An Update on the James Place During Lockdown
It has been almost three months since we had to close the James Place due to COVID-19. Uganda went into an intense lockdown that has just recently started lifting restrictions. Our borders remain closed, but some shops are allowed to resume work, and we can drive our personal vehicles again. Thankfully we have had enough funds to continue to pay our staff during the lockdown, and we even raised enough money to give them each a bonus in April and May so that they could buy enough food to feed their families. The staff has been so thankful for the extra money as it has been a huge blessing to each and every one of them. Some of our management team wanted to say a huge thank you to donors.
“Since we had the lockdown, a lot of people have been struggling. We are so thankful for the ministry providing for us food and for the support they have been giving us. We are so thankful for them helping us pass through the pandemic.”
Juliana, Artisan Manager of Jewelry Design and Bible Study
Thanks to all the donors who through this trying and hard time thought about us and gave us bonuses to help with food. Thank you so much, may God bless you. I am so grateful!
Barbara, Creative Arts Manager
With schools being closed because of COVID-19, our staff members have to provide more meals at home than they are typically used to. This is a significant financial burden for them, so the donations for our staff to buy food have been an enormous blessing for each and every one of our team. Although they are not coming to work each day, they have peace knowing that they are still receiving their usual salaries while we remain closed.
We have also had the wonderful opportunity to help some of our families living in a nearby fishing slum called Rippon. Because of the increase in rainfall over the last year, Lake Victoria is at its highest water level ever recorded and is causing flooding around the edges of the lake. Rippon is one of those places being flooded. We have nine families there who are in our childcare, preschool, and scholarship programs. Everyone in Rippon has been told to move out by the government because the homes are flooding, and it is no longer safe for them. HEAL was able to help one of our scholarship kids by providing three months of rent for the family to move to a safer location. We also distributed food to the nine families we have in Rippon. Each family received rice, beans, posho, sugar, tea, cooking oil, and matooke. They were all so grateful!
We would not have been able to help all these families without your generosity, so thank you! We greatly appreciate it, and we are so thankful to be able to help our staff and some of the families in our programs during this difficult time. I look forward to the day we can open up the James Place gates again and welcome back all the beautiful faces that make HEAL Ministries what it is today. I miss them all dearly, but I am thankful to know that they are all safe and doing well amid this lockdown.
