An update from Barrett Ward, Project Director for African Leadership, who recently visited with our friends at this HIV/AIDS project in Kenya…

We’re now partnering with 140 HIV-positive people who are living in Kibera, Kenya, which is the largest slum in all of East Africa. In Kibera, there are over 800,000 people living in an area just over 1 square mile. Just to give you a comparison, the most densely populated square mile in the U.S. is in Manhattan, at 70,000 people. With this group of families affected by HIV, we have been able to use Mocha Club funds to first provide relief. Next, we will move to rehabilitate, and we could not be more excited! We believe that this is the model for the new millennium of missions – relieve, and rehabilitate. These people are suffering and need relief. People who are HIV-positive are far more stigmatized in Africa than any such prejudice here at home. For example, a man may be unfaithful to his wife, become HIV+ and then infect his wife. Guess who gets kicked out of the house once this is discovered? Yep, the wife. This woman would then find it nearly impossible to find a job, and in turn, be unable to support their children. So she first needs physical relief, as well as counseling to help her rise above the mental abuse she will undoubtedly receive.

Next step, rehabilitate. How can we help men, women, and children like these become self-sufficient? One way we’ll do this is through micro-lending, which is helping people develop their own businesses through a mini-loan program. Now don’t picture the corner store, and eliminate your presuppositions of running your own business and the level of prosperity that might bring here in the U.S. Instead, they will set up stands to sell cabbage or corn or things like that in the local market. This will help move our friends into a place of self-sufficiency, being able to pay for their own meals and living quarters. Wouldn’t there be great dignity for someone who couldn’t feed their children before, but who now can? Seeing this transformation with your own eyes will strip you of what you think you NEED - and remind you of what is essential. We hope that through these updates, you will be reminded not to try to find joy other than where it’s meant to be found.

So, does that make sense to you, how micro lending works? Please see this letter from our director of this work in Kenya, Peter Odero, and this report of our first food distribution to these families affected by HIV. Friends, your contributions through Mocha Club brought much joy to these families over Easter weekend! We’d like to remind you that all our staff is African, as this is our model to equip the capable leaders of the area. In the letter, you’ll see that Peter Odero uses the word “affected.” To help you understand what that means, one person “infected” brings a host of “affected” within the household because of the stigma. There are still widespread misconceptions on how one is infected, causing concern if one can get AIDS from a person who lives with someone who has AIDS.

Soon we’ll update you on the micro-lending work we’ll be doing with Mocha Club funds. Thank you for your support of our friends – we wish you could see the dignity that your sacrifice is creating…

Posted in Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS | no comments

An update from Angela Namatovu, Director and Founder of Mercy Home of Children, which is being lovingly supported by Mocha Club funds…

Achievements:

We have managed to record a DVD for the Great Escape Team Choir. Their music is currently being played on radio stations. The DVD is getting ready to be played on television stations. Here’s a photo of the children during their practice at the orphanage.

The Mercy Crew Boys Band, one of the music groups in Mercy Home which is comprised of Prosper, age 13, Success, age 15 and Brian, age 16, launched their songs at the orphanage on the 15th of April. Also on the 22nd of April, these boys went to minister in Mubende District where they led 25 people to Christ. This has helped these children to know who they are in Christ.

The Mercy Football Club made up of kids under age 12 participated in a football tournament which was organized in Kajjansi, and they emerged the 1st runners up.

Art and Crafts:

This month we have been constructing a small hut for art and craft pieces made by the kids at the orphanage.

The hut is going to be a shop for selling crafts. One of our boys named Salvation Joseph, 14-yrs-old, is very talented in clay sculpting and is currently making moldings to sell in the shop. Here is Salvation Joseph with some of the pieces he made out of clay. One of our objectives is to uplift the children’s talents.






Child Testimony:

In one of our Sunday services, Sembajjwe Siraje, 12-years-old (pictured to the right), stood up in church to give his testimony. This was his first time to speak to the congregation. He even performed a special song and dance.

Angela Namatovu, the Director of Mercy Home of Children, visited Lira, which is in the Northern part of Uganda. The northern area is politically unstable due to rebel activities which have made thousands of children homeless and some have been abducted as child soldiers [you may have heard the term “invisible children”]. Above is a photo of Angela with children at one of the camps.

Although we have had many achievements, we still have been with a lot of challenges this month.

We have been facing a problem of malaria due to the fact that it’s a rainy season, and Mercy Home is by the lake. We have provided mosquito nets but they are getting worn out and full of holes which let in mosquitoes. Many of the kids are off and on with coughs, worms and fever.

There has been much increase in the prices of some food items, and this has affected us, as we spend more on food than other things like medication. The prices have actually doubled the normal prices.

