It was only a Dream!! Soon a Reality - You still can be part of the story!!

Dear friends and ministry partners,

Warm greetings from Uganda. I bring you love and appreciation from the entire RODI family. Without you we wouldn't be the ministry we; loving and giving hope to people in a community where HIV/AIDS has left many people so vulnerable.

2014: We got to meet Johnson's childhood sponsor

Johnson and I grew up in the same (Rakai) community, under similar conditions and it is a miracle for both of us to be alive to-date! We know many that did not make it! Nine years ago we decided to go back to the same community, not alone but with our friends; to build a team to support these people through sharing our story! We continue to do exactly that and we are so thankful you have been with us in one way or the other on this journey.

Today was my 36 birthday and what a testimony! It has been another memorable exciting day for me while starting hopefully another year of life! One of my friends sent me a message. It read "Happy Birthday - the day you were born angels whispered in your ear and you smiled because you knew you were created for something very special. Something that no one could give to this world but you..." I quickly sent him a reply "I wish those angels whispered in my ears all that when I was about 3 years! That would have been an encouragement during those tough childhood days..." 

It is funny but I thought deeply about my response after clicking 'send'! I guess you also do it. Truth is that I never heard the angels! May be because I was just a day old!! Well, I took time to think about his message and as I did, memories of our (me and Johnson) childhood (always so near!) resurfaced (as usual)! Then I remembered the helpless children who come to us every day with different stories; willing to take our encouragements even when they are not sure of tomorrow. Some of them never come back physically but are present always because of the scars they leave on our hearts.

Welding: Mathias and his trainees

Feeding: Lunch time at school- Real Foood

In short (I hope so), God has done wonderful things in this community through our ministry. It makes me happy to know 205 children are sponsored and get full support to enable them get quality education. They attend school every day, have meals at school and have all the requirements to study well! I also know many of you that have been able to bring hope through supporting special projects like the Amazing Grace Bakery, the feeding program, and our newly established Welding and Carpentry workshop plus making contributions toward our operation costs. Thank you and May God bless you. 

Struggling to learn at a poor school

While we are doing so much and must surely be proud, there is still overwhelming need. Everyday children walk through our doors looking for support to at least get quality education. We understand from some sponsors that child sponsorship is a wonderful experience but because it is a longtime commitment, some people are hesitant to give

Sponsored children at school

it a try in this world of economic challenges. I am not sure if I wound not be hesitant myself! In fact we have had some child sponsors cancel after a few months because it was unavoidable! It is painful what children go through when this happens! Big up to those who have been able to stick in for years! The cost of education is also soaring and we are scared that soon our sponsorship dollars may not be adequate.

Patiently waiting for the start

We had been praying about this situation for years; praying for something  which can continue to give a child hope even when their sponsor cancels (at least until another sponsor can be found);  a solution that would provide an opportunity to all those people who would like to be part of this ministry team even though they were not sponsoring a child. The dream plan was to construct a school. We knew it would give us an opportunity to love and give hope to many other people, especially children!

Part of the school land

We envisaged many children coming here for a quality education but calling this same place home. This would be a place where the homeless and those living in abusive dangerous environments can call  their home. These were just imaginations and never knew when it would become a reality and how it would all start!

Towards the end of 2014, someone in the community talked to us about an opportunity to buy his land. He was losing it to a bank over a smaller amount of money. He preferred that RODI owned this land.  Not sure how he knew we had a dream for a school but he said it was a good land for a school! We knew well it was hard to get the money which was required in a short time. Thankfully, soon RODI owned 11 acres of land. This was the first but HUGE step!

At the start of this year another ministry partner (a church) decided to take the SECOND step! They started a drive to build the first block on the land! The six room block will have 3 study rooms for children between 6 and 8 years, 2 sleeping rooms (1 for boys and another for girls) and 1 dining/prayer/library room for all ages! The target is to have this completed by the end of this year. Construction is already underway and can already find hopeful children on the site when you visit.  Brandon, Godfrey, and Mathew were brave enough to accept me to take a picture recently! All they are doing is smiling and playing at the foundation of the block under construction!

Here is the Big Call!!

As you can imagine, there is a lot of construction going on. Yes, we need more than study rooms and sleeping rooms! We need a toilet, a kitchen, houses for teachers, study rooms for other age groups, and other home/school items. I get scared thinking about this as an individual but I trust we can do it together as a team of friends. Oh, we very much need advice on how you think we can do it! Some of you are very experienced at this! For now below is the list of the most needed items.

Description	Unit cost and measure
Cement	$        11.00	per bag
Steel bars	$          9.00	each bar
Sand	$        11.00	each tonne
Roofing Iron Sheets	$        15.00	per sheet
Roofing Timber	$          3.00	per piece
Aggregates	$        22.00	per tonne
Metallic doors	$      156.00	Per door
Hardcore stones	$        11.00	per tonne
Metallic windows	$      110.00	each window
Clay bricks	$          5.00	100 bricks

Brandon can't wait to see the school start!

Kindly pray with us and also share with other people and organizations! Any donations can be general or for any of the specific items above. We encourage, donations by checks made payable to  African Children Today and sent to P.O. Box 390123, Edina, MN 55439. Let me know when you or the person or organization you are sharing with or may be  interested may like to donate in a different way. 


All donations are tax deductible and you will receive a receipt for tax purposes in January. 

Let me know if you (or any person or organization you think may be interested) have any questions. Have a wonderful week! Thank you for taking time to read all this!