Paul

Meet Paul!

Paul has been attending Vision of Destiny's school since the beginning of 2010. He was admitted after being on the waiting list for several months. Paul lives with both parents, two sisters, and a cousin in the slum.
So, if he has both parents, why is he a part of Vision of Destiny?
Paul was born with HIV. Both of his parents are HIV+. At the time, neither parent had a consistent job. With HIV and the medicines taken, proper feeding is very important. That was something Vision of Destiny could do for Paul.
Although Paul was older, he hadn't been attending school so he began school in the K4 class in order to catch up with English, recognizing letters and numbers, etc. On Dec. 3rd, Paul graduated from Kindergarten and will be beginning first grade in the upcoming school year.
Paul has been sponsored since shortly after his being admitted into Vision of Destiny. I'm super thankful for his sponsor giving him a chance to get education, get breakfast and lunch every day at school, and to hear about Jesus every day!

Mary and Judith

This is Mary and her younger sister Judith!

Mary and Judith started school at Vision of Destiny in 2011 after spending almost a year on the waiting list. They were growing up in the village happily with their family- mother, father, brothers, and sisters. Then their dad sold off all their land and disappeared. Their mother was thrown off the land. The family (minus dad) ended up in the slums near the school.

For a living, their mom does odd jobs in order to pay for the single room they all live/sleep in as well as feeding her family. Sometimes she sells mangoes. Sometimes it's peanuts that's she's selling. Sometimes she braids hair. Sometimes there's not enough "jobs" and the family eats only once a day.

Mary is 7 and Judith is 6. Both girls are beginning K5 in Jan. and are waiting for sponsorship.

Update on Trevor

Trevor has a sponsor!!!!!!!!

Trevor and Comfort

This is Trevor and his younger brother Comfort.....

Their father came to put them on the waiting list at the beginning of 2010...... After waiting for a year, their turn came to be eligible to enter the sponsorship program and to begin school. In 2011 Trevor entered the K5 class and graduated Kindergarten a few weeks ago. During the 2012 school year, he will be among our first grade class. Comfort was in the K3 class for 2011 and will be in K4 during the 2012 school year.

So, why are these brothers even at Vision of Destiny? Their mother decided to separate from their father and left, leaving behind the boys. Their father does odd jobs to make whatever he can to survive. Often he works even overnight, meaning the boys often sleep at home alone, sometimes this goes on for weeks at a time. Neither one of them can cook so often that mean sleeping without supper and waiting until their father returns home to fix them something to eat. Sometimes they even have to wake up and get themselves ready for school......... another reason Vision of Destiny is so desperately trying to build a boarding school!

Trevor struggled a bit to catch up to his classmates this year. He was in music as his after school activity and enjoyed. In 2012, he has chosen to be in soccer and field hockey as his after school activities. He's a quiet boy and very well mannered.

Comfort did well in school. He's very talkative and participates actively in class. He's chosen to participate in music as his after school activity next year but also likes playing soccer when he can during breaks at school.

Both boys are still waiting for sponsorship.......

Kato

Ok..... so I'm not so consistent in these 45 children in 45 days postings....... However, my heart is there to do it...... so let's see if I can become more consistent....
Meet Kato!!!!

Kato is what I would say one of the reasons Vision of Destiny exists and definitely a reason we continue pushing on.

I met Kato almost two years ago when I had taken Jackie for her hospital check up. Kato and his mom were also there at the hospital waiting to see the doctor.

As I was leaving the hospital, one of the counselors that I've built a relationship with called me aside. I had shared with her about the school and she often refers children that are eligible for our sponsorship program. She began to explain to me about a little boy that would definitely benefit from being a part of Vision of Destiny.

This little boy was Kato. Kato had lost his dad and twin brother to AIDS. Both he and his mom were infected. They lived in the slum just near the school. His mom wasn't very consistent in giving the medications.

There was space in the class that he was in so I asked the couselor to sit with me and his mom and explain everything. I told the mom that if Kato was to be admitted to the school, one requirement was that he had to be consistently taking his medication. The counselor supported this and told the mom she would be giving me an update in the event that there was any more inconsistencies in his medication. (The hospital has a way of knowing if the children have missed a dose.) Also, she made it clear to Kato's mom that this was really a chance for Kato- a chance many other mothers are crying for. She told Kato's mom to bring him to school and cooperate.

