THINKING SUSTAINABILITY

We would like to thank all those that donated towards our potato growing project. The land has been hired. We are now waiting for the owner to harvest his crops then we buy seed and start planting. That should be in a months time.

This is going to be a beneficiary run project, parents will spearhead it right from the planning stage up to harvest. Those that are able will participate in digging and others in different activities like weeding.

Apart from contributing towards the food security of the families, our plan is to put some of the proceeds into a revolving fund where parents can borrow and use to run their family businesses. The whole idea is empowering them towards self sustainability as families.

In the picture is part of the land(the owner hasn't harvested his maize yet), the seller, and a parents' representative.

CHRISTMAS AGAIN!

Its December and as usual we plan to celebrate Christmas and the new year in style!

This is the time of year that children look forward to most, not only because of the delicious Xmas cake, but the adventure of going to a new, beautiful place and having fun with friends.

We want to arrange a party for 100 vulnerable children, these include the sponsored ones, their friends and the registered but Unsponsored ones. We have estimated that 300 Usd would be sufficient for it.

On the other hand, we would wish that every sponsored child gets a Xmas gift of 20 Usd. This would be suffficient to buy a set of new clothes or pair of good, durable shoes as the need may be.

We request your generous contributions to the above plans. You may buy a gift for one or more children and/or contribute to the general party for all of them.

Just to remind us, this is how last Xmas looked like...

INVESTING FOR THE FUTURE

With only 30 Usd or 230 SEK per month, you may offer a child the gift of education

Skilling the next generation of leaders

Its always an honor to host student interns every year. This November, we hosted two from Belgium and two from Sweden.

Among other activities, we visited our partner school and had fun and a bit of games!

This holiday, there will be special classes to teach children practical skills like making baskets for home use(Like what the teacher is holding in the pic). These classes are paid for separately from the normal fees. We have decided that we shall pay for all the children to attend these classes in the month of January. Skills like craft making are very important to rural children because as he grows, a child can make crafts, sell them and get an income for himself.

BRINGING UGANDA CLOSER TO SWEDEN!!

Like they say, DREAMS COME TRUE!

When we first discussed the idea of a trip to Sweden, it sounded like a far fetched dream. Well, it has been fulfilled!
It has been a slow but steady journey since 2014 when the first sponsors begun to support vulnerable children through our sponsorship program. Slow partly because of little contact between us on the ground and potential donors. This gap needed to be bridged.

Furthermore, we have been having peaple in Sweden sponsoring children even when theyve not met them or any of our staff. A closer interaction with us was necessary for them to get a feel of whats happening on the ground.

Its for the above reasons that a trip was arranged with an aim of increasing our capacity to reach more children and their families in the community. Only 29 families are fully sponsored. We have registered 60 children that are just as vulnerable and need sponsors, our goal is 100 sponsored children by December 2020

The trip was succesfull, thanks to our coordinators, Linn Hultin and Linnea Larsson, together with all those who hosted me in their homes.

Our campaign right now is to raise 24000 SEK (2400 USD) by the first week of November 2019.

10,000Kr for a potato growing project for the sustainability of the project and 14,000 Kr for a rain water harvesting tank.

Other needs of the organisation in the short term include:

1- Play items for children..................1,000 Kr
2- A printer....................................... 2,500 Kr
3- Office furniture.............................3,000 Kr
4- Motor cycle for field visits...........15,000 Kr

TOTAL...............................................21,500 Kr

Please feel free to contact us on the contact page for more details.

THANKS  A BUNCH!

HOLIDAY FUN

We had another great moment of games, learning and interaction with the children yesterday 8/9/2019. They are soon reporting back for their last term of the year. We discussed tips for academic excellence, did a simple, interactive bible study and fun games

Children are always saying something, silently or verbally; Are we listening?? We believe that for children to grow in confidence and self esteem, they need to be given opportunity to express themselves freely without feeling intimidated or inadequate. We can develop the David in them that will stand before the mighty, towering Goliaths of their communities and bring them down with one swing. In other words, we can develop the potential in them to stand against the forces of poverty and retrogression that plague their communities. There is a fighter in each of them, we can empower him!

