Host a jewelry party

The holiday season is quickly approaching.  It will be Christmas time before you know it.  I am sure many of you have already started thinking about your Christmas shopping list, and many have probably already started the shopping.

The women that make the jewelry with me

 This holiday season, we have a great way for you to help our boys and the women that make the jewelry, while getting some extra cash to help with your shopping.

Host a holiday jewelry party or sell jewelry for us, before December 31^st , and you can keep 10% of the sales of your party in cash or merchandise.  For example, if you sell $500 worth of jewelry, you get to keep $50 of it or choose jewelry that equals that amount to give as gifts.  If you get a friend to sign up to host a party, you can up that to 15%. 

It is simple.  Just email Amanda at lot2545@gmail.com and let us know you are interested.  We will mail you a box of jewelry and some promotional materials to help you set up your display.  You sell what you can, keep the 10%, and send the rest of the jewelry back to us.  You get the extra cash that you need, our boys are fed, and our women are able to take care of their kids.  Win-win all around.

Here's Eddy

Eddy is another boy that just joined the home.  We weren’t planning to add him either, but when it came to creating a new street kid or letting him stay with us, I chose letting him stay with us.

Eddy lived in the same community as us.  He was always around the house because he was friends with many of the boys.  He is a quiet guy and always respectful.  He was making chapatti(yummy tortilla like things that are worth visiting Uganda in themselves), but when his stand wasn’t as successful as his boss wanted, he fired him.  When he got fired, he couldn’t make rent.  So he became homeless.

Unemployment is so high in Uganda.  I have seen estimates that put it at 85%.  There aren’t a lot of “real” jobs, like at a company or established businesses, so many people create their own in whatever way they can.  It is really difficult to get any of the “real” jobs because it is all about whom you know and what tribe you are from.  The city is full of people walking the streets selling everything you can imagine from thread to rat poison, to clothes or soap.  However, it isn’t so easy to even do that anymore.  There is a government division that is dedicated to making Kampala a better city.  One of their ways to do that is to keep unauthorized vendors from selling.  If these people are caught, all of their things will be confiscated and they can even be arrested or forced to pay a huge fine.  Losing all of their things is probably the worst thing.  Without the capital to start over, they are again in a mess and unable to provide for themselves or their families.  People are so desperate and jobs are so scarce, that it is worth the risk to them, so they keep doing it.

All of that to say, we couldn’t just tell Eddy to go and get another job.  He says he finished his primary education but never went to secondary school.  His English is weak and doesn’t have any real skills.  With a complete lack of jobs available, paired with him having almost no employable skills, it wasn’t going to happen.  So, he is home with us.

He wants to be a DJ and is studying computer repair at vocational training school now.  He has a gentle heart and spirit.  His hair is out of control and completely contradicts his kind personality.  When I tease him about cutting it, he tells me “If you want me to, I will.”  He can help to do anything around the house, and always wants to make sure I am fine.  After school, the first thing he does when he gets home is to find me to say hi.  He doesn’t like to argue or fight.  Had he went to the streets, his spirit would have been broken and his kindness lost.  That is why I said yes, even though we weren’t in a position to take another boy.  I trusted that God would show up and provide for him too.

****If you would like to sponsor Eddy, let me know.  He needs 3 sponsors, each at $50 a month.  That will pay for his vocational school, food, counseling, medical care, and everything else he needs.  He will write you letters and send photos and I guarantee you will fall in love with his out of control hair too!  All donations made to LOT2545 are tax deductible.  He is also in need of a laptop for school.  If you have an old one you would be willing to part with to donate to him, we would both be forever grateful.  It doesn’t need to be perfect, just working.

Meet Paul

Meet Mukisa Paul.  He joined the home officially when we moved at the end of August.  He had been staying with us for a few weeks before we moved, but we were trying to figure out what to do with him.  We aren’t financially in a place to take on another boy, so we were trying to make contact with his family. 

He came to know us because one of our boys found him sleeping outside in a ditch.  He befriended him and when he left the home for a while, the boy started staying with him.  Our boy was helping a lady in the same community, I hope you remember me telling you about him, but if not go back to here.  When he decided to come back to us, the lady kicked the other boy out too. 

We made contact with Paul’s brother, who lived in the same community, but he had no desire or means to take care of his younger brother.  Paul was staying with his grandma, but when she died, he had no one else to take care of him except his brother.  When his brother failed, he had no one and started sleeping outside.

I had a decision to make, and I decided that God would show up for us once again.  I chose to not make a street kid, but instead, spare a really great boy the pain of enduring street life.  So now, Paul is at home with us and his infectious laugh and adorable smile brighten my day.  He is shy, but fits in with these boys and has quickly become a brother.  He is helpful and grateful, and easy to have around.  He has his baggage and I am sure in time I will learn more, but I know it isn’t the same as the other boys.  Even though the money wasn’t there, I know that it was the right choice. 

The right choice isn’t always the easy one, but his laughter makes it easy.

****If you would like to sponsor Paul, let me know.  He needs 3 sponsors, all at $50 a month.  That will pay for his food, school fees, medical care, counseling, and everything else that he needs.  He will write you letters and send photos, and all donations to LOT2545 are tax deductible.  Thanks for wanting to help change his life!