Blog – Page 7 – eChange Endeavors

Christ hears the cry of the poor.

“This school is an answer from God to the long suffering cries of the people here.” Fr. Tony Wach, SJ, Director of Ocer Campion Jesuit College, Gulu, Uganda

International volunteer teachers are an important contribution to the staff and students at Ocer Campion Jesuit College. Their energy, spirit, different way of thinking and learning brings new ideas and opportunities for everyone. We are working to create a space on campus that enables these international volunteers to live together in community, to share friendship and service together. Help us reach our goal of $25,000 for Ocer Campion Jesuit College so that they may accept more volunteer teachers in the year to come. Give today!

The Acholi people in northern Uganda suffered through nearly three decades of conflict involving the abduction of tens of thousands of children forced to be soldiers or soldier’s wives. The Society of Jesus is working to help heal these wounds, reconcile the people, and empower them for a better tomorrow through education and love.

“There are wonderful things happening in Uganda, in Africa, and with the Church here. God works through human beings. If we want a better world, we all have to be part of that work.” Fr. Tony Wach, SJ, Director, Ocer Campion Jesuit College.

We need only $2200 more to reach our goal of $25,000 for the college. Give the gift of peace, joy, love and opportunity this Christmas!

Many thanks and Merry Christmas, Laura

Thank you!

Thank you immensely to every one who contributed to help reach our goal of $1400 for Simon Peter Omollo. It was tragic enough loosening his father this year to esophagus cancer. It would have been doubly tragic if he had also failed to graduate from university simply because of insufficient financial support. He is now finishing up his final requirements and beginning to prepare for graduation, which will be in early December 2016. May you be richly blessed for your generosity!

Simon Peter’s Story

Simon Peter Omollo needs just $400 more to help him finish his university degree in Education and fulfill his dream to become a high school teacher. Please join us by giving or sharing his story with others today!!

Let Us Join Our Hands Together

Girls leave their homes because of families difficulties, death of a parent, promises of opportunities for work, and the lure of lights for the big city. Yet when they arrive in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, they quickly realize it is not as they had hoped. They have no resources and no where to turn, so they end up on the streets vulnerable to abuse, domestic servitude, prostitution or trafficking to another country. Good Samaritan Sisters and their team go out on the streets nightly to find these girls and rescue them. They offer them a home, medical care, counseling, spiritual guidance, and the opportunity to learn a skill or two that they can use to earn income. When possible, they help to settle the girls back home in a way that enables them to help the family. In a nut shell, they restore the girls dignity and renew their hope!

Will you join hands with these deeply committed Good Samaritan Sisters to help give these girls a second chance? Here are a few ways you can help:

$25 buys supplies for 1 baking, sewing or salon class

$50 enables the Sister’s to take one new girl in from the streets

$60 supports one girl in the program for one month

$100 provides food for seven girls for one week

$200 covers the salary for one teacher for a month

$500 buys one new industrial sewing machine

$3000 covers the cost of solar system

Together we have raised $550 for Simon Peter. However, he still needs $850 more to help him finish his University degree and fulfill his dream to become a high school teacher. Please join us by giving or sharing his story with others today!!

Gloria’s Story

Thank you for your prayers and support for our recent visit to Uganda. Here is our first video telling Gloria’s story. We hope you enjoy getting to know her.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B9AtRbzzZg]

Donate Today!

Please share the video with your family and friends, as you never know who might be touched and inspired by her journey with Christ. Her faithfulness and hopefulness in God despite her challenges inspires me daily!

Currently, we have raised $1200 of the $2000 required to cover her hip surgery. Please help us to raise the remaining $800 by giving, sharing and praying for Gloria.

Blessings of Mercy upon you!

When did I see you sick?

Unexpected medical crises send a family quickly into a downward spiral of economic depletion, poverty and hopelessness. As we enter into Holy Week, the pain of the Passion gives way to the joy of Easter. Let us help bring renewed hope to our sisters and brothers in Christ suffering with health issues.

“And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did for one of the least of these my brethren, you did it unto me.'” Matthew 25:40

Gloria is a single mother in her early thirties who has been disabled since she was 11 IMG_9712 Gloria face shot years old. She was the victim of a traumatic boda-boda accident that shattered her right hip. Already an orphan, the extended family had no resources for her care, so the hip became infected and dysfunctional. This in turn affected the growth of her right leg. In 2011, she was in dire need of hip surgery now for her left hip as it had born the brunt of 17 years of the right hip not functioning properly. We raised resources for her initial hip replacement surgery. Since she was forced to leave school after primary three, she is only qualified to do manual labor. She works as a nanny and sews beautiful bags and clothes to provide an income for her and her child. This type of manual labor has caused problems and the hip now requires re-cementing. It costs $2000 for this follow-on surgery in Uganda. She is living in pain everyday until the surgery can be performed. Help Gloria come pain free again with your contribution today!

