On a daily basis I am amazed at how far our Canadian dollar can be stretched here in Uganda to make an incredible difference in someone’s life. As an example of this let me tell you a little story of just such an instance. When Karen and I arrived here in Kampala, we stayed with friends who were going back to Canada for two months. Their house employed a wonderful young man named Julius, 22 years of age, both of his parents had died many years ago. He was timid at our first meeting but very polite and friendly and once we got him talking, we quickly realized what a great guy he was. When our friends ended up staying in Canada, we inherited Julius who did the gardening, kept the compound clean and lived in the little guesthouse.  During one of our conversations we got the story from him of how he had missed registration for university because his high school marks were in his village two hours north and he had no way of getting them in time.  This meant he would have to hang around here for the entire year waiting to apply. To me this was completely unacceptable (you know me, I hate bureaucracy) so I told him to grab those marks and let’s go for a drive. Long story short after talking to receptionists, then secretaries, then dean assistants, then deans, then admission reception, then finally the head of admissions we had our answer…..No! He was too late.

 

After a little Mzungu charm (no bribing I swear) the head of admissions listened to our sad little story and decided to help by giving us the names of all the universities she knew of in Uganda that still might be accepting. Again long story short, Julius is currently well on his way to becoming a High School art teacher, a 4 year degree. If you are wondering about the cost of tuition, room and board, art supplies and living expenses – it works out to be about $600 per year. I bet those of you with kids in university are cringing right now, we understand, our son just started his first year. Needless to say Julius was ecstatic at the news that he didn’t have to twiddle his thumbs for a whole year and that his life was actually “finally starting”.

 

During another conversation I had with my man Julius, I discovered that his sister who he had just visited was requesting assistance. Joyce and her husband Kezzie along with their children Timothy and Patience live about 40 min out of town. They own a small parcel of land and have a quaint little brick house. Kezzie lost his job driving a truck and has now found employment collecting tiny rocks from digging in the soil which can be sold as gravel for construction. What a brutal existence. Julius had heard me talking about our piggy program (go into archives and load Killer Piglets of Uganda to get the scoop) and wondered if his sister could qualify. Qualify?.....Long story short again, thanks to some great friends in Canada we built her a pig house (the finest in all of Eastern Africa) and supplied her with 2 exotic piglets. She’ll be able to breed these little sweeties in about 6-8 months and they could produce (I’m told) 8- 16 offspring. These exotic piglets cost more but they grow 2 to 3 times larger than domestic piggys and fetch quite a bit more at market since they are sold according to weight. When the pigs are born Joyce will give us one male and one female (our initial investment) so we can bless another family. This little “hand up” can help this family be lifted out of poverty for generations. A little investment of $45 dollars in building materials and $40 dollars for the 2 pigs (which we get back) can change a family’s life. 

 

Some times I feel like the middle man, bringing loving Canadians together with beautiful Ugandans. Actually I really feel like Santa Clause most days. Karen and I both are so grateful for all your support. We really feel like a team with you guys. Recently the Pastor told me that his Church people were talking about our family and they came to the conclusion that we must have fallen out of the sky. Click on the video to meet Julius, his sister Joyce and her family and of course, more little piggys.