Maranatha Project Summary
Background and Overview |  Marantha's Vision and Goals |  Maranatha Current News |  How You Can Help

Background and Overview
Besides the Ugandan beaders, OU also supports the Maranatha Integrated Schools Project (Maranatha) located in Mityana Uganda. Mityana is about 45 miles west of the capital city of Kampala. Maranatha consists of 3 primary schools, a high school and a vocational school encompassing about 1,000 impoverished students, many of whom are orphans, and employing over 40 staff members. Maranatha also operates a nearby small 49 acre farm, and a chicken project which is located next to the vocational school.

Patrick Walusimbi and his wife, Eva, started Maranatha nine years ago when they began accepting orphans from the community into their home, and shortly thereafter began providing for their education. As word of their generous actions spread, more and more parents and caregivers began bringing their children or orphans to them, often when they knew they were dying of AIDS and were fearful that their children would soon be alone in the world with no one to watch out for them. 

OU board member, Amy Valenzuela, was volunteering in Uganda at this earlier time, and helped Patrick and Eva with the initial schooling project. She is excited about continuing the support of this project through Outreach Uganda’s efforts. She hopes OU donors will be excited to share in Maranatha’s vision and in helping Maranatha become self-sustaining, and able to provide even more help to the Mityana community.

The largest Maranatha primary school is called Mzigo and houses about 500 students. The high school and vocational school are also located here. Ten or so miles away are 2 other primary school locations in Kiggalama and Nkonya. Kiggalama’s school started about 2 years ago and now boasts 260 students. Nkonya’s school started about 4 years ago and has about 150 students. The high school/vocational school, which was built in 2007, now has almost 100 students.

Maranatha’s Vision and Goals
OU’s goals and mission are also encompassed within Maranatha’s objectives. Maranatha operates with a mission to “empower poor women, children and youth to overcome poverty and vulnerability to ill health through education, seminars, workshops, life skills development and enhanced access to social and economic development. Maranatha is committed to:

•  Rescue destitute children and defend their rights

•  Give these children free but quality education

•  Make vulnerable children aware of the dangers of HIV/AIDS

•  Fight stigma, encourage and counsel HIV/AIDS children

•  Support and provide spiritual growth

•  Provide food and shelter

Maranatha 2009: Current News and Projects
In spite of its remarkable growth during the past nine years, demand from the community, which has been devastated by AIDS, still outpaces Maranatha’s capacity. According to Patrick, the Mzigo schools are rejecting 70% of potential new students, and could not accept any more orphans to board at the school because of capacity limitations. Patrick explained that Maranatha is the only school in the area which provides subsidized education, room and board for poor or orphaned children.

Girls Dormitory: Through several generous grants from other Maranatha partners, Maranatha completed construction of a girls’ dormitory which can now house 100 girls, many of whom are orphans. This new addition opened in February 2009. Prior to this, only 40 girls (ages 4 to 15) were able to be housed in a converted classroom area which was jammed with 3-tier metal bunk beds that were covered with worn out blankets. 

Chicken project: The first batch of 1400 chickens arrived in March 2008. Although egg laying capacity has been low due to crowded conditions in the chicken coop, and the high price of feeds, the school children are now able to have an egg a couple of times per week. This is a welcome addition to their normal daily two meals of only porridge and beans.

Vocational school: The new vocational school was constructed in 2007 and was ready for use for the 2008 school year. Although much supplies and equipment are still needed, both students and staff were excited to be able to have educational opportunities beyond primary school (6th grade).


How You Can Help
1. Donations of all amounts are welcomed for our ongoing help with the small day to day needs of operating such a large school. There is often not enough money to cover things such as shoes and uniforms for all the children. Donate now for day to day school needs.

2. Make a contribution specifically to help the new vocational school obtain all of its needed equipment and training materials. Donations for computer upgrades and repairs, software, sewing equipment and supplies, and carpentry tools are urgently needed. Donate now for vocational equipment and supplies.

3. More books and curriculum materials are needed especially for the newly created high school/vocational school library. The library shelves are meagerly stocked at present. Both students and staff hope for more materials soon so that the high school students can be more competitive on the national exams which they are required to take in order to progress in their education. Donate now for library books and curriculum materials.

4. The chickens urgently need your help too! Donate now to purchase more chicken feed and medications, buy chicken wire to build an outdoor ventilated area for the chickens.

5. If you, or an organization with which you are involved, is considering a mission/work trip to Uganda, Maranatha could use your help with one of its current projects. Please contact us to discuss this possibility further.

6. Last but not least, Maranatha has a lengthy list of worthy capital campaign and enterprise development projects that need assistance. But they are beyond OU’s current ability to fund them without specific large donors stepping forward to offer their help. If anyone is desirous of doing this, please contact us and we would be delighted to assist you in determining how you can make a lasting and significant impact on the lives of the children in the Mityana community. As always, we will use our on the ground knowledge and experience to make sure your funds are used wisely, and expeditiously for their intended purpose. Examples of current major items are: purchasing additional land immediately adjacent to the current Mzigo vocational school and chicken farm (cost approximately $7,000 per plot), or constructing a boys’ dormitory similar to the girls’ dormitory.

Noncash donations: Unfortunately we have to discourage donations of noncash goods due to the extremely high cost of shipping them overseas, and because of the high amount of duty that is often assessed on goods coming into Uganda. Theft of packages is also a common occurrence. It often costs about $10 per pound to ship items into Uganda using a trackable method of delivery. On a recent $90 digital camera shipped into Uganda, duty was assessed at a 35% rate (it was actually a better 18% rate but assessed on an inflated camera value of $190). If you envision donating and shipping large container size quantities of goods into Uganda and can help cover the cost of shipping the container, then please contact us to discuss such possibilities further regarding books, medical supplies and similar items.