The Angel Projects Mission 2021
Busy Days, Blessings, and Plan Bs
It was so exciting to return to our beloved community of Rubuguri, Uganda, after the bitter disappointment of our 2020 trip’s cancelation due to COVID.
We arrived at the Angel Projects’ house amidst laughter, hugs, and lots and lots of love. We were thrilled to see all the familiar faces and to finally be back in this place that’s become our second home. It was amazing to see the growth that’s taken place in our absence, from the physical construction to the implementation of new community projects.
Our first night in Rubuguri was a time of reconnecting with old friends, reminiscing about past trips, and looking forward to our organization’s future.
The next day, we hit the ground running!
This year, we were blessed to be joined by four hardworking volunteers who took the projects they were assigned and made them their own. Grace Foster, Stacy Majchrowski, Brooke Majchrowski, and Adam Majchrowski made the journey with us this past summer and they were true blessings to us and the entire community.
We introduced two new projects this year, the Greenhouse Project and the Saving Grace project, as well as our new Youth Ministry. We also worked hard to improve our existing projects, including the Elderly Project, the Bakery Project, and the Children’s Ministry. Our days in Uganda this year were jam-packed with hard work, productivity, and progress for this lovely community!
We faced some challenges throughout the month, including paperwork glitches that caused two members of our team to be left behind in Chicago for a couple of extra days, cancelled flights due to the crisis in Afghanistan that led to our volunteers’ having to reschedule and rebook their flights home and, worst of all, our Brand Ambassador, Danielle, was unable to make the trip due to the COVID regulations in home country of Scotland.
Still, we persisted, God provided, our volunteers stepped up to the challenges, and we found solutions and ended up having an amazing trip with projects that are making a lifechanging impact on the citizens of Rubuguri—and on us!
Green Thumbs, Healthy Locals, and a Clean Environment
The realization of our Greenhouse Project has exceeded our expectations, and we are so excited about the impact it’s having on the community!
This project began when we saw a need for fresh vegetables to fill a nutrition gap in the locals’ diet, particularly amongst the elderly. The idea for the project was first introduced by Danielle, who saw that with a greenhouse we would be able to grow vegetables that wouldn’t otherwise thrive in this area, and we would be able to grow it year-round.
The construction of the greenhouse also fulfills another need, the disposal of used plastic, as the walls are built out of repurposed plastic bottles. In this community, there is no garbage pickup, and the locals often burn their used plastic, releasing dangerous toxins into the air. So, the Greenhouse Project is the perfect solution to this problem. Danielle spent the past two years designing this project and was planning to oversee its construction and implementation this summer. When she was unable to come on the trip, we were concerned about how the greenhouse would successfully continue without her. Then, God blessed us by bringing Stacy Majchrowski to our mission.
Stacy has extensive experience with gardening, and she’s very creative as well as tenacious. Through her leadership, the Greenhouse Project was completed ahead of schedule, and we are now growing an abundance of green vegetables that will be much needed additions to the local diet. When Stacy went home, one of our staff members, Gard, took over as the project manager for the Greenhouse Project, and he’s been doing a great job watering and maintaining the seedlings as well as repotting the plants, which are growing quickly—it will soon be time to harvest!
Many members of the community have come by to see the greenhouse and are learning about many different vegetables and their nutritious value in the everyday diet from Justus, our general manager. Jus
tus is educating many on the importance of a balanced diet as well as working with the people who are interested in learning how to farm and harvest in a greenhouse environment. We are looking to build more of these greenhouses throughout the community, but first we want to ensure the recipients are knowledgeable of the greenhouse environment, so this project becomes a long lasting and self-sustaining project. It’s important to the Angel Projects that we not only build, but we ensure the people have the information and education to continue successfully.
We believe in leaving a positive impact.
New Recipes = New Opportunities
Our Bakery Project, Sprinkles of Joy, has grown quite a bit in the past two years!
Danielle is the Bakery’s Project manager, and she has been faithfully supporting and guiding the project from home in Scotland. Over the past two years, the ladies in Kashija have mastered their special corn muffin recipe, which is now being sold locally in four different tea shops and one tourist lodge.
This summer, our volunteer Stacy Majchrowski brought several new recipes to the project and taught the bakers how to make them; they learned to bake banana muffins, carrot muffins, and lemon muffins. The ladies were able to make the banana muffins successfully on their own, so this is the next product we will be marketing throughout Rubuguri. We also brought back Danielle’s delicious passionfruit jam, which has already sold to two local lodges.
