Recent Updates at Cherish Uganda
From 16 to 57 Children
Cherish's Foundation program is growing!
Cherish's 2022 pilot program for children's education was a success! This year, the program has more than tripled in size. Now, 57 children are learning on-site at Cherish Uganda, ranging in age from 4 to 14 years old.
This new program replaced Cherish Primary School; we now create our own curriculum to prepare students for life after graduation (many kids in our community don't go on to higher levels of education after graduating Primary 7) rather than teaching to the Uganda's mandated curriculum. Since the program is smaller than Cherish's former primary school, we are able to give more individualized attention to students. This past week, we celebrated 7 children who had birthdays in January or February. For many of these children, it was their first time celebrating their birthday!
A Rise in Malaria
22 Tested Positive at Cherish Health Center in January
In 2022, every month we would test an average of 55 patients for Malaria, with ~6 positive results. In January alone, we tested 77 individuals for Malaria and 22 tests came back positive. Thankfully, the 22 patients with malaria got treated quickly. We are waiting on the February medical report to see if there's still an abnormal increase in malaria cases for 2023 that needs to be looked into.
The Cornerstone Team
1st Team of Volunteers Since Pre-Pandemic
The Cornerstone team Lived the Rhythm at Cherish Uganda, which means they served alongside Cherish staff with everyday tasks. Some volunteers worked within their speciality (i.e. a nurse working in the health center), while others found joy in building relationships with the Cherish team as they cleaned, cooked, and helped with daily operations. The Cherish team was elated to have a volunteer team to share their Ugandan culture and work with.
6 people
The team was made up of 6 individuals.
1/2 the team
Only 3 of the volunteers had prior international travel experience. None of the volunteers had been to Africa before!
30 hours
It took the team 30 hours of travel time to reach Cherish.
““Wow, caring for kids with HIV is just the tip of the iceberg of what happens here everyday””
Cornerstone Church is based in Austin, Texas with Pastor Dan Underhill. If you would like to coordinate a team trip with your church, family, or work group, please email kathleen@cherishuganda.org.
A Letter from Brent
On His Recent trip to Uganda
When Leah or I come to Cherish (which is generally every quarter) the bulk of our time is devoted to staff discipleship and training. My week was full of multiple hours of teaching each day, sharing every meal with someone, training local pastors, connecting with discipleship groups, training our teachers in some different ways to teach scripture to children, dancing and drums with our team and so much more.
The week was amazing on so many levels, but one of the highlights was being there with the team from Cornerstone. They loved immersing themselves into the work, and completely embraced their role of encouraging our team as they worked hands-on alongside them.
I then flew to the UK and spent time with people who were around when the vision and dream of Cherish was born. I had the privilege of preaching at the church where the 1st group of people started prayihg for what Cherish would become.
It was a full two weeks. Beyond the board meetings, fundraising gatherings and get together withpartner ministries, I saw God move in the lives of many people and I genuinely wish you could have been there with me. The work God is doing there is truly miraculous and it does take all of us to make it happen.
Thank you for the part you play.
Sincerely,
Brent Phillips