Ugandan Child Development Fund update December 2004.
The following is extracted from the magazine Kate Rees sends out to supporters of UCDF.
As most readers already know, Henry Waswa, the UCDF Children’s Welfare Officer was diagnosed as having cancer early this year. The news came to us as a terrible shock. He has had such a very hard time. His fiancé, Irene, has stood by him through it all. He is so brave and strong in the Lord. He has been granted six months paid sick leave and is staying with friends within walking distance of “The Fold”. The children are able to visit him at any time, and one day he surprised everyone by walking down the hill to “The Fold” on his own. Please continue to pray that he will be healed. The cancer has spread to the lungs and he has a lot of pain in his right side. He is still having intensive chemotherapy treatment, following another course of radium. Painkilling drugs are now causing stomach ulcers. The going is very rough for Henry.
Since
Henry became ill the older youngsters have pulled together in a very wonderful
way. Peter and Martin really have
taken such good care of things at “The Fold”.
They have both been willing to travel home from the University Campus
each night, and sacrifice much of their spare time.
Our new Housemother, Naigaga Christine is a real treasure, a trophy of
grace and very special. She
came into our lives at just the right time, God is SO good.
She keeps things clean and in such good order. She does not need to be shown what needs doing, she willingly
works it all out for herself. Florence
and Olive have been wonderful. Rita Namazzi has worked so hard, she is an AIDS
widow, sometimes her health is not at all good. This year, she has taken on many heavy loads of extra
responsibility with the children because of Henry’s illness.
Also our small Board of Reference. who are all Ugandan volunteers, have been a wonderful support and have worked together so well to keep things as safe as possible for the children.
Concern for the Refugees in Uganda
The Ugandan Child Development Fund has always
been aware of the suffering and turmoil in the north of Uganda.
We are a very small organisation and we know that it is right for us to
concentrate on caring long term for our existing 50 young vulnerable
people in Uganda. Our number is now in fact 59, plus some Aids widows and
grandmothers. We also have a little
refugee girl from over the border in Sudan.
She fled with her very troubled and badly traumatised mother to safety in
Kampala.
We want so much to do more, and to rescue
more people in Africa but if we reach out too far the quality of the work we are
already doing would be spoiled.
Almost 20 years ago, Phil and Kate Rees met
Charles Nyeko Lacek who came from Gulu in the north of Uganda to live in the
U.K. He is a family man and now lives in Exeter,
He and his wife Allison have always meant a lot to Phil and Kate.
Charles is a member of the General Committee of UCDF.
He visited Gulu this year and he went into some of the refugee camps
there . He says, “Things
are very bad.” He
quoted the words of Jan England, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who says “Northern Uganda is the
biggest humanitarian crisis in the world, and the situation is a MORAL
OUTRAGE”. Charles
says, “When you visit the camps where up to 400 children who fear abduction
come every night to shelter in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader districts you feel very
emotional. The camps are
congested. People are
existing in extreme poverty and they have very poor health.
Many are now seeking comfort from the Christian Church. Support is needed in the following areas -
EDUCATION, HIV AIDS PREVENTION, SPONSORSHIP OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES and relief
provisions in general. Please
lobby THE U K. GOVERNMENT and your M. P.s, to help bring peace to northern
Uganda and please pray.”
No one seems to know what the exact number of displaced people (refugees) is in the north of Uganda. It is thought to be between 1.6 and 1.8 million. This an even higher number than in the Sudan which we now see so much of on T.V.
When Phil and Kate Rees worked in a church in S.E. London, amongst the congregation was a young man called Kellie Tom Okino. He lives in London and he is a Ugandan from Lira, which is also in the north of Uganda. Kellie has also been a great help and encouragement to us with the work of UCDF in general. Like Charles, he is passionately concerned about the plight of the refugees back home, and he wants to do all he can to help them. These are two fine peace-loving Ugandan family men, who are not going to rest until things change back home for the innocent vulnerable ones caught up in the horrors in and around Gulu and Lira, their home towns. Both Charles and Tom are ready and willing to make sacrifices of their time, energy and resources to try to help to change things, before these multitudes of starving people perish. Though we are so sad to have to honestly report that many have already died, this only goes to show the absolute URGENCY of the situation.
Kellie has worked at great speed and opened a new Registered Charity called: “SAVE THE AFRICAN NEEDY FOUNDATION” – “SANFO”.
When Kate Rees visited Erute camp in northern Uganda with KeIIie Okino in September 2004, the refugees noticed tears in her eyes. They said, “The white woman is crying for us, we always feel like crying but we have cried so much already that our own tears are all gone, they have drained away and we have none left to use for crying”
If you would like to help either of these charities then please make contact as follows:
SANFO - Mr Kellie Tom Okino, Telephone 07985194838
UCDF - Mrs.Kate Rees, Phone 01594 530887 Fax 01594 531153