Tuesday Prayer Time

Thank you for praying with us. Today's prayer focus is on the new Birthing Center. Please pray that we will be able to begin construction this weekend as planned. Please pray for blessings upon the building, Mama Florence, all of the mothers and children that will be using the center, and all of the people that donated and worked to see it built.

EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!

Mama Florence is getting a new birthing center!!!!





I want to start out by saying THANK YOU!!!!! to Keltie McDonald!!!

While I was in Uganda in December, Keltie contacted me about helping Kamengo. We discussed the needs of the village and the project she felt drawn to was a new birthing center for Mama Florence. So she got together with some of her friends and started raising money. They raised $3000 and 3 of the ladies are on their way to Uganda as we speak to visit Kamengo and see a dream being built.

The new building will be large enough to hold 2 to 3 beds and a crib. It will have new beds and new equipment for Mama Florence!! It will provide a safer place for the mothers of Kamengo to give birth to the future of Kamengo.

We will be posting construction updates as we get them.

Mama Florence

Mama Florence is another one of the amazing people in Kamengo-ffunvu.
She is the village midwife.
She is in her 70s.
She takes care of her 3 grandchildren.
She delivers 3-5 babies a week.
She takes patients from surrounding villages too.
She does not get paid most of the time.
If there are complications, she pays for the mothers to go to Kampala to the hospital herself.
That means that a woman in labor must ride on the back of a motorcycle for about 45 minutes to get to a hospital.
She does it from the clinic she has behind her house. That is where she is standing.
It is about 10 feet by 10 feet.
It has a tin roof.
A hospital bed.
And Mama Florence.
An AMAZING woman.

God With Us

I am hoping to introduce you to some of the people of Kamengo-ffunvu. I wish I had more time in December to spend getting to know them. I wish I knew more Luganda, so that I could talk with them without having to have an interpreter. I am forever grateful for getting to know the people that I did and look forward to getting to know more of them in the future.

While I was in Kamengo in December, we went for a walk through the village. Kamengo covers a large area and there are a lot of walking trails going this way and that. I would get hopelessly lost if I had to find my way. Something about Uganda messes with my sense of direction. We were walking through a part of the village that Godfrey was even unfamiliar with when we came upon this man and his family. We stopped so we could talk. There was lots of talking going on around me as we walked around their house. This family was lucky enough to have a cow, some goats, a pig, and chickens. This is not the norm for Kamengo. This family worked HARD. We went to look at his chicken house and Godfrey noticed they were not eating the correct feed. After asking several questions we found out that he had run out of feed. The store on the main road was also out of the correct feed. The closest place to get it was in Kampala and the price was much more than in Kamengo. So we bartered. Olwazzi gave him the money to buy a bag of feed and he will give us chickens when we get our chicken house built. We are also going to use him for advice on other agricultural projects. He used compost on his garden and it looked so nice.

I did not have money with me so we made arrangements to meet back at the car, about a mile back up the hill. We started to leave and I asked him what his name was. His name is Emmanuel. I asked Godfrey if he knew what the name Emmanuel meant. He did not and I told him that it means God with us. We walked around the village for another hour or so and when we got back to where the car was parked, there was Emmanuel waiting on us patiently. He had changed into his good shirt and was looking very handsome, so I took another picture of him.

The people of Kamengo are hard working. They desire to make a better life for themselves and their children. They just need a little help.



Please join us for prayer time tonight at 10:00pm CST. Please pray for upcoming projects, Pastor David, Godfrey and Tina Lwanga, Sunday School and Emmanuel and his family. Please pray that we will assess needs and meet them in the best way possible. Pray that God be glorified in all that we do.

Thank you.

Tuesday Prayer Time

Please join us tonight in a time of prayer for Olwazzi Ministries. Please pray for guidance and protection for all of Olwazzi's directors and for Pastor David. Please pray for guidance in assessing needs and making decisions about future projects. Pray for the health and welfare of all of the people of Kamengo.

We will be praying corporately at 10:00pm CST. Please join us at that time if you can. If you can't please pray at your convenience. You can pray for us all through the week too:). We need all the prayers we can get!!!

Want to Know How You Can Help?

I know sometimes when you take on a big project it just seems like there is too much to be done and you might as well go ahead and give up. Well I know that God is bigger than the needs in Kamengo. He is also going to work with us and through us to see that Kamengo gets what it needs. I am going to list some small ways that groups or individuals can help us meet the needs in Kamengo. So get ready to put your God-given talents to work!!

Sanitary Pads--There is a great need for sanitary pads in the village. There is no way that the women and girls of the village can afford to buy pads. If you would be interested in sewing some pads and holders for the women of the village, you can find the pattern here.

Underwear--The women and older girls also need underwear. If you would be interested in purchasing underwear please send me an email at olwazzi@yahoo.com

Rainwater collection tanks--It is very hard for the elderly people of the village to walk and carry heavy jerry cans full of water. We would like to install gutters on their roofs and provide them with a rainwater collection tank. The tanks would hold about 20 gallons of water. The price for the tank and the gutters is $150.

Income Generation--The women of the village are always interested in learning something new, especially if it means money to help support their families. Currently they are making paper bead jewelry, baskets, pillow case dresses and appliqued animals. They are in need of sewing supplies: fabric, needles, embroidery hoops, ribbon, and thread. The fabric can be bought in Kampala for $1-3/yard. All of the other supplies need to come from the west. If you have any of these items you would like to donate please send them to the address on the right of the blog. If you would like to donate to the purchase of fabric for the ladies please send a check to the address on the right.
If you are a supper crafty person and have ideas of other items the ladies and men might make, please let me know. I promise you they are willing and fast learners. If you would like to discuss ideas please send me an email at olwazzi@yahoo.com.

Clinic--Finishing the clinic is one of the main goals of Olwazzi. In order to finish the building with plumbing and electrical lines, plaster and paint the walls on the interior and exterior, and cement the floor, we need to raise $6000. This sounds like a mountain of money, but God can move mountains. If you would like to donate to the completion of the building, you can mail a check to the address on the right.

Sunday School--Pastor David is traveling to Kamengo from Kampala on Sundays to teach the children the word of God. Each Sunday that he goes out we would like to provide the children with a hot meal of chicken, rice, potatoes, and beans. To feed over 250 children we need $175.
Pastor David has not asked for any payment for teaching the children, but we would like to cover his travel expenses. If you would like to sponsor Pastor David the cost is $25/week.

Duffle of Love--The only safe and secure way we have of transporting items to Uganda from the US is to carry them ourselves or ask people traveling to Uganda to take them for us. An extra duffle bag for someone traveling to Uganda costs $120. If you would like to donate so that we could send items such as clothing, sanitary pads, first aid supplies, and sewing supplies, to Uganda please mail a check to the address at the right.

If you have any questions or suggestions on ways to help the people of Kamengo, please feel free to contact me at olwazzi@yahoo.com.

Thank you in advance for your help and support.