February 2023
13th Annual Anywhere in the World Raffle
Tickets are now being sold for our 13th Annual Anywhere in the World Raffle! Each one costs $20 with a chance to win two round trip tickets to ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, ON ANY AIRLINE. There are only 2,000 total tickets sold and flights can be booked for up to TWO YEARS from the date of the drawing! The drawing will be held March 29th, 2023 via Live Facebook video (you do not need to be present to win). This is one of two major fundraisers that we rely on in order to keep our programs running smoothly. We hope you will take part!
To purchase your tickets, just click HERE!
Ebola Outbreak Over
The Ugandan government and the CDC have declared the ebola outbreak over. Despite dire predictions of the disease sweeping through the country, it was kept relatively under control and declared over months earlier than expected.
Forty-two days, or two incubation periods, have passed since the last case of Ebola was reported marking the end of the outbreak. Entry screening and public health monitoring of travelers to the United States who have been in Uganda are now lifted.
PFP’s Hope and Love Homes
Students were on holiday from school for the month of January, and the PFP staff have been working hard to keep the children entertained, busy and learning every day! Each home has a detailed calendar, in which activities are rotated throughout the week. Some of the favorites to appear on the weekly schedule include painting and art lessons, the sports program (netball and football), tutoring, dance and yoga, tailoring and weaving/knitting.
Faraji studying
Olivia with the babies, Mary and Christine
Ashiraf, practicing his weaving skills
Welcome Home Musa!
This month, we welcomed to our family, a very sweet young boy named Musa. Due to familial conflict and an unbearable home life, this 14 year old boy had run away from home to protect himself. For quite some time, he had been living on the streets and selling scrap metal to earn money to eat. Musa heard about PFP and every day for weeks on end, he showed up to our gate, asking for help. He formed a friendship with the security guard who softened to his story. Eventually Musa was forwarded to our social worker who was able to confirm his story and we were able to offer safe harbor at Hope Home for boys. Musa is so happy to be living in a safe place and is looking forward to attending school with the rest of our children in February. We are all cheering him on!
PFP’s Resettlement Program
While a good number of the children in our programs live within PFP’s Hope and Love Homes, many live in the community with their family. We always try to seek out family members who are in a position to “parent” the children in our program as we see great value in having the children connect with their community. Our social workers make weekly check-ins to ensure everything is going well and we love what we are seeing! The children are working alongside their parents at home and in their small businesses– and learning skills which will help them in their future.
Mirembe helping her mom with their produce stand
Rebecca, cooking over her family’s charcoal stove
William, helping his mother at their chapati stand
New Sponsors
In January, one of our long time supporters stepped up to cover costs for both Musa and Nabirye. We are so grateful for the team we have behind us. Thank you so much for being a part of these children’s stories. 
Sponsorships Needed
The success of our organization is largely based on the amazing sponsor base we have. The members of our PFP family. As a small grassroots organization, it’s crucial we keep all of our children matched with a sponsor. Right now we have seven students needing to be matched. Of course this match changes the life of the child, but it can also change the life of the sponsor. Everyone wins.
The cost of sponsorship varies depending on which part of the program your child is in and which school they are enrolled in. As they get older it depends on whether they are still in high school, trade school or university. Sometimes we will split the sponsorship in half, so that can also be an option for the higher ones that haven’t already been divided. Here is the list of the students needing a sponsor, which program they are in and how much the sponsorship is in U.S. dollars.
If there is a student listed that you may be interested in helping with, we would sure love to hear from you.
Sponsorship covers:
- Boarding school
- Medical including mental health/dental
- Food
- Clothing
- Housing during breaks/holidays
- An amazing Ugandan support system (All PFP employees are Ugandan)
Sponsorship, along with our fundraisers, also contributes to:
- Field trips
- Cultural exposure
- Sports/exercise programs
- Skills training programs
- Transportation
- Social work services to support any available healthy family ties
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this opportunity: hope@peaceforpaulfoundation.org
Annual Strategic Planning Session
The Board of Directors met recently for their 2022 annual Strategic Plan review meeting. Having had to postpone the planned December in person meeting in Uganda (because of the ebola outbreak) the team managed to make the meeting happen. As always, it was highly productive and the Board is excited to implement the plans made.
The biggest challenge the board is currently facing is finding sponsors for nine of our children. Please reach out if you or anyone you know might be interested in taking on one of our awesome kiddos and joining the PFP family. As you can imagine, with a small organization such as ours we can not carry this many unsponsored children and we sure don’t want to have to exit anyone from the program.
Abura, Benita, Apio, Nakayi, Achen and Jackie
Staff Corner
PFP relies on our amazing staff in Uganda to keep the organization running. Without our Ugandan team, we would not be able to do what we do for the many children in our care. We hope you enjoy the “Staff Corner” section we’ve added to the blog. Each month we’ll highlight one staff person with the hopes you’ll get a chance to understand the important work they do.
Hildah Mukyala
Mental Health Counselor
Since joining PFP, I have been able to explore opportunities and actively contribute to the mental health of children and young adults in our program who are facing different psychological challenges. My work allows me to identify, assess and diagnose many issues including social conduct disorders, stress, and depression.
Hildah with students at school
Education in Uganda
A submission, by PFP Caretaker Denis
Education in Uganda is something every parent would love their children to have access to. The school system is set up differently than it is in North America, so we wanted to share how it works.