The most exciting news this summer was that we hired a new staff member to join Angel Projects Uganda; Demas will be in charge of the Bakery Project and the production of the passionfruit jam to complete ongoing orders. He will also help with the greenhouse and anywhere else he’s needed.
Demas has been part of the Angel Projects family since 2017; he’s a trained chef who has provided all our meals during every mission we make to Rubuguri. We’re so happy to bring him on with us full-time!
Bringing Hope to the Leaders of Tomorrow
We had a fantastic time at this year’s children’s ministry! Each meeting consisted of singing and dancing, a Bible lesson, a craft, and a small gift for each child. Throughout the month, the children learned about salvation, how to be Jesus’ friend, and how to grow in their relationship with Jesus. Each week, we had 35-50 children attend our Bible class, which was a fantastic turnout--almost double what we were expecting!
The children really enjoyed the program, and hopefully little hearts were changed to live for Jesus!
We started our youth ministry for the FIRST TIME this year! It was such a blessing to be able to begin a program for the teenagers in our community. Our youth group currently consists of 15 students, and they received our new program with open arms and enthusiasm. Each week, we started our meeting by playing games, which the teens loved, and then we had a time of worship and a Bible lesson. The lessons were interactive, so the students had the chance to work together and explore the Bible for themselves.
We were able to form new relationships with these precious youth, and they’re excited for the youth ministry to return next summer!
Health and Healing through Saving Grace
This year, we had the privilege of introducing the Saving Grace Project to our mission. The purpose of this project is to teach basic First Aid and over-the-counter treatments to young women in the community who are interested in pursuing a career in nursing. Not only is this a great opportunity for these women, but these are also much needed skills in this community with little access to healthcare.
The topics covered this year were hygiene, taking vital signs, signs and symptoms, caring for minor wounds, bandaging major wounds for transportation to the hospital, choking, and initial CPR.
This year, the classes were taught by one of our volunteers, Grace Foster, MSN, RN, and the program was a success; now, the girls learned several important skills that they can use to help others in their community, particularly the elderly as these young women are also part of our Elderly Project.
These ladies now also have a solid foundation to build upon as they continue their education in the medical field. Another part of the Saving Grace Project was weekly seminars for community members taught by our general managers, Justus and Syliver.
Each week, ten young women came to our campus to learn about hygiene, nutrition, and basic First Aid. This knowledge will enable them to make their families and communities healthier and safer as they become the Angel Projects Brand Ambassadors for the Saving Grace Project. The seminars are scheduled to continue monthly throughout the next year to keep the mission and education alive .
We are so thankful for this new project and the positive changes it will make in our community!
A Hand-Up to a Brighter Future
We are so happy to introduce you to Eva Namanya, the first recipient of Angel Projects’ Nursing School Sponsorship!
Eva attended one semester of nursing school, but because of extenuating circumstances and financial difficulties, she was forced to drop out. Eva is a talented and promising young woman as well as a hard worker and an accomplished student, so we didn’t feel we could just stand by and allow her to lose her dream of becoming a nurse and helping her community.
Eva was part of the Saving Grace Project this summer, and at the end of the program, we told her that we will be sponsoring her return to nursing school. Eva is so excited to continue her education, and on her school breaks she plans to return to the Saving Grace Project to share her knowledge with the other young women in the program and to help serve the elderly and other members of the community.
Eva is very intelligent, fluent in English, and determined to succeed.
We are so blessed to be able to contribute to her future, but we need your help!
Become a sponsor for Eva by donating to https://www.theangelprojects.org/donate and choose Nursing Student Sponsorship.
Looking Ahead to 2022
It’s always difficult for us to leave Rubuguri at the end of a trip, but we have been excited to start working on our new projects as we look ahead to 2022! The focus of next year’s trip will be our educational programs; we will be bringing classes in finances & business administration, computer operation, and ESL teacher training.
During the coming months, we’ll be busy writing curriculum and planning to teach these courses. Of course, we’re also continuing to monitor and maintain all our existing projects, and we need your help to keep everything running smoothly.
Partner with us as we continue following God’s lead for bringing faith, health, and happiness to Uganda! https://www.theangelprojects.org/donate
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