Perspective

I want to introduce you to four very special people. Denis, Patrick, Faima, and Jenipher. These precious souls take care of the children that live at Blessing Hands 4Children.

Denis is the director of Blessing Hands 4Children. He works hard advocating for the children. At the tender age of 24, he has taken on full responsibility for 15 children and is helping with many other needs for other children in the village.

We were chatting this week and he brought to my attention that the three people who work tirelessly to feed and take care of the children at Blessing Hands on a daily basis have not received one red cent for the hard work that they provide. He was asking if we could do something for them.

So, I asked Denis what would be considered a fair wage in Uganda for the type of work that they do at the orphanage. He said that the government doesn’t have any guidelines, but thought that 150,000 shillings per person per month would be fair. That is approximately $42.00 in American currency. FOR A MONTH. PER PERSON. I’ll give you a minute to wrap your head around that.

Now, I’m sure that someone out there in blog heaven is going to say…..but the cost of living is probably a lot cheaper in Uganda than in America, right????? The answer to that question would be NO.

Just a quick internet search shows that if a family of 4 in Uganda were fed the same foods that a family of 4 in the United States it would cost a Ugandan family approximately $550.00 a month, or approximately 1,922,000 shillings........Patrick has 4 children. Jenipher has 4 children. Faima is an elderly grandmother caring for her granddaughter.

According to movehub.com, Ugandans spend 275.86% of their income on food compared to Americans spending 7.04% of their income on food. These are ridiculous figures, but it proves my point. Forty-two dollars for one month doesn’t go far in taking care of a family of 4 in Uganda. Currently there is a drought, which makes access to food even more difficult. I have seen with my own eyes, families resorting to eating termites. It may be a delicacy in some countries (GROSS), but according to my Ugandan friends, it is a necessity, not a "treat".

As a Christian ministry, I cannot accept the fact that people are going hungry. That they are unable to provide for their families while working for a ministry that we support! Yesterday I sent them their first official pay for serving at Blessing Hands 4Children. I don’t know how God will provide for this need, but I feel strongly about not contributing to the problem of good people not being able to provide for their families.

I know that not everyone can help financially, but if you could please share our website and Facebook pages with your friends and family, maybe they can help.

Thank you so much for reading my ramblings! I appreciate you all for supporting and loving on the ministries that This Is Hope partners with.

Until next time..............This Is Hope