Hello, friends of Tusubira!

We wanted to let you know that Tusubira is currently undergoing some organizational changes. After much thought and prayer, we are excited about a new direction and vision for our organization as well as what we feel will be a more sustainable model of supporting our brothers and sisters in Uganda. However, we covet your prayers as we spend the next months planning and visioning this new direction. We are looking forward to sharing more with you in the months to come! Stay tuned!

Peace to you,
Kate - for the entire Tusubira team.

check out the Facebook event page!

Tusubira 2008 1st Quarter Newsletter is here!

Download the PDF version

Two wonderful things at once!
Tusubira’s friends from Acting On Aids, an advocacy group at University of Washington, is hosting an ice cream fundraiser!
We are hoping to raise funds to expand the current pig sty at STAO, and finish construction of the STAO Community Center.
Also, hear from Uganda Summer Vision Trip team members, who spent a month in Mafubira last summer.

Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: University of Washington. Lander L-132 and Haggett Dining Room

Check out Facebook Event page for more info!

Help Finish STAO Community Center in Jieun’s name!
Tusubira’s friend Jieun Kim from Southern Califonia has offered her friends an opportunity to make a donation to Tusubira as her birthday gift!
All donations are tax-deductible and will go to support construction of the new STAO Community Center which will provide space for a computer lab for the locals, sewing machines for the widows, and housing for orphans and vulnerable children in Mafubira, Uganda!

Checks may be sent to:

Tusubira
4233 7th Ave. NE Apt404
Seattle, WA 98105

Or you can donate via paypal on our website!

Melissa just graduated this year from UW, with a double major in English and Comparative History of Ideas. Melissa joined the staff after returning from summer 07 vision trip to Uganda where she worked on the education team.

Why do I want to help?

In my world, buying a $3 cup of coffee is a typical, every day occurrence for many. In their world, one would be fortunate to earn the $3 it takes to feed their children in a month of exhausting labour. In my world, going to university, graduating, and getting a job are all ordinary expectations. In theirs, getting a basic education is a luxury few can afford. For me, the choice between a sandwich, spaghetti, or sushi may prove a culinary dilemma. For them, getting to eat at all is a constant, daily struggle.

It seems that the discrepancies between my world and that of those who live in Mafubira are relentless and unbridgeable. It is difficult to comprehend why, and by what arbitrary fate should the community of Mafubira live in such dire need, while I take so many comforts for granted. For they are no less deserving than I, no less worthy; no less beautiful or and loved by our Creator.

I want to help because though I have never deserved it, I have been given much. And I believe that I’ve been blessed to be a blessing, so the real question is: How could I not help? My hope is for the children and the community of Mafubira to know that they are not forgotten or alone in their struggles. For them to enjoy the pleasure and dignity of being able to provide for those they love through sustainable development projects. For them to encounter the joys and the love of God who delights in them in spite of the difficult circumstances they face each day.

I want to help because though I may not be able to do much, I am able to share my blessings and abundance with my brothers and sisters in Mafubira – for they are beautiful, they are worthy, and they are loved.

Shawna Okamoto is the Board Coordinator at International Community Health Services, a non-profit medical and dental center that serves low-income Asian and Pacific Islander (API) populations as well as other communities in Seattle and King County. Shawna joined the Tusubira staff this January (2008) after falling in love with the children at STAO while in Uganda in August and September 2007. She primarily works on finances and donor management.

Why do I want to help?

In the summer of 2007 God took me on a journey with ten other faithful followers to STAO. Before deciding to travel to Mafubira, issues like poverty, the orphan epidemic, and the AIDS pandemic seemed like evasive concepts that I knew existed but could do nothing to help. When I would hear stories about the people there and the devastating facts of their lives, I would say to myself “That’s terrible! I need to do something to help.” But when faced as an individual with the actual magnitude of these issues, I felt like throwing my hands up in frustration, knowing that I could do nothing about it. However, I have to admit that my inactivity was attributed to more than just frustration. It was also due to fear—fear that God would (lovingly) sweep me out of my comfort zone to actually DO His mission of bringing hope to the hopeless. As I thought more about this goal of His, I realized how unaware I was of this being His plan not mine; not my selfish, unplanned, faulted, incomplete plan, but His plan, which is holy, pure, good, and sovereign. God doesn’t need me to do anything to complete His will. Rather, He’s inviting me—unholy, imperfect and sinful—to join Him in His glorious plan. How could I say “No”?

After returning from the trip to Uganda and after seeing God’s miraculous works I once again felt distant from His mission. Those issues again felt so far away and impersonal and I fell into the trap of feeling as if I could do nothing. When Kate invited me to join Tusubira staff I knew I could regain the intimacy of working hand-in-hand with the followers in Mafubira. I am so grateful and thankful that God has allowed me to take part of His glorious mission and I hope to grow in becoming a better servant for His Kingdom.

