Looking back to our humble beginnings continues to fill me with awe at how far we have come in such a short time - which is entirely due to the incredible support we have found and continue to find along the way.
One of the huge highlights of our recent trip to Uganda for me has to be seeing the growing self confidence and self assurance of the children. From Emma getting a first grade in his Primary leaving exams - to all of the children singing, dancing and doing comedy skits in our talent show (perhaps too confident since they even did a skit where Moreen pretended to be me ... it turns out I have a very high pitched voice!).
One of the excitements of January for the S.A.L.V.E. family is our yearly trip out - what better way to get the year off to a good start? This year we went to Mabira forest where we explored the mighty forest looking for monkeys, snakes and beautiful birds. The children loved learning about their natural heritage and I think we might even have one or two future guides for national parks amongst our ranks now!
The children are now all happily back at school - though they were lucky enough to meet Aunt Juliet (our lovely new staff member) before they went back.So three years on from three people in a cafe with an idea of wanting to do something to provide support and love via education to those who need it most - we have an ever growing team of passionate staff and volunteers, 12 happy and healthy children with a safe home who enjoy school, 15 women learning new skills to earn an income they can invest back into their family, and many more children we have taken home to their family or supported along the way.
What's next you might ask? - Carpentry and more vocational training opportunities in the community with those who need it most.
- More street clinics to allow us to help more children to leave the streets.
- More research into how we can continue to grow and improve the work we are doing and reach out to more of Uganda's most vulnerable people.
Key to all our plans to the future is buying our own land - a home for our growing family, and a place where we will be able to run vocational training courses and become a hub for the community. This is even more key since our landlord keeps trying to push the cost of our rent up.
Why not help us to make that dream a reality and make a Splash for S.A.L.V.E.? Perhaps by swimming a section of the Nile for such a good reason we might get some of the sunshine that goes with it? Fingers Crossed!
