MOCHA CLUB TEAM VISITS MERCY HOME

Mercy Home of Children in Kampala, Uganda is a Mocha Club-supported orphanage that houses, feeds, and educates 136 orphaned street children, 20 of whom are HIV+. Angela Namatovu, once a street child herself, is now the director of the Mercy Home.

Several friends of Mocha Club from the Nashville area were accompanied by our Project Director, Barrett Ward, on a trip to visit Mercy Home in Uganda in August. The team had a blast playing and worshiping with the children! Here’s a photo of some of the children at the Mercy Home performing worship songs for our U.S.team. The children love to perform and as you can see, they give it their all. They are amazingly talented at singing, dancing, and playing drums.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING
We are really trying to introduce vocational training to some of the older children who are not able to go to school due to being on the street for several years. This month we were able to start brick making. As the kids learn to make bricks, we can use them to build a medical clinic, a store and many other things in the future. So not only do the kids learn to make bricks, but they can also learn to build. We will hire a builder to come in and build and oversee the projects, but the kids will also help in the building process so they can learn a building skill.

We have a young boy who is very talented in making crafts. He makes traditional necklaces, ear rings and bracelets. He has made hundreds of them. Currently he is teaching the other kids in the orphanage how to make them. Not only are the kids learning a craft skill, but these items are being sold in the local community and also currently in the USA to support the work of Mercy Home.

TAILORING CLASS
We told you that earlier this year we started a tailoring class and opened it up to the community. Currently we have 3 different classes a day with approximately 12 people per class. The first graduating class is in November. We hope as a graduation gift to be able to give all of them a sewing machine that will in turn help them continue on with the skill they have learned by starting their own business in neighboring communities so that they can have a source of income for themselves and their families.

NEEDS
1. Food. We have a big problem of feeding the children. The prices keep on hiking due changes in seasons. We want to feed the children with a well balanced diet for good health results.
2. Vocational training tools are urgently required.
3. Clothing.
4. School fees for next term.
5. Medication fees.
6. School materials.

SPORTS
Our soccer team had a big match this month. They played Kawanda Secondary School. The school is approximately 1 hour away from the orphanage. It was very exciting for the rest of Mercy Home kids. They wanted to go and watch their brothers perform, so we rented a taxi and filled it up with 30 kids and took them to watch the game. Mercy Home won the game with a score of 1-0. It was a fun outing for all the kids.

FUTURE PLANS AT MERCY HOME
Mercy Home of Children has a big vision, and part of that vision is to construct a school here on the property for our kids and also for community kids. So we recently had an architect draw up a plan for us. We have a vision to have a school that has ten classrooms, a Physics Laboratory and a Chemistry and Biology Laboratory, a library, Vocational Class Rooms for Carpentry, Mechanics, Tailoring and Weaving, and Home Economics, a Computer Lab, Fine Arts classroom, a Music classroom, Staff room, and a School Canteen.

Why have we had this plan drawn up? The Bible says in Habakkuk 2:2-3, ”And the Lord answered me and said, “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it shall surely come, it will not tarry.”

We believe this vision is from God, so we want to be obedient to His word. We believe at the appointed time, God will provide our school.

THANK YOU
Again, we would like to say thank you for all your support towards Mercy Home. Mercy Home has a big vision and it is because of people like you that it will come to pass. God Bless You!

In Faithful Service,
Angela Namatovu
Founder/Director

All photos by Daina Goodwin.