Healthcare

* HIV Testing
Testing for HIV is an emotionally trying, but important need in much of Africa. The people of Uganda who know their status can receive free Anti-Retro Viral medicine to fight against HIV. During our stay in Uganda, we hired doctors to test 280 kids and adults at STAO, in the village of Mafubira, and at a neighbouring village, Bugembe.

* Clinic Visits
We made two visits to the health clinic to seek care for several STAO children. Their ailments ranged from Tuberculosis, to chiggers (parasites that entered their bloodstream through their feet), to severe stomach pain. All the children taken to the doctor were doing much better by the time we left Mafubira.

* Clinic Surveys
STAO’s vision is to eventually set up a health clinic at the STAO site as well as a mobile clinic for the village. STAO’s hopes are to provide free medical services and to charge only for medicine and vaccinations. We visited and surveyed over 50 neighbouring households on topic such as their health needs, lifestyle, and HIV status. The results from the surveys will help STAO determine what services and medicine to provide in their clinic. The Uganda District of Health Services recently asked to employ the results of the survey for official use!

Education

* Teaching
We were extremely blessed with opportunity to spend much of our time with the kids at STAO! We practiced conversational English with them, as well as held English classes to teach reading and grammar. What a joy it was to teach kids who were so eager to learn. During our time at STAO, some of the children learned how to write in letter format and used their newly learned skills to write letters to our friends back at home! STAO currently runs a primary school and hopes to have the funds to eventually open a secondary school as well.

* School Materials
STAO was in dire need of new school materials. With a portion of the budget, we were able to buy new chalkboards, workbooks, exercise books and pens for the advancement of the children’s education.

Sustainable Income Generation

* Pigs!
We had the amazing opportunity to work hand-in-hand with the locals to build a pigsty for STAO! With the help of STAO Norway – a partner of STAO Uganda – the orphanage was able to purchase 5 pigs and a cow to start the project. As the pigs reproduce, STAO will be able to sell the pigs for income.* New Building
STAO has been working on a second building for three years now. We were able to use your gifts to help finish the building – adding cement floors, windows, doors, ceilings, and electricity. The new building will serve as a space with multiple purposes: a space for sewing machines for widows’ use, a lab for computer classes, administrative offices, a children’s reading room, and hopefully a health clinic in the near future.

Reflection…

As a team, us muzungu were incredibly blessed not only by our interactions with the Mafubira community, but also in our relationships with each other. Besides sharing the use of a single bathroom, we were also able to share our incredible experiences as a single body! In daily devotions each morning and debriefing sessions at night, we processed our frustrations, our doubts, and our joys together. Whether in rejoicing or in mourning, we worshiped and prayed collectively.
Together, we also experienced the miracle of God’s grace as we carried out HIV testing on the STAO children. The night before the HIV/AIDS testing, we had gathered as a team to pray for God’s wisdom in dealing with the emotionally difficult time we were anticipating. We prayed for the ability to show love to the kids in spite of their status, for hope to comfort the kids, and for His peace to prevail. Little did we know that our tiny, human- sized prayers would be met by a God-sized miracle! In that first day, there were ZERO positives in HIV/ AIDS testing among the STAO kids. Those results blew us away especially since most of the STAO kids are AIDS orphans and because the simple reality is that over 60% of Uganda is HIV positive. In the following days, we would test about 280 children and adults in Mafubira and in neighboring Bugembe. Of those, only 6 were HIV positive.
Our visit to Mafubira was altogether an experience of God’s beauty and blessing even in the midst great difficulty. There, we experienced miracles, witnessed unbreakable faith, and encountered a joy like we never had before. If we didn’t know it before, we know for certain now that our God is one for defies borders and situations, and that His love overcomes everything. He is all- powerful, and He is Love. Mukamaye bazibwe!

Links

Read our team’s Trip Blog during the time in Uganda!

Here are team members‘ blurb before the trip!

Tusubira’s friend Tanner Weber’s Mosquito Net Drive was a great success! Enough funds were raised to buy over 200 mosquito nets for the kiddos at STAO and greater Mafubira village! The mosquito nets will significantly help prevent number of malaria among vulnerable children at STAO!

Sandra (7) lives close to STAO with her 3 loving sisters and their father. Extremely weak and very ill when we met her, Sandra suffers from full-blown AIDS and TB. Her illness tends to separate her from the other kids and Sandra keeps to herself, shying away from most social and physical contact. Yet we witnessed amazing progress in her while we were at STAO. After a month, her health had improved tremendously and we were overjoyed to see her able to walk, run, and even play. She will continue to be on ARVs and will hopefully be able to attend Primary 1 this year.

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