Bethesda Children's Village

In our ongoing mission to care for Uganda’s most vulnerable children, UORF is pleased to announce the beginnings of Bethesda Children’s Village. This new community will be a permanent residence for children who are orphaned or have been abandoned. Our first and best option is to always seek out a relative or family member who is willing to take in a child. Unfortunately, some children have no family to turn to for care and support—they are completely alone.

Our vision is to create the village to emulate an environment similar to typical Uganda family life—this is done to avoid any appearance of an institution. We will build simple family cottages that will accommodate up to eight children and a house parent. Each cottage will include a couple of acres of farmland so the children can learn the essential skills needed to thrive in an agriculture-based economy.

The village will also encompass a Christian primary school and Church. The church plant will be started by the Prespeterian Church in Uganda. World-wide Christians Schools will partner with UORF to build the primary school.

To help the Bethesda Children’s Village thrive, there are many ways that you can contribute to this project. We have purchased 20 of the 45 needed acres. In addition, please see a list of our other needs below. We thank you for becoming involved in our efforts to change the life of these children. You can make a donation at uorf.org.

Cottage $8000
1 acre of land $1000
Chicken coop $700
Pig Pen $700
Dairy Cow $500
Tilapia Pond $500
Pig $75
Goat $50
4 Chickens $50

UORf Starts New Project in Katonga Slum

The slum of Katonga is situated at a low point on the outskirts of Kampala.  At the entrance of the slum is a small church not much bigger than an average American living room. Pastor Godfrey and his wife, have been faithfully serving there for years. He is educated and well spoken and certainly could have a large "successful" church in Kampala.  If the church was not pointed out, one would not be able to distinguish it from the other homes assembled from a compilation of plastic tarps and tin roof scraps.  Each night this church provides a place of safety and rest for forty six children once exploited by thugs and local prostitution rings.  Along with Pastor Godfrey, nine other men from the church sleep at it's entrance and stand guard as deviants hurl rocks on the tin roof and taunt the young girls. 

UORF has decided to come along side Pastor Godfrey and help support his ministry to these children.  At this time UORF is providing rent for a home and meeting crucial needs. Over the next several months we hope to put in place the necessary accountability structure so that we can increase our support and provide sponsorships so that all the kids can get into school.

Pigs Provide Protien

I know she's cute, but unfortunately she's future food.  Pinky Pig lives at Bethel Children's Home.  Who knows maybe she will be fortunate enough to have a few piglets  before providing much need nutrition for our kids.  

New System Provides Clean Water to All our Homes

The water purification system operates off a car battery. We have one system at each of our homes. Water pours in one end, is electrically charged, filtered through salt ... and poof... out comes chlorine. Sorry if my scientific jargon went over your head.  A couple of teaspoons of this chlorine concentrate can purify 5 gallons of water! Just as a note if swallowed it may give a little stomach ache, but it is not fatal.  This is much much more cost effective and much much less time consuming than boiling water - the only other viable option for making safe drinking water.  Thank you to Doug and Julie and their friends from Iowa for donating the systems.  

UORF's First Agriculture Project!

UORF has officially started its first agriculture project. Mark, who is pictured here and is UORF’s in country director, managed the project in partnership with Pastor Vincent, director of UORF’s Bethel Children’s Home. We purchased 2 acres of land a short walk from Bethel Children’s Home in Kyananjula. The sweet potato crop is coming along very well and when it's harvested will be able to provide potatoes to all our homes. This is the first step in our vision toward sustainability for our food supply. In addition to providing food, we plan to use the agricultural projects to educate the orphans on farming. Agriculture is the largest contributor to Uganda’s GDP, comprising of 31% of the value of the GDP (Statistic provided by World Development Indicators). In rural areas a majority of the people’s livelihood derives from sustenance farming.