We have a problem of textbooks for the kids that we home-school. For us to be on the standard level of other schools we need to help them catch up. So there is a need for scholastic materials. The kids are currently on their holidays for 3 weeks, and school will resume on May 22nd.

We once again thank you so much for the wonderful work you do for Mercy Home of Children.


God bless you all,
Yours in Service
Angela Namatovu
DIRECTOR / FOUNDER
MERCY HOME OF CHILDREN

Posted in Orphan Care, HIV/AIDS | 1 comment

Hello Mocha Club friends,

Here’s an important message from our Project Director, Barrett Ward…

GLOBAL NIGHT COMMUTE FOR “INVISIBLE CHILDREN”

Some of you may have heard of the film called Invisible Children. I had a chance to visit them recently in the cities of Gulu and Kitgum in Northern Uganda where thousands of children walk 5 to 15 miles twice every day to escape the terrorism and kidnapping of the “Lord’s Resistance Army” (don’t let the word “Lord” fool you). The atrocities and conditions these children are in are some of the worst that I have seen.

This Saturday, April 29th, more than 34,000 Americans and people throughout the world will make a similar walk in protest of the situation these children are in. Check out this link to learn more about it:

www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/globalNightCommute

Following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda (documented in the film, Hotel Rwanda), Senator Paul Simon said, “If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, then I think the response would have been different.” There are similar horrors happening today in several parts of Africa…and every time we do something, it adds up. Writing a letter, joining an event like this, or giving up a couple of mochas a month…all of it makes a difference.

Mocha Club is partnering with a group of 480 children in Gulu that have escaped from these rebel forces. We will be updating you on the blog soon.

Thanks for being a part of the solution. Join the many Mocha Club members that will be a part of the Global Night Commute, and let’s let our voices be heard.

Posted in Orphan Care, HIV/AIDS | 2 comments

Hey everyone,

If we’re going to be supporting those with HIV/AIDS, we need to be informed about the facts and understand how HIV/AIDS affects cultures and economies. This is an interesting article we wanted to pass along…

By Phil Hay

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2003 – “A new World Bank research report warns that HIV/AIDS causes far greater long-term damage to national economies than previously assumed, for by killing mostly young adults, the disease is robbing the children of AIDS victims of one or both parents to love, raise and educate them, and so undermines the basis of economic growth over the long haul. This suggests that a country like South Africa could face progressive economic collapse within several generations unless it combats its AIDS epidemic more urgently…”

Click here to read the rest of the article on The World Bank website.

Posted in Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS | no comments

The kind folks at Grassroots Music have partnered with us by starting their own Mocha Club supporting orphans. Grassroots Music recently interviewed Barrett Ward, our Project Director, and Agrippa Dube, our Regional Director for Southern Africa, for a podcast! Check it out below to learn more about how Mocha Club is making a difference in Africa, and hear firsthand from Agrippa about what the conditions are like in his native country of Zimbabwe.

Right-click here to save this Podcast as an MP3

Here’s how to subscribe and automatically download each new Grassroots Music Podcast:

To subscribe via iTunes: click on the {advanced} button on the iTunes menu bar and then click {subscribe to podcast…} Then copy and paste:

http://blog.grassrootsmusic.com/ipodcast.xml

...into the window that pops up. It’s that easy!!

For all other podcatchers, use the following link to subscribe: http://blog.grassrootsmusic.com/podcast.xml

Posted in Orphan Care, HIV/AIDS | no comments

Here’s a fun update from the Mercy Home of Children that we’ve just started supporting in Kampala, Uganda. Barrett Ward from our team visited the orphanage in January, and we wanted to share with you the wonderful work that’s being done for the 134 children there, thanks to YOU!

From Angela Namatovu, staff member at the Mercy Home of Children…

“We wish to thank you so much for the great work you are doing for Gods people all over Africa. On behalf of Mercy Home of Children Uganda, I wish to inform you that we received the money that you sent to us. Indeed it has been a blessing. We have managed to use the money to buy a few things that we have needed.

The following items have been purchased:

1. Food items
2. Two cows
3. Ten sewing machines
4. Musical Instruments (Traditional drums and a keyboard)
5. Firewood
6. Payment of Medical bills
7. Four Goats
8. Transport
9. Salaries of six staff members
10. Scholastic materials
11. Generator for power supply

The above items are in place at the orphanage, and the kids are so happy to have cows for milk and goats. One of our goats is pregnant and the kids are so excited.

The tailoring class has started and we currently have 25 students, some of whom are community people. We have hired a tutor to do the classes. We have also opened the tailoring class at the orphanage to the community because we also want to extend the love of Christ to them and we feel by doing this they can benefit by learning a skill that will in turn help them and their families.

