Posted: 17th May 2019
Just before Easter, the 2019 Kumi campaign launched with the first team going out to serve. The team, including John Parsons age 79 (his 22nd mission trip!) worked to lay the foundation for the nursery classrooms at Kumi Bazaar School, ready for the summer teams to complete the brick work.
In Kumi our main building projects over the years have been building classrooms at a number of local schools. We have seen how they have helped to reduce overcrowding, even though we still see class sizes of 100 plus. We have also – through the generosity of volunteers – been able to provide desks, which means that children no longer have to sit on the floor. These two things together bring a big improvement.
However, last year some of our volunteers were so moved by learning that some students at Kumi Bazaar school did not eat before or during school, that they set up a feeding fund to provide morning porridge for P7, the Primary Leaving Exam class. What started as the “Porridge Fund” is now providing school lunches as well. The effects have been seen in a big improvement to the exam results and last year 15 children passed with a Division One score. In previous years this has typically been only 2 or 3. This has lifted Kumi Bazaar School to the top of the performance table in Kumi District.
We have witnessed God use volunteers in unexpected ways time after time when on a 2-week mission trip here. The facilities we build make a huge difference, but it’s the personal interactions and interventions that change the hearts of those who come to serve and those they serve. Hunger is one of the biggest obstacles to education in Uganda and the rest of Africa; it is hard to concentrate on studies when you are hungry and the testimony of those who helped to create the porridge fund is a perfect example of how short-term mission has a bigger impact than just bricks and mortar.
In 2019 we will continue the building of the three classroom nursery block. So why not join us in Kumi and mid-morning you too will get to share that magic ingredient; porridge!
