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The Orphanage in Kampala, Uganda which is run by the Marie Wright Children’s Foundation ( marie-wcf.org ) has been experiencing many blessings and answered prayers at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year. We are wanting to highlight some of the big ones that all of our loyal sponsors and donors have provided to the Orphanage.
Rent-to-Own House Payment Paid
The annual Rent-to-Own payment on the building and land of the Orphanage comes due every year on January 1st. This year, heading through December, we were short by quite a bit. Trying hard not to worry, we continued our efforts to raise the needed funds. For a little background on the Rent-to-Own Payment, this payment is due annually and began in 2022 with a total of $50,000. Due to a very generous donation, the Marie Wright Children’s Foundation was able to enter into this agreement with the landlord/seller. Each year, $10,000 is paid toward the final $50,000.
In 2022, this payment of $10,000 was paid and we owed $40,000. So heading into mid December, 2022, the deadline was fast approaching. However, thanks to several donors and sponsors and one last large donation, the last dollars was donated! The funds were transferred to the Marie Wright Children’s Foundation and the payment was paid! Praise God and thank you all so much for the donations, the prayers and the support given to the Friends of Marie Wright Children’s Foundation and the Marie Wright Children’s Foundation. Most importantly, the children’s housing at the Orphanage remains secure for one more year.
Now, only 3 years and 3 more payments of $10,000 remain in the agreement ($30,000 more). Our gratitude for this momentous miracle is so much that we feel that we fail in adequately expressing this gratitude! May God richly bless each of our sponsors, donors and supporters.
Christmas Provided for the Children
With the huge Rent-to-Own Payment looming over our heads heading into Christmas, it looked so bleak for providing any kind of Christmas celebration. However, thanks to our loyal sponsors and donors stepping up and feeling this need, the children were able to enjoy their Christmas Celebration in December.
Newest Addition to Orphanage Provided for and Hospital Bills Paid
The newest addition to the Orphanage in Kampala is little baby Patrick. Patrick was left on the doorstep of the Orphanage one day with his umbilical cord still attached. Thankfully, as Orphanage director Ismah Ssenvewo explained, Baby Patrick was checked at the hospital and found to be alright.
Our loyal donors stepped up and provided funds for formula, diapers and other necessities for little Patrick (who was named for Ismah Sssenvewo’s father, who sadly passed away last year). However, little Patrick quickly became very ill with pneumonia. Having been hospitalized, Patrick was a pretty sick little baby. Praise God, he healed and was well once again. Then came another large hurdle, raising the money for baby Patrick’s hospital bills.
In Uganda, as in many parts of the world, one must pay their hospital bills before being allowed to leave. With rising costs, the hospital bills went up from where they were in 2022. The Orphanage was faced with coming up with $1400! This was daunting, due to the fact that money had been raised for Christmas and then the new year’s school tuition needed to be paid. Once more, loyal donors and new donors rose to the need and the amount was finally paid. However, due to a portion of the funds coming through Facebook Donations, it did not arrive in time. Thankfully, the hospital agreed to accept the $1000 already donated and allow baby Patrick to return home to the Orphanage. With the enormous weight of getting Patrick out of the hospital realized (he was there weeks), the remaining funds arrived and was paid as well!
New School Year Begins
The new school year began again in the middle of January. The students happily began the new semester. Our loyal sponsors have once again allowed their sponsored children’s lives to be transformed with a quality education. Our loyal sponsors provide tuition and funding for school supplies. Without this, none of the students would be able to attend the schools that they do. (See marie-wcf.org and friendsmwcf777.org for more information about school and sponsoring the children of the Orphanage.
More needs to be done, however. We need more sponsors for the rest of the students! Their pictures and some information is found on our Friends of Marie Wright Children’s Foundation website. If anyone knows of caring individuals who would be willing to step up to this gratifying task, please direct them to our website.
Our Gratitude
We would like to thank each and everyone of our loyal sponsors, our donors and our loyal supporters! We cannot even begin to transform the lives of the orphan children without such people as yourselves who give so much to help the children! We want to let all donors, new and older, as well as the sponsors who time and again step up and provide funds for the children, know that we appreciate you! Recently, food was short and electricity was gone at the Orphanage. A new donor provided the necessary relief in one big donation! We pray that this never happens again. YOU ALL ARE THE BACKBONE of the cause and mission of Friends of Marie Wright Children’s Foundation and the Marie Wright Children’s Foundation! We continually pray for God’s rich blessings on you all!
Future Goals for the Orphanage
As we move forward as a 501c3 Foundation, we are wanting to save up the money for a Medicine Cabinet at the Orphanage that will help a lot in helping keep the children from the Clinic/Hospital. It has been very evident for the need of this for some time now. We are also hoping to save the money for our new Reserve Fund/Emergency Fund that will help with any unforeseen expenses or medical emergencies. This is obviously a dire need for our Foundation as we look to the future. We, along with the Marie Wright Children’s Foundation, are wanting to make sure that we don’t experience the problems and issues that might arise from one of the children getting ill and needing medical attention. This has basically crippled us as we have moved into 2023. We desire to eradicate this problem entirely.
Additionally to these ambitious, but attainable goals, we have begun our House Fund for the Rent-to-Own Payment that is next due January 1, 2024. This payment will be $10,000 again. Together, we can add to these funds and we will be adding our Future Goals for this year’s budget to our website. We want to quickly and effectively communicate our needs and desires for the Foundation and the Orphanage to our current and potential donors.
One further exciting addition to our Friends of Marie Wright Children’s Foundation is an Advisory Board Member. This is in the works, with the candidate already in place. We are excited that we will have this role and this dynamic person to help guide our Foundation forward. As soon as possible, we will be announcing who this is as we move further into this exciting year.
Thank you all once again. We cannot say it enough. These children are all of our passion’s. We will continue to go forward together. If anyone has any questions, please contact me at our Foundation email at friendsmwcf77@gmail.com or call me at 402-844-0865.
With sincere gratitude,
Owen Miller PhD
President
Friends of Marie Wright Children’s Foundation