4-H Student Shares Nyaka Story at International Dinner

A student named Emma from a local 4H Club led by Judy Huynh, a regular volunteer, created this board for their annual International Dinner.  Emma ran the table, selling baskets, copies of A School for My Village, and shared information with visitors about Nyaka.  On behalf of our students who benefited - awesome job Emma!  What a beautiful display. 

The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project is very fortunate to have many volunteers of all ages helping our students and their grandmothers in Uganda.  Please visit our volunteer page to learn how you too can help!

Mission Moment for This Week

A secondary student testimonial about a recent Health and Sex Education Camp put on by “Reach a Hand” a NGO out of Makerere University in collaboration with The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project.

 

“I am Nuwagaba Daniel, and I would like to thank the people who were involved in the preparation of the student’s camp at Nyaka. I would like to thank our Country Manager and Mrs. Christine who supervised us while the camp was going on.  The camp was conducted by ‘Reach a Hand’ and the topics were very interesting and educational.  They taught us how to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS and getting girls pregnant. This was very interesting because I did not know that boys take part in girls becoming pregnant.  They also taught us how to be successful in education. This is important because if we make education a priority we will have good lives. They also taught us how to discover our talents and Christine advised us how to behave in our community when we are on holiday. We were very happy about this and we hope the organization will organize for us more camps.”

The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project continues to guide and support these children who have no one else to learn from and talk to about these sensitive issues…

Shop Fair Trade and Support Our Students and Grandmothers!

Back to school shopping?  Here is a great site to find fair trade goods and help support Nyaka...how cool is that?

Dsenyo Shop

A School for My Village Book Review on Oprah!

The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project friend and supporter, Michael Kirkpatrick has posted a great one minute video on Oprah's website.  Maybe she will find our story irresistible and feature our organization in an upcoming project?  Think how many students and grandmothers' lives could be improved through her help and promotion?

Mission Moment this week

A recent email sent to our staff by Nyaka visitor, donor, and unwavering supporter Barbara K.

 “You asked me what attracted me to Nyaka. I think it is because I can see a direct correlation between my donation and the results. I have told people over and over that it is one of the few places I know of that I can guarantee that my money is being spent on what I am told it is being spent on. I also appreciate that even a small donation can change a life. I saw that with my own eyes in just the short time we were there. Clare Strenger and I went with one of the teachers to buy food for Nyaka student  Bruno and his brother. The $40 we spent bought them food for 6 months and paid for supplies for his brother's school (not Nyaka but in the community).  One of the other special things about Nyaka is that everyone - children, teachers, grannies - all genuinely appreciate everything that is being done for them. The kids are engaging and curious, and very proud of their accomplishments. That helps keep us all motivated to help them. We have all loved seeing the pictures and reading the notes that follow the donations in kind that we send. Jackson's gift of connecting with us individually is obviously a huge factor in how we all feel about Nyaka.”

 I hope this inspires you to think about what attracts you to Nyaka and that it can be several aspects like it is for Barbara – economics, scale of impact, and a warm feeling…

Welcome to The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project Blog

The Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project has heard your voice and we are most pleased to bring you, in addition to a bi-annual newsletter Learning to Fly, regular updates from our students, grandmothers, and programs through our new blog.  We will be posting regular mission moments from the field, testimonials from students and grandmothers, as well as updates on Executive Director Twesigye Jackson Kaguri's book tour for A School for My Village.  Truly we say, the best is yet to come!

Mission Moment from last week....

Desire Farm just received over 50 lbs. of seed from Seed and Light International – enough to feed our students and have additional food to distribute to our grandmothers. Desire Farm Manager Florence was thrilled to hear the shipment included special iron and clay beans that will produce several hundred pounds of nitrogen when harvested. What this means is that Nyaka is going to have the best maize around during the next growing season. This means increased food security for our students and grandmothers! Desire Farm is a critical part of the holistic human-rights based approach we take toward alleviating poverty in rural Uganda.