To commence with, a child is born and they grow to the level of starting school. They are taken to a nursery level that starts with baby class, middle class and then finally top class. They then graduate to primary level, which starts with primary one and goes to primary seven. A lot is involved in this level because a child is prepared to sit for the first national examinations that comprise four subjects, English, Mathematics, Social studies and Science.
The child then continues to secondary level which starts from Senior 1 and goes to Senior 4 – this level is called Ordinary level. After this level, some children will branch off and begin trade school. If the child has passed the national exams well they can continue to the “advanced level”, which comprises Senior 5 and Senior 6. At this level, the student chooses a combination of subjects depending on their performance and preferences. They can choose Science combinations or Art combinations. If after all of these levels the child has performed well, university is then an option.
In Uganda, some schools are government owned and some private owned. All are regulated by the government. When in a position to do so, most parents prefer taking their children to private schools as students tend to perform better.
Team AHU (A Hand Up)
The AHU group has swelled to 40 students who are all involved in community service as a requirement of their scholarship. It has been inspiring to see them each come up with their own ideas and to utilize their individual skill sets to make a difference. Not only have we seen them help those around them, but we see their confidence and sense of self worth improve drastically this year.
“I had seen this kiosk in bad shape for quite a while. I always pass it on on my way to Love Home. There are always fresh fruits and greens on it and the lady is so hospitable. I love sweet bananas and watermelon. Whenever I stopped by to buy some, I was caught by how this lady takes good care of clients.
Swaric and his mama with their freshly painted fruit stand
A description of the AHU program is below:
PFP is working hard to prepare our older students for the “real world” outside of PFP. When a student enters Senior 5 (usually at about 18 years of age), they are moved into the “A Hand Up” program. They still receive all of the benefits that all PFP children do, however now they are required to give back to their PFP family or community. Each AHU student volunteers 20 hours per week on school holidays and has the opportunity to showcase their specific skill set to better the lives of the PFP children or at risk community members. All of the AHU students continue to step up, month after month. Everyone does what they can, where they can. Monthly meetings occur, with Tikol at the lead where students present ideas on how they can best utilize their skills. Students have been working with PFP as a sort of internship. The AHU members continue to contribute where they can, and we love when they utilize their specific skill set to do something meaningful within PFP or in the community.
Facebook Birthday Fundraisers
We love when our supporters dedicate their birthdays to PFP! Such a fun and easy way to get involved and to allow others to get involved as well!! Facebook fundraisers take ZERO administrative fees! We hope you will consider including PFP for your next birthday!
This month, we would like to wish our friend and supporter, Amy a very Happy Birthday! Please head on over to Facebook to support her birthday fundraiser!
Birthday Celebrations
Each month, we make sure every child in our main program gets a chance to feel special on their birthday. Each birthday child receives a gift and has a small celebration during their birthday week followed by a BIG birthday celebration all together at the swimming pool during school holidays. Many sponsors get involved by sending gifts to their child as well. All children deserve to feel special on their day and we always do our best to make it so! Happy, happy birthday to our January birthday children! Thanks so much to all of the sponsors for stepping up to be sure that everyone could really enjoy their day!
Happy Birthday to Our February Birthday Girls and Boys- we wish you all the best as we celebrate YOU this month!
If you are the sponsor of a birthday child this month, you are welcome to send us an email and we can work together to make their day even more special!
PFP Junior Birthday Celebrants
PFP Main Program Birthday Celebrants
The PFP Junior Program
The Juniors Program works with families in our community so parents may be able to send their children to school. These children live full time with their families, but poverty has prevented the children from attending school regularly. This program is a partnership between parents and PFP. PFP supplements what the parents (or guardians) are able to contribute so parents may take pride in being able to send their children to school through their own hard work. The ages of children in this program range from four years to 18 years and we currently have 94 students who are benefiting from this partnership.
Moses with Isiko, Jackie and their mother at theyr home
Family Sponsorship Opportunities
We are always looking for general sponsors to help our family thrive. Essentially, as a general family sponsor, you are the sponsor of ALL of the children. We have opportunities for Medical Family Sponsor, Dental Family Sponsor as well as Mental Health Family Sponsor. A Family Sponsor commitment can be $25/$50/$100 per month.
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this opportunity: hope@peaceforpaulfoundation.org
Director (on the Board) Needed
We are looking to add a new Director or two to our board and what better place to look than from within our team of awesome supporters. We are always looking for ways to improve and would love to find someone with a background in Microfinance, child development or child psychology. If you would like to support the work of PFP in a more meaningful way, we’d love to chat. Please reach out via the email below and we can go from there to determine if it might be a good fit. At the very least…. we’ll have a great conversation and a chance to connect.
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this opportunity: hope@peaceforpaulfoundation.org
GuideStar Platinum Level Participant
The Peace for Paul Foundation has earned the Platinum GuideStar Nonprofit Profile participation level (the highest possible)! This leading symbol of nonprofit transparency and accountability is presented by GuideStar, the world’s largest source of nonprofit information.In order to be awarded the Platinum Seal of Transparency, The Peace for Paul Foundation included contact information, financial information, our goals, strategies, capabilities, indicators, and progress, helping us more effectively share our story with the world.Check out our GuideStar Nonprofit Profile and tell us what you think:The Peace for Paul Foundation GuideStar Profile
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