Kato started attending Vision of Destiny the following week and was in the K4 class. He soon caught up with the rest of the class in speaking English, recognizing letters and numbers, etc. He also has since been consistent in taking his medicine.

The school has also been an encouragement to his mom. She also makes sure to take her medicine correctly and has looked for ways of supporting other children in the family.

This year Kato graduated from Kindergarten! He's a good student, a great reader, loves playing soccer (and he's good at it), has a wonderful attitude, and is a lovable boy! We're very glad he's attending school at Vision of Destiny!

I'm also very grateful to his sponsor who has been sponsoring him since shortly after his beginning school. Without his attending school, Kato may not still be alive. Possibly his mom would have given up on giving him the medication? Possibly she would have given up on looking for ways to feed her family? There are so many possibilities of what could have happened.

Now there are so many possibilities for Kato's future! Will he become a doctor and treat other HIV infected children? Will he become a pilot and fly to lots of fun destinations across the world? Will he become a pastor and share God's Word with others in his community? The possibilities are endless...... and all because of sponsorship!

Graduation 2011

On December 3, we held Vision of Destiny's first Kindergarten Graduation! This class included members of the original students (the ones that began the school in the sitting room of my apartment) in 2009. It was a really special day. They're so grown up now!
Each child received a diploma and was promoted to first grade next year. We also gave out certificates to students that had the highest average in each subject as well as awards to the students who were on the A/B honor roll for the year. And of course there was cake and sodas to end the celebration!
A lovely day! Can't wait for the 2012 graduation!

Miracle in her cap and gown.

Jackie in her cap and gown- she's grown up so much!

Vanessa leading her class in song.

Zalika, Joseph, and Desire tied for the highest average in Bible.

Here they are reciting some of their memory verses.

Zalika receiving a certificate for the highest average in Music. She also had the highest average in Handwriting!

Wind Mary receiving her certificate for the highest average in Social Studies. She also had the highest average in Reading!

Zalika, Joseph, Aurthur, Kevin, and Jackie

A/B Honor Roll Students

Atenisha with her diploma!

Faimah receiving her diploma!

2011 Graduating Class

Getting ready to cut the cake!

First Position Third Term 2011

The third and final term for the 2011 school year has ended! We're really proud of all the students, but especially proud of the following students. They worked hard throughout the term to come out as number one in their class!

Wind Mary

Kevin

Judith (still needs a sponsor)

Rayan

Jonathan

Abdul

Mary (still needs a sponsor)

Gift (still needs a sponsor)

Speech Day 2011

Every end of year, schools here in Uganda have a Speech Day. This is a time at the end of the year where classes get to present songs, dances, rhymes, etc. to their family and friends. I personally always enjoy Speech Day. I love seeing how much the children have grown over the year and all that they have learned!

Please enjoy the photos!

A Trip to the Zoo 2011 Part 2

No trip to the zoo is complete without playing on the playground!

A Trip to the Zoo 2011

This last term of the year the teachers and I decided that the children of Vision of Destiny needed incentive for good behavior.
We developed a stop light system where each child started out on green each Monday. The goal was to stay on green for the entire week. At the end of the week those children got to put a tick by their name on a separate name chart. At the end of the term, those children that had 8 out of 12.
We had 16 children that earned their way to the trip! We are really proud of them and hope they will keep it up next year!
You would think 8 out of 12 would be pretty simple to achieve. However, we have quite a number of behavior challenges at Vision of Destiny. I believe this is largely due to the environment from which the children come. However, I also believe that the school can play a part in creating a change in the behavior of the children attending the school.
Plus it gave us a change to reward the children who are consistent in exhibiting good behavior. So many times in most schools these children seem to get less attention than those that are always misbehaving. It was a great way for the teachers to get to spend some extra time praising these children!
Here are some photos of the children as they walked through the zoo. Sorry not many photos of the animals, but it's all about the kids anyway.