My Nonprofit Reviews

ChangeALife Uganda accomplished a major goal in 2014 the completion of a water project which we started in 2009. Now our school, health center and the local community has clean water from a 512' well and a 50,000L water tower. A big thank you to all who made this happen. This summer was our first to host university students from GlobeMed and graduate students doing research on water issues from Duke's Nicholas School of the environment. We appreciate their contribution. This summer our medical volunteers completed physicals on 460 of our children attending St. Lawrence School. Many more happenings but this is just a highlight of how ChangeALife Uganda is changing lives.

Empower Energy team has been a wonderful partner in our journey to make a difference in this world. Nasir personally visited our project in Uganda last December and has provided resources to help us with clean water in Migyera, Uganda. Their networking goal offers the opportunity to connect with other like minded people and to benefit from their skills and interests.

Ever since I was 10 years old, I dreamed of helping those in need in Africa. On a relaxing day in August 2006 – three years after I retired from – I was inspired to help in an even bigger way and really fulfill that dream.

It began with a visit in my New Jersey home with Father Lawrence Kimbowa, a native of Uganda. He shared the story of his childhood there – the civil war, the refugee camp and the Chicago couple who sponsored his education and changed his life. He also shared the promise he made to himself – to give the children of Uganda the rare opportunity he was given as a child: the gift of education.

Inspired by Fr. Kimbowa’s story, my husband and I traveled to Uganda and witnessed great need. Many children have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS and others were unable to attend school because there parents could not pay school fees. For most of these children, a quality education was not an option. We recognized the opportunity to truly make a difference.

CHANGEALIFE UGANDA
Beginning with the sponsorship of 10 Ugandan children by friends who wanted to help, we created ChangeALife Uganda (CALU), which was formally incorporated in March 2007, followed by a 501 (c)(3) non-profit classification in April 2008, CALU was poised to make a difference.

ChangeALife Uganda focuses on education, health care and income-generating opportunities and it concentrates on children, because ‘children, are the catalyst for change. Our goal is to provide these children and other children living in poverty with the education and skills they need so that they and their families have the opportunity for better futures.” We now have almost 300 children in our sponsorship program.

One of the most fulfilling accomplishments took place in August 2012. CALU opened a new health center in Migyera – a truck stop town on the way to the Sudan. In partnership with Mildmay Uganda, the health center began providing testing, HIV care and antiretrovirals to 167 patients diagnosed with HIV.

I remember back in 2006 when a nurse here told me about the large number of people dying of HIV because of a lack of medication. I immediately recalled the 1996 New York Times headline highlighting a 50 percent reduction in mortality because of the new protease inhibitors. Here it was 2006 – 10 years later – and people here were still dying of AIDS in large numbers. Now – 16 years later – the treatment and medication are finally available here, thanks to Mildmay Uganda.

Our 2013 trip brought new surprises. Our women are attending a Literacy Program where they are learning to read and write English. They surprised us with their new crafts - exquisite handcrafted baskets and stylish women's handbags. The children in the micro-enterprise program have pigs, goats and chickens and are paying back their loan and saving their money in bank accounts. Our volunteers shared their talents through their gift of education on how to sew, play chess, write journals, brush teeth, use listening techniques and inspire children with new educational approaches. It was an outstanding trip and the bonds of friendship and sharing enriched everyone.

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