Donate Now!

Simon Peter is another young, dynamic catholic your leader who participated in our Youth Building Peace program. His Father was diagnosed with esophagus cancer in 2015. Consequently, all the available family resources have been put towards his father’s surgery and treatments, which he is still on-going. This has left no resources for Simon Peter to finish his B.A. in Education at St Lawrence University in Uganda. He is only four months from graduating and being able to work as a secondary teacher, and able to contribute back to his family. He needs $1500 to settle all is outstanding university fees for the year. Help Simon Peter graduate in May and begin teaching the next generation of youth!

Donate Now!

Ann Ruth, a dynamic Catholic youth leader in Uganda, only 28 years of age, was diagnosed in November 2015 with 3rd stage bladder cancer after nearly nine months of ill health and testing. The only treatment available required that she fly to India for innovative surgery and recovery. This health crisis has put the family in debt $21,000US. While gratefully she is recovering well, the family is now burden with this enormous debt. We are seeking to raising $7,000 to cover one-third of it for the family. Help AnnRuth and her family get out of debt and back to building their family together!

Donate Now!

With only a little amount you can make a radical difference in the lives of these families, today and for generations to come. As we close Lent I invite you to inspire hope in these families by giving today!

Thank you for keeping all our grant recipients and their families in your prayers!

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7

As we begin this year of mercy, let us all seek ways to be more merciful in our lives, to be more generous with our forgiveness and our blessings.

In December, I had the privilege of going to Uganda to visit our brothers and sisters in Christ that we serve. I met with Fr. Tony Wach the Director of Ocer Campion Jesuit College. They graduated 70 more students in 2015 of which 52 scored in the 1st Division for O-level exams and 18 scored in the 2nd Division. An amazing accomplishment for such a new school. They are progressing forward slowly by slowly with the development of the school. The Jesuits are looking to add on more boarding sections and classrooms to extend the school to include Senior 5 and Senior 6 by 2018. This will increase their need for teachers, thus they remain grateful for our commitment to build a house for volunteer teachers.

I also met with the mothers that formed Community Children’s Care to provide safe, clean and stimulating learning environment for children with special needs as part of a community nursery school. They also strive to build awareness among the community about the children as many are misinformed regarding the causes of their issues. They prepared a wonderful Ugandan lunch for me and showed me the newly remodeled class room. They still need to tile the floors and lay paving stones outside, but the place looks great! They are very appreciative for any on-going support we can provide for medical services, special therapy equipment and advocacy efforts.

An afternoon and evening was spent meeting with our various sponsor students. Some have graduated from their current schools and are looking to attend secondary (high) school, senior secondary school, vocational or university. All were enthusiastic to learn more about smart phones, smart phone Apps and sending messages or emails!

One day was spent facilitating a retreat for the Catholic young adult leaders at the John Paul II Justice & Peace Centre. We had 20 youth and several that travelled long distance to join us in the capital. I was moved by their strong commitments at the end of the day to work ever diligently with their little resources to help make Uganda a more just and peaceful country. Pray for the country as presidential elections are being held in February 2016. Twelve are thrilled to be able to participate in the World Youth Day in Krakow Poland this year presuming we can raise the necessary resources to make the pilgrimage.

Any support you can provide in these regards is very much appreciated.

Blessings upon you, Laura

Ocer is Acholi for “He has risen!”

Dear Friends,

The youth in Northern Uganda suffered terribly for two decades due to the conflict and abduction of boys to be child soldiers and girls to support them. Initially they abducted older youth, but over time they took younger and younger children. Those who were taken were forced to commit atrocities on their neighbors, burning villages and killing people. Others were forced to flee their homes at night to safe havens to hide from the rebels. Nearly all lost family members and suffered incredible traumas. Many were left orphaned or widows with numerous children. The education of the children was interrupted and delayed, stealing not only their present lives, but also their future.

