Mission & family updates. Please help with planting trees!

[EcoMercy International]

Dear friends,

How are you doing? May God bless all those who pray for us and donate! We thank God for you!

Late last week we were able to add signage to the gated entrances (see above). And about March 16th we installed the first of two solar lighting systems, which were urgently needed due to the return of students and commencement of school after a long break. Through your donations we funded one system for the secondary boys and girls dorms and one for the primary school.

Here the system at secondary is going up:

We await photos of the installation at the primary school.

Below: Simon Kisa of "Sun Power, Limited,” ascends the school roof to install the one-panel system. The system costs 1,385,000 shillings (approximately $400) and can serve to light both the boys & girls secondary dormitories:

 

In this photo we see also one of our previously installed rainwater capturing tanks made from Interlocking Stabilized Soil Bricks (ISSBs):

The solar lighting system will also be able to charge cell phones. Teacher Mark Lunagula writes: “Please I would like to appreciate you for the opportunity you gave us of getting us solar. It's really an achievement and am from teaching right now evening preps.” Thus you see the lighting is able to extend the time in which teaching and studying can occur!

We have also been able to help Annah towards her degree in education so that she can teach at St. John Chrysostom School. See below the most recent photo of Annah with her brother, Mark, & Mark’s boy, which I also shared in the previous newsletter:

These small children are boarding students, living at the primary school:

Fr. Stephen writes: "We have total number 97 students at secondary section, 28 in boarding and 69 day-schoolers. In primary there are 119 pupils, 17 are in boarding section and 102 are day-schoolers. Tuition payments in both schools are a general problem. Few parents have responded. But good enough, they contributed maize, of which may not take us through the term. Because some hasn't yet brought maize. So both Headteachers are tasked to mobilize them

"We have 9 candidates in primary-seven class being registered for primary leaving exams. And we have 4 candidates in senior-four in secondary, also being registered for candidate class.

"We have 9 teachers at primary, including the headteacher, one cook, and one matron who is in charge of the boarders. We have 14 teachers at secondary section, one bursar, one cook, and one matron. We haven't yet recruited gatekeepers, due to low sources of income.”

Parents have been asked to contribute just 50,000 shillings ($15 per term) which can barely pay for food & teacher salaries, but it ensures the involvement of parents in their child’s education.

Practicing traditional dance:

This quarter your donations were also able to pay for a 36-passenger bus so that parish and village members could attend a church function in Kampala, a service with the new Archbishop Jeronimos Muzeeyi. The focus of our charity is Christ-centered education and sustainability, however, given that people in the village do not have cars, any way to assist them with travel is a refreshment to them.

One of the roles of an archbishop is to seek the friendship and goodwill of influential people in Uganda, who may be able to help us or at least not interfere in our work. Here the archbishop meets with King William Gabula of the Busoga Kingdom, whose full name is "William Wilberforce Kadhumbula Gabula Nadiope IV:"

The Busoga Kingdom is one of four extant constitutional monarchies in Uganda.

Our dean, Stephen Lunagula, is dean of the Busoga Region, so we hope to one day help other communities and schools within the region.

Your donations also funded two goats to provide meat for the annual parish feast day, celebrating the “Annunciation" of the Angel Gabriel to Mary that she would bear the Savior.

At the feast we always remember Mary’s willingness to receive the message of the angel, Gabriel, that she would become the mother of the Savior, because she could have refused. In this humble willingness to accept the will of God, Mary is an example to all of us. There is no salvation without belief in the goodness of God’s will.

Fr. Stephen sent this photo on January 23rd. This is a Mango tree which I planted during my visit of February, 2018:

When I first met Fr. Stephen he was making student’s desks out of trees on the property. He had hired a man to mill boards using a simple chainsaw and a steady hand. Other trees had been cut down to use as firewood to cook meals for the students and there were not too many trees left.

Thus please help us to plant trees before too much time goes by. According to tradition, St. Nectarios, when he was rebuilding a monastery on the Greek island of Aegina planted 5000 pine trees and many pistachio trees, even changing the climate of the island.

Through your help there can be abundant fruit growing on the campus. And in time we can help local parents to plant their own "food forests.” We need your help because given the complex entrepreneurial nature of running a school, Fr. Stephen has not managed to begin a tree nursery. Please pray for young men to see our vision and be willing to give their labor to God and neighbor on our permaculture farm, trusting in God for their provision.

See our current needs below:

Current needs:

1. Planting trees: Mark Lunagula has prepared a budget for purchasing trees: *20 Pencil trees @ 12,000; *30 Palm trees @ 15,000; *30 Pine trees @ 15,000; *20 Mangoes @ 15,000; *20 Oranges @ 20,000; *20 Apples @ 30,000; *10 Guavas @ 15,000; *20 Pawpaws @ 15,000; *15 Jack fruits @ 20,000; *15 Avocados @ 20,000; Transport @ 150,000; Total expenditure = 3,640,000 ($1040).

2. Plastering and painting the primary kitchen ($800) and the primary teacher's house ($260).

3. Turning the utility structure into a living quarters ($2660.). See budget:

4. Continuing to help Annah finish her degree in education. About 2.5 semesters and about $1200 more is needed.

Total: $5,960

5. Fixing the permitter fence. Purchasing animals may need to wait until we can do this. A barbed wire fence with wooden stakes, which we installed very cheaply has been damaged recently by termites. We need to install cement posts or ISSB block posts instead of wooden posts. No budget for this yet.

6. Purchasing a printer for Fr. Stephen’s & Mark’s use.

7. Taking a trip to Uganda. If people send me Bibles and other books they no longer want I will take them with me to Uganda on my next visit. Books are hard to come by in Uganda. Hardly anyone even has a Bible in the village.

Our vision for after the above needs are met is to have a proper house for Fr. Stephen on the property as well as a "Permaculture Learning Center,” that is a dedicated classroom and office, which can also serve as a guest house when guests are present. We hope to provide budgets for these needs soon.

Becktell family update:

My beautiful and hard-working wife, Brooke, and children, Edith and Oliver, have been planting seeds. And here Edith has found an oversize worm. I’ve been building a permitter fence to keep out deer, which has been very labor intensive and I am only able to do a small section at a time before other labors pull me away.

Since I’ve lived in Brookings I first thought I might teach EFL or history classes online, but I found it too difficult to get into given the urgency to support my family. I also worked for a mobile home installer. But recently I’ve found work as a handyman and I’ve applied for my general contracting license. This will enable me to advertise my services as a handyman, which are in demand here—though I want to work merely part time for the sake of advancing EcoMercy International and hopefully starting a homeschooling group / micro-school.

My mother Ruth’s health is still poor. Please pray for her.

I don’t know if I ever shared this photo from April of last year:

We’ve had the rabbits since then, but we’re still learning how to care for them properly. A couple litters of baby rabbits have perished and so we may need a different way to house them instead of a rabbit hutch.

Some people have told me I should just request money for my own needs as well as those of the mission in order to raise money full time, but since I believe the mission must be self-sufficient then I must be self sufficient also. As always, 100 percent of your donations go toward advancing our programs in Uganda.

St. John Chrysostom School does not receive financial support from any other organization besides EcoMercy International. Frequently I’m reminded of the responsibility and tremendous opportunity to help Ugandan children that I’ve been given and I pray that God will bless my feeble efforts and bless your donations.

For Christ and His kingdom,

Martin Becktell, director

EcoMercy International