In this month’s episode, enjoy the sounds and hospitality of Uganda. While visiting Uganda this winter, Rachel Andrews, VP of Community Partnerships, sat down with three CarePoint Project Coordinators. Combined, Ezra, Stella, and Philip have 15 years of experience leading communities in Uganda. These three are working in their communities everyday, waking up early (very early!), and building life-changing relationships with community members.
If you’ve ever wondered what self-care and encouragement look like to HopeChest staff in Uganda, what opposition they face in child advocacy, and what kind of before-and-after transformation they are seeing in their communities, you’ll seriously enjoy this episode!
“The sense of ownership of the programs or the projects that we implement as an organization, the community has accepted that these are their own projects. And therefore they need to be on top of everything, from the time of planning, towards the time of implementation or monitoring of these projects. And this gives us a very strong hope that the sustainability that we yearn for is soon happening. That is the biggest change that I am seeing in my community.” Ezra
If you want to support future leaders in Uganda, you can donate to the Uganda Leadership and Development Program. From now until March 31st, each of your dollars (up to $15,000) will be matched by the doTERRA Healing Hands Foundation. Help us take advantage of this exciting matching gift opportunity! When you empower a future leader, you empower a community. Consider giving an impactful gift today at hopechest.org/ugandaleadership.
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ABOUT THE HOST
Sitting in the interviewer’s seat is Rachel Andrews, who has been working with HopeChest for 19 years. As VP of Community Partnerships, Rachel leads the team responsible for managing all aspects of community partnerships, both locally and internationally. She also travels frequently to our overseas offices and CarePoints around the globe for ongoing relationship building.
ABOUT THE GUESTS
Ezra has been working with Children’s HopeChest for five years, and is the CarePoint Project Coordinator for Kakira CarePoint. Kakira CarePoint, is located in the Jinja District in the Southwestern part of the Eastern region of Uganda along the northern shores of Lake Victoria. Kakira experiences favorable climate, and the soils are suitable for the growing of various crops. This community is especially impacted by the sugar industry.
Stella has been working with Children’s HopeChest for three years, and is the CarePoint Project Coordinator for Adacar CarePoint. Adacar CarePoint is located in the Katakwi District in the Teso region of Northeastern Uganda. Over the past 50 years, the Adacar community has suffered massive displacement due to the Karamojong people group (neighboring nomadic herdsman), causing death and suffering. Further displacement was caused by the June 2003 attack of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which disrupted the people of Adacar’s economic livelihoods.
Philip has been working with Children’s HopeChest for seven years, and is the Project Coordinator for Kaberamaido CarePoint. Kaberamaido CarePoint is located in Eastern Uganda. It is a semi-urban area that has the availability of clean water, but harsh weather makes it hard to meet the nutritional needs of the community. Because of the large swamp area surrounding the district, there is also a high risk of malaria. Mechanic school, carpentry and tailoring are a few of the vocational courses offered for the older youth.
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“Build Relationships. Break Poverty.” is a podcast that challenges the Western perception of international poverty by elevating the voices of local leaders and processing how we can help to alleviate poverty without harming those living in vulnerable communities.
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