Kawempe Home Care wish all our partners and friends a Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year
Dear Partners and Friends
In November, we were glad to receive Carol and Tom, our great friends and volunteers from Australia. They worked with us for the entire month in staff training programs, including a Leadership workshop for managers; setting up processes for the Education Support area; setting up procedures for backing up files on the external hard drive and virus protection. They also funded a great Christmas party for 84 primary and secondary school children at the beautiful Botanical gardens in Entebbe. It was a great day
out for the kids and we really appreciated the gesture.
Carol and Tom first came to KHC in 2008 and Tom’s high school in Australia has sponsored the school fees for 16 children for the past 4 years. When asked what changes they have seen since their first visit they said:
"The wonderful welcome we received when we arrived at the clinic was like coming home again. We were happy that there were so many of the old faces still with KHC. The passion of the staff hasn’t wavered. It was great to see that a Day Care had been started for the young children most at risk. It obviously provides them with a safe and loving environment.
The beads project has come a long way with the new bead shop and the large variety of quality beads.
The care and support KHC continue to give the clients especially those unable to attend the clinics is inspiring and we have enormous respect for the work the Community volunteers do.
We must admit we haven’t seen much improvement in the roads and electricity blackouts are more common and for longer which makes it very difficult for people and organisations to make a living.
We have loved our time here and we are sad to be leaving our friends at KHC but we will be back!
"
Children’s Christmas Party
KHC has commenced celebrating Christmas early with the children on the Education Support program enjoying an outing at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens on 19th November. We were very fortunate as the weather favoured us and the children loved the games that were organized for them. The teams enjoyed the competitive environment but no one knew who won as they were too busy laughing.
The wonderful staff provided a cooked lunch which everyone enjoyed and following lunch the Kalimarimbas performed for us. They also charmed other people enjoying the gardens.
Each of the children was presented with a Certificate, a present and a bag of sweets and they were encouraged
to show their dance moves when they went up to get their gifts. The cutting of the cake was the highlight.
The Day Care children are looking forward to their Christmas party next week and the Staff get together will be the following week.
Wonderful collabration
US Embassy Small Grants Project has been a wonderful partner of KHC for the past three years and provided tremendous support for a number of our programs such as: Medicines for patients; Teens Club; Home Visits; Palliative Care; Day Care; and Community Adherence Support in particular the highly successful ‘Text for Change’ which reminded patients to take their medication.
The collaboration with the US Embassy Small Grants Project has made an enormous difference to the lives of many of our clients who have benefited from the programs that were supported. To mark the completion of the project a celebration was recently held at KHC and the Kalimarimbas showed their appreciation by performing for our guests.
Connie Hansen, US Embassy Small Grants Project Coordinator commented "It is rare that the projects we fund are for longer than two years with KHC we have had a relationship for the past 3 years. We saw how new and creative they were with their programs and we are very pleased our funding has made a difference and that KHC has grown and flourished over this time. They do exemplary work for their patients and the community."
Promoting KHC
The International Women’s Organisation had a festival to showcase local art to the broader community at the Kampala International School on 26 November. KHC had a stall and it was a valuable opportunity for people to network. The Kalimarimbas were invited to perform and had the crowd shouting for more. Thank you to Lorrain Kirk for arranging this for us.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you our wonderful support team and the KHC board of directors.
Even though we have had many challenges this year we have been able to deal with them and continue to fulfill our obligations to our clients because of your support. To all our friends, ambassadors, partners and donors we are really grateful for your support, we couldn’t have done it without you.
KHC would like to wish you and your family a very happy, healthy Christmas. It is a time to reflect and a time to reignite the spirit and passion for another year.
God Bless
Dr. Samuel Guma