In 2006, following the signing of the Peace Accords, the Society of Jesus started a new high school—Ocer Campion Jesuit College in Gulu as a means of helping with the healing and reconciliation of the people. Hear is the voice of one student,

“I grew up in violence because I was born at the time of the civil war of the Lord’s Resistance Army. I spent most of my life witnessing brutal acts conducted by the rebels in our areas, killings, burning down of schools, people’s homes and more. These memories are still fresh in my mind, but I am glad I am at {Ocer Campion} school participating in activities that help me to take away my thoughts.” Lilian, Senior 4

Ocer Campion Jesuit College is special because it offers an extra preparatory year to enable students to address their learning gaps and properly prepare them for a rigorous high school curriculum. In December 2014 they graduated their first class. Their O-level scores were ranked highest for the region demonstrating the power of this model. The vision of the Jesuits is to continue to increase the quality of the education at Ocer Campion by leveraging the expertise of international volunteers, which benefits both the staff and students.

Pope Francis echoes Jesus and the scriptures calling us with his message to be a light in the darkness, to be hope for the hopeless, to heal our world!! In response to this great invitation, we as a faith community have embarked on an ambitious goal to raise $100,000 for Ocer Campion Jesuit College. These funds will be used to build a two-story house on the school campus for international volunteer teachers, counselors, coaches, medical, and support staff. In this way we will enable others to give generously of their time and talents to help improve the quality of the education and life for the students and their families.

Please won’t you join us and help these students to rise from the ashes of their childhood to become fully the youth that God intended? Donate Now! or Come to an Event!

Thank you for bringing renewed hope to these youth!

To learn more about Ocer Campion Jesuit College visit Our Partner page.

May God bless you abundantly, Laura

Power Down for Education in Uganda

We @echangendeavors are powering down our mobile device to raise $100,000 for education in northern Uganda: #PowerDown4EdUg. Students at Ocer Campion Jesuit College (OCJC) in Gulu Uganda do not have access to technology for learning purposes, let alone personal use. In solidarity with these students, we are giving up using our mobile phones and other mobile devices for 24 hours and donating $24 to improve the quality of their education.

In this way, we are affirming the value of high school education for all youth and facilitating a higher quality of education in Uganda. The funds raised will go towards the building of a two-story house on campus for international volunteers, teachers, coaches, medical personnel, entrepreneurs and others who come and work with the youth for extended stays.

Ocer Campion Jesuit College http://ocercampion.org was initiated following the signing of the Peace Accords in Gulu in 2006 as means of reconciliation and restoration in northern Uganda following two decades of war and violence. During the conflict, thousands of youth were abducted and forced to be child soldiers or to support the soldiers. Many more youth lived in fear of being abducted, so they went to camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) that were underfunded or nightly they retreated to shelters in Gulu town. All of which negatively affected their education. Ocer Campion offers an extra initial year for students to address gaps in their knowledge and skills to ensure they are properly prepared to begin high school studies. This methodology has proven to be powerful! This last December Ocer Campion graduated their first class of students and earned the highest ranking on the national O-level exams out of all the schools in Gulu district.

Now is your opportunity to be part of this grand endeavor to give these youth a second chance at a good education. Take on our challenge to power down for education in Uganda – #PowerDown4EdUg and donate $24 for Ocer Campion Jesuit College.

The #PowerDown4EdUg Challenge in 5 Easy Steps

Tell all the people in your circles WHEN you will be powering down your mobile devices and WHAT inspired you to take on this challenge.
Power down your mobile phone and other mobile devices and give to another adult to verify you did it!
Have a carefree, no technology day and see what happens differently.
Make your donation by texting the word UGANDA to 41444.
Post a brief video or message to tell everyone you know that you completed the challenge and what you gained from the experience. Finally, don’t forget to challenge others to take on the #PowerDown4EdUg challenge too!

For all your posts, use #PowerDown4EdUg and refer to us @echangendeavors

Come join us this Lenten season and take on this charity challenge of letting go of your mobile technology to help youth improve their educational opportunities in Uganda.

Thank you for your support!

Click below to view our videos:

http://youtu.be/r28AYymTRHE

http://youtu.be/SxU5SlBJkyM

Welcome and thank you for visiting eChange Endeavors!

We are a community inspired by our Catholic faith to serve one another in love. We have committed resources and ourselves to create inclusive empowerment opportunities for our Brothers and Sisters in Africa. We currently work in Uganda, East Africa.

We are Inspiring Hope through our efforts at small business creation, strengthening and improving the social services sector, and encouraging education at all levels.

We are Renewing Community by serving as a catalyst to empower widows, single mothers, disabled persons, youth, refugees or families living in poverty.

Hope lives when small, community-centered businesses are created and expanded, when basic health care and social services are met, and when educational opportunities are a real option.

Come join our community!