Juna Amagara Ministries

April, 2010 - Kagyera Village, Uganda - It was a fierce game, played on a flat pitch surrounded by the hills and forests of Kishanje.  Some of the players wore shoes, some not.  There wasn’t a shin guard in sight.  There were no lines on the field.  The goals were sticks and a crosspiece.  But the boys of Lee House and the boys of Dutki House played like wild men, as if the fate of the world rested on their performance.  These were the finals of a tournament that began with a rotating set of games pitting the four houses of Kishanje Highlands Secondary School:  Rotary, Mutebile, Dutki and Lee against each other for the first House Championship.

The first half ended nil to nil.  Then, fortified with powdered glucose and with eyes on the newly arrived trophy, the Lee House team rallied to score two back-to-back goals in the first five minutes of the second half.  Soon, Dutki house answered with two goals of their own, ending the game in tie.  Five minutes of sudden-death overtime produced no new goals. In a shoot-out, two rounds of shots passed without score.  Then, on the third round, the Lee goalie, wearing canvas work gloves, prevented a key shot to win the game.  The crowd went crazy, singing and hollering, running over the hills in the dark and in the rain back to school.

So, congratulations to Lee House for winning the first Kishanje Highlands House Cup.  And to the valiant fellows of Dutki House who played so hard along side them.  And to the throngs of people who cheered them both to victory.  See the victory video here.

March, 2010 - Oak Brook, IL - At the 6th Annual Juna Amagara Celebration Banquet, Jerry Webb announced that the ministry is now officially in partnership with Children's HopeChest of Colorado Springs, CO (CHC).  "CHC came to Juna Amagara because they were looking for people working effectively in-country to serve the needs of orphans," Webb said. "They are a growing organization with orphan care in Russia, Zambia and Swaziland, more than 10,000 orphans in all.  Working with CHC could easily double the number of orphans served by Juna Amagara in Uganda within one year."

Doug Duffy, a long-time CHC board member said, "We are delighted to have found Juna Amagara and are highly impressed with the work done to date.  As our CEO Tom Davis, author of Fields of The Fatherless, speaks around the country, many more people will become aware of the work that needs to be done in Uganda.  We look forward to working with Ben and his people to save the lives of many, many more children."

The final agreement comes after several months of discussion in Colorado Springs, Chicago and in Kampala, Uganda.  Country Manager Joseph Elotu said, "We have examined the child management and financial policies of Juna Amagara here in Uganda and find them to be in order and surprisingly in synch with what we are doing elsewhere in the country.  I think we will be able to bring much joy to the communities we serve."  (photo by Cathy Petrick)

January, 2010 --  Ben Tumuheirwe proudly reports there was special celebration of all stakeholders, parents, guardians, local government leaders and pupils when the National Primary Leaving Examination results showed that kids graduating from our New Times Primary School at KLAC were the best in Rubanda County, with the lead graduates having scores comparable to those of the best schools in all of Uganda.  This is an outstanding achievement for a school that is only two years old.  Clearly, the leaders and teachers in Kishanje are doing something right.

For 15 years, Uganda has had a program of Universal Primary Education where virtually every child can go to primary school for free through sixth grade.  To progress beyond primary, students must take qualifying exams and once in secondary school, must pass year-end exams to progress to the next level.  Most kids do not progress beyond Primary largely because the learning level is low; there too many kids for too few teachers.  Thus, when Juna Amagara began thinking about orphan care, it became clear the ministry would need to start its own schools.  New Times began in two small rented buildings Kishanje as the Learning Advancement Center was rising out of the earth. First as a day care center with kindergarten, it soon outgrew its space.  Today the school sits high on a hill with multiple buildings and all primary grades.  With manageable class sizes and hand-picked teachers, we've seen kids who were lost in public schools transformed into fully-engaged, hard-working students.  We knew the kids were learning but the Primary Leaving Exams showed us just how well tghey were doing.  Congratulations to everyone at New Times.

Now you can become a friend on Facebook as one of the Supporters of Juna Amagara.  Feel free to comment on the ministry, or offer your thoughts and experiences.  Click HERE to visit our Facebook page.

November, 2009 - It is just one of the grim realities of the AIDS era – parents die and leave kids behind.  If there is no extended family and if no good-hearted soul comes along to take care of them, they have no choice but to take care of themselves.  In most cases, everyone in the family works to survive - hauling water, breaking rocks, tilling the soil, herding goats... and there is no time for school.  Hard labor may yield one meal a day.

For a fortunate few and thanks to generous sponsors from America, 11 kids in primary school and 8 kids in secondary school have found their way into the Juna Amagara program.  They go to school.  They get one hot meal a day.  They inspire their brothers and sisters.  They have hope for the future.  These are the most at-risk children in the district – and they are also the best students, for they know, if they can get a good education, they can provide for their brothers and sisters.  Rick Stearns, the President of World Vision has stated, “The words ‘child-headed families’ should never appear together,” yet they do.  And Juna Amagara is saving them, one child and one day at a time.  For one child's story, read "What Shall We Do with Rachel Cinderella?"

November, 2009 - It has only been three years since the women of Kishanje began weaving again.  The grandmas had lived through nearly 40 years of famine and rebellion and disease.  They had watched their children die of AIDS.  And, at an age when they should be the ones being cared for, they found themselves returned to active duty taking care of their grandchildren.  If they were in the US, they would have been diagnosed as clinically depressed.  Their focus was on survival.  But when Juna Amagara began taking kids into an after-school program and then brought construction work for the Learning Center, and then started a secondary school, things brightened up considerably.

Spirits lifted and the women began weaving again.  The first efforts were poor attempts – no way they would allow these things to be sold.  But today, the baskets are tightly woven with colors and designs unique to Kishanje.  One woman’s circle has turned into 10 where caregivers sit and weave together, talking about their children, telling jokes, at least once a week.  Now the crafts are worth selling.  If you come to Uganda, you will see.  The transformation in the weaving matches the transformation in the community.  And it is a thing of beauty.

In 2006, these young women took advantage of the first opportunity ever available to them to learn sewing and knitting skills. The women began by sharing one sewing machine in a small room. Classes were scheduled around planting and harvesting. Materials were in short supply so practice dresses and shirts were made out of paper bags. But over the months, more equipment arrived and their skills grew until all of them, each with a specialty, became proficient at making clothing, draperies, hand bags and other items.

The school now owns six sewing machines which the graduates will be allowed to use until they can afford to buy their own. (A new Singer treadle machine costs approximately $100.00). They will most likely begin making items for family and friends, but the hope is that in a very few months, they will begin making products for sale in local markets and in Kabale town. “Here, women often drive the economics of the family,” said school Principal Delith Atuheire. “Once these graduates find they can make money with their new skills, we know others will follow and many more families in this village will prosper.” The next class of students, 30 in all, will graduate in 2010.

Plans for KLAC include a library, science center and computer lab, complete with solar power, Internet access and world-class teaching staff.  These should be completed by 2010.  KLAC gives Juna Amagara a unique platform for saving the lives of orphans as we can ensure that they get a first class education in a community environment.  Moreover, with plans to integrate various vocational enterprises into KLAC, it is our goal to make the facility self-sustaining within three years. 

We have made enormous progress with KLAC in a short amount of time and it is only thanks to God's love shown by many caring individuals, businesses and churches that have supported this project.   We continue to encourage people to visit Kishanje and welcome anyone who wants to share their time, talent and treasure with this project. 

View the KLAC Construction Slideshow, Promotion Video (WMV) and Site Plans.