The Children:

The centre children are well and progress continues to be registered for each of them everyday. In the past few months, emphasis has been put at the nature of their livelihoods at home as well as their academic progress in school.

When the children are on Holiday, the teachers and other community volunteers engage in home visits to the children’s home and they are able to assess their progress especially as regards their inclusion in the home activities and the community as well. It is also an opportunity for the parents to bond with their children and for the community to appreciate the value of these very special children. The children have had two short holidays this year one in January and the other in May 2016

Progress was noted in their ability to do some home chores and help out in the general work that is carried out at their various homes. Their cleanliness and social abilities were also noteworthy.
The holidays provided time for the children who have benefited from the home projects to actively take part in them and to realize the economic gains they were meant for. This year we have helped two children to start up income generating projects and together with their parents they hope to realise the fruits of their labour. The children that have benefited are Rachael who is now a proud proprietor of a grocery shop and Shamim who runs a water selling project at her home.

    
The centre was also able to admit 12 new students this year that had been on the waiting list for a long time. We are glad that we are able to have them join us this year/

The Children have continued to improve skills in arts and craft and it is hope that some of them will be able to earn a living from this trade in the future.
Over the past few months there has been commendable improvement by Rachel who has exhibited passion for crafts and it is clearer that God might be working out His purpose for her life in that area. There is also an exceptional improvement noted by the teachers of Hakim especially as regards independence
The communities where these children live have continued to develop a positive attitude towards them and have been very receptive to the children. The children are now viewed as a peculiar blessing from God because through them their communities as well as their lives have been changed and impacted.

In the classroom the level of instruction is improving as the teachers continue to provide learning in more innovative ways of instilling knowledge to the children. We are grateful for the many professional volunteers that are making this possible and of course Kennedy the Occupational Therapist that has been working with the teachers. Brian has also been providing some basic sign language lessons to the teachers.
The centre has elevated some of the students to become instructors. children that have been sighted as capable and willing to instruct their fellow students are taken up by the staff to help their fellow students improve in all aspects of their education, Shamim and Khamiat were taken up for this program and they are helping their fellow students improve.

The children are all in good health and save for a few isolated instances there is a commendable improvement of parents and guardian’s concern for their children’s welfare. The Centre continues to encourage the parents to monitor the progress and take keener interest in the programs cut out for them and their children at the centre to make the Centre’s vision a more attainable reality.

The children had a very exciting trip to the Airport and for the first time they were happy to see aircrafts fly up in the sky and their hopes were raised that they will also be able to fly in one of those aircrafts one day. This left an everlasting smile on their faces and bouts of gratitude are imprinted on their hearts

Muki one of the students at the Centre had a trauma on his head since he was born, the trauma has been enlarging and because of culture and lack of resources he had not received medical attention. Muki underwent a successful operation and the trauma was removed. Special thanks to friends that brought this blessing.

Volunteers
We continue to receive many volunteers from many parts of the world. We cherish the love and support that they bestow upon the centre as a whole.
We particularly appreciate our most recent volunteers at the Centre this year. We have had many volunteers and we continue to receive them. We received Clare for the third time at the Centre as well as Vero. There is no doubt that you love the centre and our students dearly and we encourage you to continue doing so.
We also welcomed Bea for the second time, Sarah Ariceli, Cristina and Carlos, Paul and Cherly Remick, Nathan and the Ramsay family from Scotland.

The Volunteers continue to teach the children and the community so much and share memories of a lifetime that shall forever be embedded in the hearts of all the children and community members they reached out to.

Words are often inadequate in sharing the moment volunteers spend with us at the centre. We only ask that you continue to prosper in all that you do and we anxiously await your return.

Community – VICOBA:

The centre hosted the third Annual Vicoba camp between July 3 and July 5th 2016 under the theme; “To crave the rose, you need to brave the thorns” it was aimed at encouraging the members of VICOBA to keep their eyes and hopes fixed to their dreams and objectives of joining VICOBA despite the many challenges that they might face in this pursuit.

The Vicoba camp was a great success with over 150 participants from all the 10 groups and the facilitators are commended for a good job done.

Vicoba also got new leadership during the camp where the new members were sworn in and pledged allegiance to faithful service, we wish them all a fruitful term in office. In the same vain we commend the retired leaders for demonstrating that peaceful change of leadership is possible.

Nathan Conducting VICOBA elections

The VICOBA phenomenon has been appreciated by many communities across Uganda and East Africa at large. Many delegates have been sent to study and appreciate the idea of community banking that facilitates the use of locally available resources. We are glad to share our experiences with like-minded community changers.

VICOBA on a whole is progressing despite the fears and challenges that come with change of guard. The new leadership has taken its challenge seriously and we look forward to a better and more vibrant Vicoba in the years to come.

A new partnership with Lamwaka – a craft trading company will also enable VICOBA members to make handcrafts that will be bought and marketed by Lamwaka and sold in America and Europe. This is an exciting economic opportunity for the community.

Community Health
We have not been able to have any community health camp so far, but we are hopeful that we will have two before the end of the year. However, we were blessed by Cristina and Carlos who came in from Spain and offered Optical services to the community. Over 200 community members were examined and many received Glasses.

The Prison Ministry.
The Philemon Ministry of the Kitega community centre aims at giving hope to the many men and women that are incarcerated in Prisons. This is by preaching the life changing gospel to all the inmates and teaching them new skills such as gainful work. It is hope that when they get out of Prison they will be better citizens that are responsible and valuable to the community. The Program is on going and it is carried out by our volunteers Philip and Banda. Be that as it may, this ministry still requires lots of your prayers.

LEGAL AID CLINICS

The centre has been blessed with two volunteer Advocates of the High court of Uganda, Philip and Dan. They have set up various legal aid clinics in many communities where the centre serves. They advocate for the rights of Persons and children with disabilities as well as providing free Legal services, advice and representation to the indigent persons in the community. We also continue to ask for your prayers and support hat this service will continue to impact many lives and promote social justice and inclusion of all in our communities.

MIRACLE
We are thankful to God who raised His Mighty hand of Protection over all the souls at the Centre when the roof of the Centre collapsed. None of the children or the members of staff were injured because they had just gone out of the building for lunch in the dining. God has been faithful!
We pray that He will continue to watch over all you wherever you may be reading this from and give you happy and joyous days ahead.

Receive the warm greetings and love of all the children and members of Kitega community centre