The Fortress

Josephine (Right) and her sister

 The girls at The Fortress braiding my hair.
http://www.thefortressuganda.blogspot.com/
The Fortress:

Vision

A society where vulnerable girls and women are empowered to live to their full potential.

Strategies

Providing a safe and loving home for the pregnant teenagers who are abandoned or come from abusive environments.
Provide guidance and counseling.
Training in life skills, for example self esteem.
Educative information about pregnancy and child care.
Hand skills like craft.
Resettling the girls to their families and communities.

Mission

To instill in pregnant teenagers the understanding of their God given value and purpose, grooming them into women of integrity and courage, and help them to develop fully above their limitations to achieve maximum impact in/with their lives.

Josephine, one of our dear friends whom me and Kim met on our first trip to Uganda, and is now Kim's adopted daughter! And my new cousin! :) Is the head of the fortress and the start of it all. Josephine is a beautiful young lady who is 28 or 29 years old ( I can't remember exactly) but only looks like she is 21! She has a huge heart for vulnerable girls and women who are struggling. She created The Fortress as a safe haven for pregnant teenagers in Kampala, Uganda who come from abusive environments. It is amazing all the wonderful things Josephine does for these girls providing them a home and meals, teaching them life skills, providing education and help with pregnancy and child care (she is a mid-wife), providing guidance and counseling from god's word, Teaching them skills they can use to bring income for them and their babies, and finally resettling the girls to their families and communities. She does all this AND still helps other women all over in Kampala. She is a really unique and beautiful person and I am so grateful to have met her. She is someone I really look up to as a true women of faith. Please check out her blog: http://www.thefortressuganda.blogspot.com/ and if there is any way you feel led to help Josephine on her day to day journey with helping young girls and their babies, please let me know!


The ladies at the fortress hand craft beautiful jewelery which is for sale and is how they solely make their income.

Trevor's Story

I met Trevor last year on my first trip to Uganda.

Trevor lives at The Redeemer House orphanage
with 15 other children
The Redeemer House is an AMAZING orphanage
I encourage anyone to read more about it here:
http://www.redeemerhouseorphanage.org/

It was difficult meeting Trevor last year because he was obviously having a difficult time.
He was the cutest little boy, but obviously struggling.
He was crying, I was told by some of the other children they often didn't know why.
Me and Junior, one of the other young men that guides our trips, sat with Trevor
and Junior tried to ask Trevor what was wrong,
Unfortunately, Trevor spoke a different dialect than Junior and he was hard to understand.
I could clearly see that Trevor had some kind of development delay but it was hard to say what.
Although we couldn't communicate with Trevor, I just sat and held him.
His arms and legs were all over the place, he couldn't seem to sit still.
I wasn't sure what his story was at that time or what was going on with him
but my heart broke for him. All I knew at the time was that this abnormally skinny little boy
obviously had a rough life before coming here, and thanking God that he
               was here now.


             Now a year later. 2012.
We traveled back to Jinja to visit Kathy Von at the Redeemer house again.
When I saw Trevor I honestly didn't even believe it was him.
He was doing so well!! It was hard believe he was the same kid.
He looked so much better, his once malnourished body, was now
filling out and he had gotten much taller.
The best part was he now knew some English and was able to say a few words to me.
He was dancing and singing (he is quite the little dancer I may add.)
He told me he remembered me and I can't describe how wonderful that felt.

This time I was able to speak with Kathy about Trevor's story before he came
     to the Redeemer House
She informed me that he has seizures and slow development due to years of malnutrition
They believe he may be epileptic, and are still working to find him the right treatment.
Trevor is also very sensitive, he gets his feelings hurt easily and LOVES attention.
She told me his story actually made the news.
He use to live with his step mother who was very abusive.
When he was brought to her he was bone thin and very malnourished.
His step mother made him sit alone in a room in the corner, where she kept him.
and to punish him, would force him to eat feces.
Trevor has a scar on his forehead that I wonder how he got.
It's hard to know for sure what all these children have been through.
Each one of them has a story.


Some of these children still need sponsors. If you are interested you can find more information at
http://www.redeemerhouseorphanage.org/

Uganda 2012

Our 2012 team just arrived back from Uganda, Africa this Monday. We had two long flights from Entebbe to London and London to Chicago. I have been catching up on sleep and getting back to the flow of things and haven't had time to post much yet! We left May 16th and returned home May 28th. This years trip was amazing, it's hard to explain everything that went on, mostly because there is so much to say and no words to describe it. I am already praying for the people God will choose to come along with us next year and I can't wait to see who they will be. Unlike last year, I was able to cope with this years trip much better. Last year, I struggled with leaving and knowing how much need and despair I was leaving behind to go back home to my comfy life where I have everything I need. It was hard on me, and my dad didn't even want me to go back this year because of it, but I am so glad that I did. It was different this time. I knew what to expect and things didn't hit me as hard, but what helped the most was the places we visited and seeing a new hope in things. I was even able to meet a few children I met last year who my heart ached to see because it seemed things wouldn't ever turn around for them and now they are doing incredibly well, its amazing to see how God can change lives.

It is so hard to tell everything in one post so I have decided to make several everyday for a while until I am able to cover everything :) I will include some personal stories, people I met along the way, places we went, things we saw, and all the wonderful blessings this trip had for me and the people of Uganda. If there is something specific you would like me to post about feel free to message me on facebook, email me, or find me at church!

love,
Lynne

Rummage Sale Booth at Jay County High School This Week!! For Uganda Trip.

 


March 9th - 11th our Uganda, Africa team will be holding a rummage sale at Jay County High School to raise money for our trip.
Our booth will be open during the following times:
Friday      5 pm - 9 pm
Saturday  8 am - 4 pm
Sunday    12 pm - 3 pm

Please stop out to support, if you have some extra time :) We will have a ton of clothes and other things that we will be selling!

You will defiantly be able to find some African souvenirs! Including African hand made jewelry