Cracking open the champagne!

It was my birthday Monday and I got an extra special present that I didn’t see coming at all!

 

It was news from Uganda that I had started to believe would never happen.

 

The last young person, from the children’s home I used to visit, has left and been resettled with a foster family. 

 

The final child is out of institutional care!!!

 

I received the news from my friend who lives in Uganda and she declared she wished we could crack open a bottle of champagne to celebrate together this huge achievement. 

 

You see it hasn’t been an easy journey to resettle this last child.  This young man is deaf as well as being autistic.  On paper, this young man would be tricky to place and would likely be someone who would horribly age out of institutional care and then end up back on the streets, struggling to survive.  The thought of this was a total nightmare for my friend and I.  He just wouldn’t survive.  It was a heartbreaking situation.

 

And then a miracle happened…..

 

In meeting with a foster family who already foster two girls who grew up with my daughter from the same home, my friend discussed this particular boy and the struggle there would be in resettling him.  To her amazement they offered to take him in for a weekend as a trial.

 

This went well and the girls enjoyed having a brother around, so the family have decided to foster him as well.

 

Over the moon is an understatement. 

 

It’s the BEST birthday present I could ever have asked for.

 

Unbelievably this boy has been out of school for some time as the home/charity failed to pay his fees for him to attend his specialised school.  The school works with hearing impaired children and offers a carpentry course that this special boy loved!  Not only that but he can board here alongside other boys with hearing difficulties or who are deaf, so he has his own social network.  He can then come home to his foster family on weekends and holidays.  It’s a brilliant opportunity for this boy to thrive.

 

Now you’d be thinking this course costs a lot and that would be why the charity have stopped him going there….

 

You’d be wrong!

 

The course and boarding costs a little over £100 a term!!!

 

Yes that’s right, it costs a little under £400 to send this precious boy to this specialised facility to do a course he loves!

 

(Why the charity were letting this boy down I never know but at last he is out of there and we can help him from here on in.)

 

So here’s where I need to ask for your help.  Could you give a one off gift to help this boy stay in school for the year?  If you can, no matter how big or small, you can make a difference to this boys life.  If you see me in person, I can accept your donations and pass them on to Reunite Uganda or you can donate here making sure you state that your donation is for the Reunite part of the Alternative Care Framework in Uganda.

 

If you’d like to hold a fundraising event or have any other ideas how we can continue to raise money for this boy and others like him, please get in touch. 

 

This young man gets to stay in his home country with a family who will love him and attend a school that meets his needs, but he needs a little help from us. 

 

Thank you in advance for helping.