WWW.WATOTO.COM | MAR 2013 | ISSUE NO.1

RAISED BY COMMUNITY

WHAT WE DO ORPHANED CHILDREN | VULNERABLE WOMEN | COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION

Every child is born with the capacity to excel and reach their full potential in life. All they need is love, nurture and some basic necessities.

In Africa, most children don’t have access to the very basics, such as shelter or food. As a result, most of them don’t even dream of a future.Through the love of Jesus,

Watoto restores hope to the lives of children, so they’re able to dream again. Currently, Watoto cares for almost 3,000 children. More than 150 have come through the

program and are now pro-ductive citizens. They have been given back the potential to fulfill their dreams.

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On a Monday morning in February, the air of a second grade classroom in Glendale, Arizona was filled with excitement and anticipation as the children prepared for class to begin. Mrs. Cynthia Vossler’s class had been learning about the Watoto Children’s Choir and would finally be able to express their excitement for the African child ambassadors through art.

Cynthia sponsors a 10-year-old Watoto child named Jeremiah, who she’s been supporting since August 2010. Upon hearing the stories of Uganda’s history, the children’s hearts broke as they learned how the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) used children as soldiers.

The class began a special project called, “From Our Hearts to Yours,” in the hope that their cards, letters and pictures would bring joy to the children of Watoto Children’s Choir #57 during the next tour stop in Florida.

For Cynthia, actually meeting Jeremiah had only been a dream until she learned that he and his fellow choir members were on their way to the U.S. to perform with the Watoto Children’s Choir on their 122-city East Coast tour.

She booked a ticket for herself and her husband to Florida. At the concert, Cynthia was overjoyed to hand out the friendship hearts, letters and pictures from her class and to finally meet Jeremiah. The class still hopes to take a field trip to meet the choir some day.

From Our Hearts to Yours

They were rescued as orphans by social workers, nurtured and cared for by loving Watoto mums, educated by teachers, healed physically and emo-tionally by caring doctors and counselors, spiritually discipled by pastors, and supported by generous sponsors and friends like you.

These children have graduated from tertiary education and are now responsible and produc-tive adults, earning an honest living and helping to rebuild their community and country.

It takes a community of posi-tive influences to raise a child in any context.

159 is only a small part of almost 3,000 children currently under Watoto’s care. 3,000 is a small part of the thousands of orphans still needing to be rescued in Africa.

As a response to this need, Watoto is launching the RAISED BY COMMUNITY campaign to increase awareness and support for the work we do to raise the future leaders of Uganda.

Become an ambassador and support the campaign by telling your friends, family, work col-leagues and community about it. Like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For easy access to campaign material such as post-ers and FB icons, go to www.watoto.com/raisedbycommu-nity.

Log onto the Watoto Children’s Choir Blog at http://watotochoirs.word-press.com and stay up to date with what the choirs are up to on the road.

You can also check out the choirs’ schedules and see when they will be perform-ing in your area. Invite your friends and family and share in the joy each of these children have found in Christ.

Don’t be left out

Mother’s Day One of the key influencers in a

child’s life is a strong, nurturing mother, who helps in the development of virtuous morals, character, intellect and creativity of a child.

At Watoto, our mums take care of formerly abandoned and vulnerable children and help shape and nurture them to be the leaders of tomorrow.

They truly are heroes.This Mother’s Day, we are raising

support through sponsorship for our Watoto mums. Check out the Mother’s Day campaign on our website, Facebook and Twitter to see how you can get involved and help us raise support.

Sponsor a mum today, and equip her to raise a future leader.

We would also like to honor every sponsor, friend and partner who is a mother. We love and appreciate you. You make a significant difference in making this world a better place.

God bless you.

It has been an amazing start to the year at Living Hope. In February, 202 precious ladies graduated from the program. The event was attended by Gary and Marilyn Skinner, with Gulu’s Local Council Chairman, Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, as the Guest of Honor.

In March, we opened our brand new facility in Kampala. Not only will this move create additional space for the empow-erment of ladies, but we’ve also added a coffee shop to it. So while visitors get their daily dose of coffee, we’ll be able to raise further awareness and support for Living Hope.

In 2011, Watoto discovered that more than 50% of the girls in the region of northern Uganda

drop out of school at the age of menstruation. UNICEF reports that one in ten school girls in Africa miss class or drop out of school completely due to their period, and substitute pads or tampons for less safe and less absorbent materials such as rags, newspaper or bark.

Living Hope launched the Keep a Girl in School initiative to help address the situation. The main objectives of this initiative are:

• Identifying schools in north-ern Uganda with high girl child dropout rates due to the reasons stated above

• Raising awareness about this crisis

• Raising further support to

Living Hope

Since I was first introduced to the ministry of Watoto, my life has not been the same. I served as a host home in 2006 for the Watoto Children’s Choir during a U.S tour. During that time I met my sponsor child, Mariam, and three precious young girls who stayed with me. Hosting the three girls was a moment that changed my life forever. People around me at that time knew that I had fallen in love with this choir and the ministry of Watoto, but what most people didn’t know was how God had used three eight-year-old children and one auntie from

Faith Like A Child

By Dana Floyd

Uganda to begin to break away chains that encompassed a large part of my heart.

I grew up with an abusive father and even though I had forgiven him years earlier, my heart was still full of anger and hurt. I didn’t want people to see that side of me, but anger is not an easy one to hide and an even harder one to live with. During

that season of my life, I asked God, “Will it always be this way?” Then one October night in 2006, three young Watoto children took it upon themselves to pray for me. It was at that moment that I knew the answer was, “No. It wouldn’t always be this way.” God had worked through the prayers of children to reach my heart. As I stayed awake in my bed that night with tears flowing, I knew God had orchestrated that moment to begin bringing joy and healing back into my life.

Last year, I returned to Uganda. It was an amazing experience. I was there to help with a Watoto Children’s Camp. Hundreds of children came together each day to worship, study God’s word, and learn about the love of Christ. It was amazing to see.

I was blessed to be able to baptize about 30 kids that had given their lives to Christ during the camp. What a tender moment that was for me. I was also able to see Mariam, this beautiful young girl that I have been sponsoring for six years. She is growing and flourishing because of God’s pro-vision in her life and the wonderful care she is receiving at Watoto.

I was also able to see many of the children that I met on tour years earlier, including those same precious eight-year-old girls (now 15 years old) who said a life changing prayer. I am thankful for the amazing ministry of Watoto both for what it’s done in my life and for what it’s doing in the lives of children at Watoto.

provide sanitary towels and underwear to the girls in these schools

• Providing counseling and life skills training for the girls by working with the schools

• Developing sensitization programs for the community

You gave generously financial-ly and in kind and we were able to distribute sanitary towels and start mentorship classes in two of the schools. This year, there has been a 0% dropout at these schools, and some of the girls who had dropped out in previ-ous years have returned.

There are many ways you can get involved in this initiative. Help us raise awareness and sup-port to reach more girls. Please contact usa@watoto.com for more information.

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