ACT Uganda Blog

 ACT started in 2003 with the letter from Richard Turinawe to me. ACT is nearly 20 years strong! As the years pass by, not only does the organization age, but so do all it's constituents. I remember when I first "met" Richard and Generous over email, they had one new baby - Jesse. Now Jesse is nearly as old as ACT and they have 3 more wonderful kids: Jorryn (our God daughter), Josiah and Joash.   As we look into the future, much as we don't want to admit it, we are all growing older - especially those of us involved on the US side! Our board, with the exception of one younger professional are mostly retired. I acknowledge the trips to Uganda at one time were less taxing on me than they are now. We know we won't always be around and are seriously planning how to address that - more younger folks involved in the US... having the Ugandan partners take on more of what we do... setting up social businesses in Muko whose revenue will not only pay wages but sustain ACT&#

It has been since September 2019 since we sent a travel team from the U.S. to Uganda due to COVID. We have made 2 arrangements for trips since then, purchased the airline tickets and had to cancel at the last minute. This August, we hope to "turn the tide!"  August 21st through September 10th we will travel to Muko to work alongside our partners in ACT. There will be a team of 6 of us going: Dave Viele, Karen Viele, Dick Dolinski, Diana Stubig, Barbara Disko and Sue Waechter. We will have a very busy agenda, per usual, including things like:  1. meeting the new Bishop  of Kigezi, Rev. Gaddie Akanjuna, with whom we partner to manage Muko High School, pictured here with Muko High School Head Teacher, Rev Philip  Ntwirenabo.  2. meetings with our health promotion program staff who are working to transform our work into dramas about public health issues and begin to address ways to identify and respond to mental health issues in Muko, 3. see all the incredible physical improvemen

  I a m Prudance Kengyeyo (on the far right in the photo), ACT Staff Assistant/Uniquely Uganda Handcraft Manager. The ACT Handcraft Program has three groups of women artisans: Basket Weavers, Sewers and Beaders.  My responsibilities as the Program Manager are to identify new artisans to join the groups, train artisans or arrange for trainers, coordinate with the Michigan Uniquely Uganda Handcraft Team Leader, Diana Stubig among others. Our partners in Michigan represent our largest market to sell the handcrafts. I receive  orders for specific handcrafts from the U.S., which the women fulfill. As they fulfill the orders, they are paid by me immediately when they deliver their crafts to the ACT Resource Center. When the U.S. teams travel to Muko, they take these handcrafts home in their luggage to sell on behalf of the women. The Program faced some challenges due to the COVID 19 Pandemic because our U.S. volunteers were unable to go out to sell at art fairs and shows. However, I want to

The ACT HONOR Scholarship Fund ( H onesty, O pportunity, N eed, O wnership and R espect) supports students by paying tuition, room and board at both Primary (elementary) and Secondary (high school) schools. The costs for these scholarship for one student for one year is $300. A student who applies must meet two criteria: demonstrate a strong desire to be in school and have a positive and model attitude toward others. Currently, donors in the US have provided for 117 Muko High School Scholarships and 74 Murole Primary School Scholarships. In addition, we have 21 scholarships for students who go on to vocational schools - a total of 212 HONOR Scholarships!  ACT designed the HONOR Scholarship to replace our previous orphan sponsorship program, MukoHOPE. We found some of the kids were not serious about school, felt less responsibility because of their sponsorship and were not finding success. By focusing on the students who really desire to be in school we have seen a substantial increase