Buyamba News
Stories and news from Uganda and the U.S.
Maria's grandmother is a widow, and her home is comprised of nine people. She is a small-scale market vendor who sells vegetables like onions, tomatoes, etc. Her earnings cover the basic domestic needs of her family. Due to the ongoing financial struggle, Maria's grandmother could never help her children go through school, nor could she pay for her granddaughter's school.
The social workers' office at God Cares School became aware of Maria's plight and invited her to school. Maria was blessed with a sponsor through Buyamba Outreach Ministries in Uganda and began school in 2019. She loves her studies, recently graduated from kindergarten, and has advanced to the Primary level. Maria is full of hope and can now dream big because of the quality education she gets from GCS, the love and support of her sponsor, and her new family…the God Cares family.
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My name is Joan Nanzala, and I grew up in a family of four children with my mom and stepdad. Life was not easy even when we had both parents. At times, we had single meals and were chased out of several houses because of failure to pay rent on time. At the age of four, my mother took me to a local community school so that I could at least be in school like other kids in our neighborhood. We had no desks in class, and we would sit on hand-made papyrus mats as we attended class. It was a low-cost school, but my mother could not afford to pay the fees; thus, I was always sent back home for school fees. It was a sorrowful story until God came through for me and fought my education battle by connecting me to Buyamba Outreach Ministries. 
God was so good I joined God Cares Nursery and Primary School in Primary Two (P2). The school was so big and beautiful; it had excellent teachers. It was a dream come true for me. In 2013, I completed my national primary leaving examinations and then joined high school in 2014. In 2017, I completed my Ordinary Certificate of Education and wanted to pursue my dream of becoming a midwife.
Buyamba did not give up on me, even when my home background spoke otherwise; They held my hand throughout my nursing journey. In 2018, I was able to join a nursing school. Throughout my time with Buyamba, God blessed me with caring and wonderful sponsors who dearly loved me and treated me as their own. They always sent me letters, cards, and gifts for my birthdays, Easter, and Christmas. I always pray for and bless the Lord for my sponsor families, for they chose to light the path of a girl like me, whose future seemed hopeless. Despite the interference in my studies by the pandemic, I thank God that at the end of December 2021, I completed and graduated with a certificate in Nursing and Midwifery. Last year in 2022, God blessed me with a job, and I am now a practicing Midwife at a maternity clinic. I thank God for the opportunity to serve and give life and hope to another. May the Lord richly bless Buyamba Outreach Ministry in Uganda and the USA for being part of my success. God bless you all. Helping Uganda One Child at a Time... My name is Godfrey Kalyango, and I am 19 years old and the oldest of four children. I am currently in secondary school year in my 5th year (S5) at God Cares High School. My childhood was difficult. By the time I understood the world, I was living with my maternal grandparents. I lived there with my other cousins until primary three (P3). I had never seen my father and mother until my mother came for me and took me to her place when I entered P4. I found three other children and a gentleman at my mother's place. Later, I realized the gentleman was my stepfather. My mother told me my birth father had abandoned us when I was still in her womb. I was young, and that did not bother me; what mattered was that I was happy in school and finally with my family.
When I entered GCHS, I was given a new mattress, uniforms, and other academic materials. I joined S2 in 2018. Ever since I joined Buyamba, my heart has been so joyful. I feel less burdened because my mother does not have to worry about me reporting back to school. I have benefited so much physically and academically, and my spiritual life has never remained the same. I have learned to forgive my biological father, who I have never seen. I know I have a good Father in heaven who loves and cares for me.
I want to thank Buyamba and my sponsors for loving me and giving my family food relief, Christmas baskets, gifts, and needs. I appreciate the Lord so much and give Him all the glory! Today I had the honor of talking to one of our long-term sponsors, Fran, on the phone. She called to check out how old her sponsored child is because it appeared that either the child (Thomas) or the Buyamba office had the date incorrect. We checked it out, and sure enough, her child got his age wrong on his recent letter. I explained that the kids in Uganda don't necessarily grow up celebrating their birthdays so he might be confused. Before we hung up, after establishing the correct information for Thomas, she told me that she had money set aside for him until he was 18, so she had to know if Thomas was 10 or 11 years old. The story that unfolded behind this information brought tears to my eyes because it was a story of a faithful sponsor called by God to care for a child she would most likely never see. Fran sponsored Thomas in 2016. The Lord had put on her heart to sponsor a child from Uganda because her good friend, whom she served for years as a preschool teacher, went back and forth each year to help children in Uganda. Fran's church at that time was Calvary Community Church in Westlake, which holds a child sponsorship opportunity every year. Fran was preparing for that future Sunday that it would be available to her at church to pick a child. She was a bit nervous about it because she had just retired and would live on a fixed income, but the Lord encouraged her to step out in faith. That same week, she received a communication from a bank to which she had no account.
It turns out this was an account her mother had left her two years before, but she had forgotten about it. The following Sunday "just happened to be" Sponsorship Sunday at her church. She faithfully stepped up to the Buyamba Uganda table to pick a child to whom she would commit. Fran said she looked around at a sea of smiling Uganda children, but the picture that grabbed her was sad. Picking up that photo and reading the child's background, she learned that the child's name was Thomas, which was her father's name that had just passed away. She knew right then that Thomas was hers. Fran found out soon after that it turns out the Lord had given her the TOTAL amount in that random bank account that Thomas would need for years to come until he was 18! God had met her in her step of faith beyond what she could ask or imagine. Fran loves to receive letters and photos of her child each year and was happy to tell me that in every picture since that day, Thomas is always smiling!
My name is Racheal Namuddu. I am the firstborn of five children. I joined God Cares Schools in 2009. My story started when my parents constantly failed to meet all my school needs and requirements, so they decided to seek help for my education. At that time, Buyamba was running two good schools, God Cares Nursery and Primary School, and God Cares High School. The school focused mainly on children from poor family backgrounds and orphaned children who needed help to get an education. My mother was, and still is, a canteen (cafeteria) worker at God Cares Primary school. She reached out to the Buyamba offices and asked if they could offer me help and take me in so that I could have a brighter future.
I was once a hopeless child, but that is no longer my name. I am now a college graduate as of this May of 2022. I am currently serving as a teacher after following the advice given me by our social worker in Buyamba. As she had advised, I am a happy teacher during the school week and a Sunday school teacher at my church (Kabalagala Pentecostal Church). I am grateful to my parents, who constantly remind me to be thankful and serve diligently in every position the Lord entrusted me. There is no better way of expressing my gratitude to Buyamba Staff and our sponsors than to "THANK YOU, BUYAMBA, FOR BEING KIND TO US"
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