We were able to meet our medical bills this month. We have had some malaria cases and HIV/AIDS cases but they have all been treated.”

[Our note: Two of the little girls in the below photo are HIV+: Carol Nakdirango in the blue checkered dress second from the left in the back row, and Angella Sasha Bella kneeling in the front row next to the boy with the volleyball.]

“The children have started school and we are currently schooling them from the orphanage. We currently do not have enough classrooms so some of the children are being taught from volunteer rooms, the church and under shade trees. We have a plan of putting up a structure where the children can be taught.

The children’s choir is doing great. They have been invited to Kenya in conjunction with Rivers of Life Ministries to perform a musical festival that will raise funds to help house street children in the Kisumu area. We are currently doing a lot of training with the kids in preparation for our Kenya trip this month. God bless you.”

Posted in Orphan Care, HIV/AIDS | 3 comments

“I see myself being so self-motivated that I have no problem paying $4 for a cup of coffee. If giving up just two of those a month makes a difference I can handle that. It is an opportunity to give to those who don’t have nearly as much as we do here in America. More than that it is what we were called to do, it is my cup of cold water.”

~ Mandi M., Team Latitude and Friends

Posted in Why did you decide to join? | no comments

“I have always felt that because I didn’t have the means to give substantially, I shouldn’t give at all… but God has really changed my heart and reminded me of mustard seeds.”

~ Stephanie W., Team Frappiccione

Posted in Why did you decide to join? | no comments

We wanted to share this story of victory with you today. As we often see, HIV/AIDS can take away a lot from a person, but it cannot steal his or her spirit, love, courage, or faith.

This is Noxolo’s testimony, and she lives in a slum area of Cape Town, South Africa near the Living Hope Community Center, which is being served by Mocha Club funds. Her home is about 6’X 6’, with a small bed for her and her children to sleep together. Her first lanaguage is Xhosa, so this testimony is in broken English, but the beauty of her story is clearly understood…

“My name is Noxolo. I’m 40 years old. Mother of 3 children. I live here at Masiphumelele. By the time I’ll find out I’m HIV Positive it was 2001. I was very sick. And I decided to go to the clinic. I was so sad because I was not feeling [okay]. I met a sister at the clinic and I told her about my problem. So the sister told me about Blood test. So I told her to do the blood test. And after that she told [me] to wait outside for 15 minutes for my results. I was so stressed but I told myself if I’m Positive I can’t do nothing. Positive is Positive. It was the 23rd March 2001. The sister called me to the ward, and she told I’m HIV Positive. I was shocked and I cried. The FIRST thing come on my mind was my children’s future.

After a month I decided to tell my family at home. It was a difficult time for me. Because by the time I disclosed, my family chased me away and my children. I was looking for the place to stay. I was not working.

And it was the time I join the Support Group at Living Hope. And the name of group is Masonwabisane [Xhosa word meaning “we must make each other happy”]. I was so scared from the first time I saw the people sitting around the table. But by the time goes on I was feeling free and the stress goes away.

[On] 2002 1st December THE AIDS DAY I was disclosed in front of my community. It was the day I told myself I’m going to do this, because the people of my community didn’t understand about HIV. And they didn’t know there are people living Positive in our community. But by that time I stood up and talk about my status they understand that HIV is here at Masiphumelele.

Instead of [treating me] funny, they just come to my house and talk to me, support, and encourage me. And the others disclosed to me about their status. It was wonderful to me and I feel very strong and brave. But the important [thing] I want to tell is that Living Hope is very important to all of us who are living Positive because if you have a problem you can go and share to the Support Group. And after that you feel comfortable.

I want to [tell] the people who are living Positive. You must accept your status. Tell yourself you are HIV Positive and no one can change that. And after that, fight for your life and join support Group. Try to do something like doing beads, sewing, knitting, that means you can’t always think and stress yourself. I was also working for Memory Box Project. It helps me.

And I made the Memory Book for my family. Memory Book is very important because sometimes you don’t want to share your problem to anybody. But you can write it down, to take it out of your heart. And you can feel better because you take it out of you mind. I feel free and I always share my feelings to everybody in my community. Today I’m the hero: HIV Positive means nothing to me.”

Posted in HIV/AIDS | 1 comment

We’re opening up the floor, and it’s your chance to get answers…

WHAT QUESTIONS DO YOU HAVE ABOUT THE WORK WE DO?

We want to discuss how our ministry works, so this is the place for you to post questions about philosophies of our ministry, our background, equipping indigenous leadership, how/what we teach, etc. So, fire away!

Blessings,
Christine Bailey
Mocha Club Coordinator

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