It was with that in mind that we let each child stand before the rest and give their testimony in our recent gathering with them. Its such a joy to see the transformation as they grow in stature and wisdom!

Thanks our partners and sponsors for your tireless efforts.
 As we enter the second half of this year, we want to spread our wings and fly! We want to step up our capacity to reach more villages in Kisoro district.

One way is to fast track the plan to have our director, NATHAN KAIJA, visit Sweden in September 2019 between 10th and 25th. The plan is to meet up with sponsors and update them about their children and the work here, hopefully speak in some churches, and share the vision with potential partners and sponsors at social gatherings.

If you are in position to arrange a speaking engagement for him at a church/social group please dont hesitate to contact us. Linn Hultin and Linnea Larsson are our main coodinators for this.

Contributions towards this trip will be highly appreciated, especially towards the air ticket.

Together we can create a better world for our young ones!

Shining stars

Ooh the joy of witnessing beauty unfold out of ashes! The Love of God is transforming young lives from a state of despair to a rich and purposeful life.

At FALCO we release children and youth to discover their passion and pursue their purpose in life.

Some of our supported children are passionate about music and are involved in their church choirs. Justine cyimpaye, Miriam cyimpaye, Jovia kamahoro, Jackyline Dusabimana and Devota uwingabire are such an example as seen in this picture. 

 

Meanwhile our children are now doing end of term exams and will be closing the first academic term in the first week of May.

 

A HAPPY EASTER FROM ALL OF US TO YOU OUR SPONSORS AND FRIENDS!

 

 

 

CHANGING THE STORY OF A FAMILY

One of the families that we first encountered at the beginning of our program is the family of GATO JACKYLINE. She was out of school and most of her 7 siblings were not in school and were living a miserable life. A lot has changed now. We support 3 children in this family to study, have contributed to the renovation of their house which is old and had started getting cracks, and now we have supported them to grow crops at their small back yard garden. Weve also supported Gato to join boarding school because she had failed to concentrate because of the hostile conditions at home.

Unfortunately Gato lost her dad last year and that worsened the poverty but her mother is doing her best to work and get them basic recquirements.

However, there is still work to do. As seen in the photo, we found the younger brother crushing stones in the evening to make some extra money. That is very risky work for a child his age. We counseled him and we believe it will help.
Here is Gato's small garden before and a few weeks after planting.

TIME TO VISIT

We are glad to inform our friends in Sweden that our founding director, NATHAN KAIJA, plans to visit Sweden in the first week of April 2019! He will be casting our vision for the children and the community to a wider audience, fundraising and mobilizing more sponsors for children and telling the unique transformation story of Kisoro and Uganda.

This trip was planned as an expansion strategy to enable us reach more families and have more impact in the community.

Your involvement and support to make it successful will be highly appreciated. To contribute to the Visa and air ticket or arrange a speaking engagement for our director, please contact Linn Hultin.

In this picture, Mr Nathan was graduating from a 3 year Christian leadership course conducted in Kabale, Uganda, by STRATEGIC MINISTRY PARTNERSHIPS, based in the US

2019 HERE WE COME!

The school year has started and it was great preparing our dear children for the year. We now have two children who have crossed over to secondary school: Justine Cyimpaye and Erina Nyirahafasha. They have reported and are excited!
As usual we had time to prepare the children for the term not just through paying fees but also spiritually and psychologically.
Together with our social worker, we divided children into two groups: the young and the older(teenagers).
We then had amusing discussions with the little ones about their expectations and the importance of discipline and godliness.
Then we discussed issues to do with relationships with the teenagers. They asked questions, shared their views...it was exciting!