2021 Newsletter

Graduation News!

Meet Zaina Nakibule, a young woman born in the village of Busiiro who was one of the first students to attend Healing Children School. A bright student, Zaina always achieved the highest marks in her class. She also loves singing and joined the school choir, winning contests across the district. Zaina was one of 5 children in her year to continue her education at Busiiro secondary School.

An opportunity only made possible thanks to the generous donations made to our Scholarship Fund. Her hard work and determination led Zaina to Makerere University, a triumph for a Healing Focus orphan! In May 2021 she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management. She hopes to come back to Healing Focus regularly to act as a role model and support more girls in the community.

Exam Results

We are excited to announce that the Primary 7 class (final year of primary) completed their exams and the Healing Focus children scored phenomenally high in the district. In fact, one child in particular, Gloria, scored the highest of all children in Luuka district, Uganda. As happy as this news makes us, it is combined with the sad knowledge that we are currently not able to support her in her further education. However, celebrating our first university graduate makes us hopeful!

We would love for your help in allowing Gloria and 4 other highest scoring children to go to secondary school to complete their O-levels. If you are interested in supporting Gloria and her peers get the education they deserve, please reach out via email, Instagram, or Facebook!

UKHF Update

Dear Friends of UKHF,

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy.

First of all, a big thank you from the UKHF board and myself for your loyal support. It is thanks to your continued generosity that we are able to ensure the girls who are at high risk remain protected in the safe house, that all HFOC pupils are provided with a warm meal every day and that the school staff receive their salaries every month.

Uganda has recently gone into a lockdown, due to the high number of COVID cases in the big cities. Schools have closed and teachers may only return to work if they have been vaccinated (they have been given priority). Study packages were distributed to the students to continue their education during the lockdown period.

Even though the school is officially closed, the safe house remains open, as during a lockdown there are more girls at risk. There are currently 86 girls living at the school and the staff have organized a scheduled eating plan so all the children receive a warm, nutritious meal every day.

The agricultural projects are going well with the school garden producing sweet potatoes, spinach and bountiful maize, which is now being cultivated.

The goats are continuing to increase in number & size and are being used as a learning opportunity for the children.

Warm greetings, Ruby

Meet one of our trustees: Tim Mamo!

Hi all,

I’m one of the trustees at UKHF, Tim. In my personal life I’m a bit of a nerd and this translates into what I do for a living as well: I’m a Cloud consultant, which means I help companies move their software to the Cloud.

I initially found out about UKHF when I first started dating my now partner, Ruby, current chairperson of UKHF. I was instantly impressed with all the work Paul, Maggie and the rest of the trustees had been doing over the years in setting up and helping such a great cause. I instantly started donating. I also helped out at events, and at times pitched the virtues of what UKHF does with colleagues and family. Not only due to the fact that such work should be shouted from mountain tops, but also in the hope of receiving more donations and improving the lives of the children in Busiiro.

As time went by and Paul and Maggie, and some of the other trustees, decided to take a step back from the ongoing running of UKHF (totally understandable with all the years they put in), I was asked if I was willing to become a trustee. It was a no brainer, how could I not.

Immediately my tech skills were put into work as I revamped the UKHF website, although not fully finished yet. In revamping the website I wanted to show all the amazing work that has been done, and can be done, with all the donations which we have received over the years. From the new buildings, to the smiles of the kids at the orphanage, and more recently keeping the school and teachers going in such a difficult time during the pandemic.

As some of us are starting to see a bit of light in the end of this pandemic tunnel, I hope you’ll keep on supporting us and keep the amazing work all have done by contributing to such a great cause or even telling friends, family, colleagues, strangers in the street (at a acceptable social distance) about UKHF and all the kids we’ve helped and keeping on helping, creating another smile and more success stories.

Tim