Hope in Saddness

Jessica, her mom and brother

Betty likes to keep us updated on major events in the lives of  the children attending Rock of Ages Academy.  That includes both  the good news and the bad.  Her update today is a sobering reminder of how difficult life is for the children who attend the school.   We received the following  news about  Jessica, an eight year old in Primary 1. She was living with both her parents, a rarity in this village.  Her mom was the primary support of the  family, digging( in gardens) for other people. Sadly, last Saturday her father died unexpectedly. Betty writes:

"Here is a brief account what the mum of Jessica narrated when I went to her home to pay tribute.

It started   as a light fever on Wednesday night that wasn’t taken so serious and some pain killers were given as a precaution to the general body weakness. They all retired to their beds to sleep and wait for day break. Little did they know that it was more serious than they thought.  Later  on Thursday his  health worsened so  they went to a better hospital to seek more advice.  Still the doctors ran all tests that they could but discovered no serious illness.

On Friday more tests were done and nothing found but he still had  difficulty breathing. They prescribed oxygen for him as it was the best option available. However, the family could not afford oxygen but they did buy some medicine.  They opted to go home and pray and wait.

Later that day surprisingly he was much better and he went home. They spent Friday night peacefully until Saturday evening when the situation worsened and at 8pm Saturday night he breathed his last.

Arrangements were made and burial was done on Sunday. We were informed on Monday and Wednesday Jessica reported to school. I asked Jessica to take me home so I could talk to the mother." 

Fortunately Jessica's school fees are paid for by her sponsors who also bless this family extra food each month.  There is hope in her future because of the compassion of another family, half way around the world, 

A New Cook Stove for ROA

ROA cooks preparing lunch with  new Stove.

Betty, the director of Rock of Ages School, believes that  nourishing the mind, body and spirit of her students is the best way to help them achieve their potential. She recently noted  that providing a meal each day for the children not only fills their bellies;  it improves their concentration in class and ultimately their academic performance.  For many of the children, this may be the only food they receive that day.

The school needed a new stove.  Betty requested funds to make a purchase and  described the problems in her request:

1.   The stove is worn out. It has been used for a long time and the rust has weakened it and made it difficult to repair.
2.  With the increase in school population, the cook has to prepare food in batches in order for everyone to get a meal and she has to take extreme care as not to spill the food as the cooking pot balances precariously on the weakened, rusted structure..
3. The  old model of the stove  is inefficient and uses a lot of more charcoal than necessary  to make meals. 

Top View of Stove. You can see that structure to hold the pots are rusting away.

Side view.

Rice cooking on old Stove

Fortunately, one of our partner organizations, Juneau2Jinja, was able to provide the funds to buy a new Stove that is safer,  more economical and  has a larger capacity.