWS to share with you. Here’s what’s new in the past 6 months!

General “Wins”

I asked Milly to share some of the best things that have happened specifically at the school over the past few months. She gave me a list of a few things and said that though these may not seem like much to us or to a school that has been around for a while, these are HUGE wins for them- things they have not been able to do since they started. They are overwhelmed with gratefulness for these milestones! Milly said in the past 6-8 months…

  • They have had school supplies for every child every semester,
  • They have not lost any teachers due to not being able to pay their salaries on time,
  • They have been able to care for every child who falls sick immediately, AND
  • They have been able to feed every child every day, without fail. WOW, the things we take for granted.

Providing Shoes

We found a local shoemaker that can make shoes for the children for only $15. A lot of you added $15 onto your sponsorship before Christmas to purchase a pair of shoes for your child. In addition, FUSION did a women’s conference in December where we did a basket raffle- all proceeds from that went straight towards buying shoes for some of the children who are not sponsored at Maisha and don’t have any shoes. With the shoes that you all, as sponsors, purchased, in combination with the basket raffle, we were able to order 85 pairs of shoes! Not only are children getting shoes but we’re also supporting the local economy!

Water Well in Kibaale

In the last newsletters, we shared with you that we wanted to put in a water well
for a small village in Kibaale, a few kilometers from the school. Some of the children enrolled at Maisha and host families live there too. We shared with you that we had found a contractor, CEED ministries, that was willing to drill a well for half of what we were originally quoted, so it would only cost $4,400. Through some of the most generous people we know, we raised that money in no time at all and began to make plans to get drilling! Although they hit rock several times and had to move to different locations, they were committed to finding water. Finally, on January 11th, they hit water! Glory to God! Our next step is to put a well into another poor village called Kyamukama. Please let me know if you feel led to help us achieve this goal!

Corn Field Harvest

Also in the last newsletter, I shared that New Life Ministries in
Saxonburg, PA took a trip in April of 2019 and purchased a plot of land for Maisha a few kilometers from the school. They finalized the sale soon after the April trip and got to clearing and planting immediately. We got to see the corn rows ourselves when we were there in November and then we just got word earlier this month that it’s ready to harvest! Robert said they will spend the week harvesting and storing and milling and be ready to put more seed in the ground shortly. We are very excited to see the financial impact of the first harvest!

Sanitary Pads for Girls

Milly often visits one of the secondary schools in the area- this is where a lot of the children move on to when they graduate from Maisha. Once the girls move on to secondary school, they are often around the age of puberty and need sanitary products. In most cases, girls who don’t have these products have to miss school until they are held back and eventually drop out. We were able to visit this secondary school during our visit in November and deliver some of the sanitary packs that were donated by Days for Girls. All 75 girls there got a sanitary pack!

#SaveOurSisters

 We previously told you about our new initiative- #SaveOurSisters. It started only six months ago when we helped to send a girl to school to save her from her parents marrying her off for a “bride-price”. In the past six months, we were informed of other girls who were in horrible situations as well and needed help. In total, nine other girls were removed from bad home situations and enrolled back into school! We’re currently updating our website with each of their stories! The next project under the #SaveOurSisters campaign is to open a trade school for girls to learn different skills to equip them for what comes after school. Ideally, girls will learn to be seamstresses, caterers, welders and carpenters! We are so excited for this project to take effect and we look forward to updating you as it does! Stay tuned!

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We didn’t want to overload you with information but there are SO many more things happening at Maisha.
You can view them and stay up to date with what’s new by visiting our website at
https://www.fusionleadership.site/fusioninuganda. If we haven’t already told you, NONE of this would be
possible without your support! We cannot thank you enough for the impact that you are making in Uganda!
May the Lord bless you and your families abundantly.

-Valerie Donnelly
Fusion Leadership Group
Maisha Sponsorship Coordinator