Country Director, Tessa Davis and soon to be Country Director Dena Lewerke say goodbye's and get introduced to the parents and guardians of the Just Like My Child Foundation Scholarship Program

This is my first blog posting as the new Country Director for JLMC. My name is Dena Lewerke and I have most recently been working in Amman, Jordan as an adviser to a local non-profit business association, a 10 month assignment supported by the International Institute for Education and the United States Agency for International Development. For two years prior to that I assisted refugees, mostly from Eastern Africa, and the low income community in San Diego with micro-enterprise, employment and financial literacy training. At the same time I obtained my Master of Business Administration from San Diego State University. During the two years prior to that, I worked as a Business Education and Community Development volunteer in the Peace Corps and lived in southern Armenia. In each of my previous roles, I assisted with developing and implementing training and consulting programs to assist community members to develop and grow businesses, manage money and finances, and locate and acquire appropriate resources.

I had a busy but rewarding week during my training as the new Country Director for the Just Like My Child Foundation. I am honored to have been selected in this new role and to be able to work with these wonderful communities in Uganda for the next year. I felt very welcomed by our partners in the Luwero region, no doubt due to my introduction by current Country Director, Tessa Davis, who is so loved by everyone she has worked with. Some of the highlights of my visit and training in Luwero:

First, we visited Kikoiiro to meet with some of the scholarship parents and community leader, Chatti. Though the extreme poverty in this remote village is apparent, the appreciation that the families feel due to this unique opportunity for their children to obtain a good education was evident. I was really touched by their kindness and the very warm welcome we received while we were there.

Another exciting event during my training was going to visit St. Jude’s school and to be introduced to our four sponsored girls who are attending this school on JLMC scholarships. It was really special to meet them in person and it was encouraging to see how the girls are so happy and healthy at the school, especially true after seeing the situation in their home village, Kikoirro. We also were able to visit William’s school in Kampala where he is also doing well and is very happy. Later I was able to visit with William’s mother in Luwero who is a leader among the HIV positive women in the community and participating in the community bead making project. While Tessa and I were in Kampala we met with Monica at a women’s empowerment organization. She was very enthusiastic about working with us and we talked with her about partnering to show the “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” film in both Kampala and in the rural areas, as well as designing an empowerment curriculum for the HIV+ women and other women in the community outreach villages, and working with us to design a girl’s empowerment and mentoring guide for our scholarship students and to use in our community outreach programs at Bishop Asili.

I was lucky enough to get to see the final stages of construction for The Children’s Academy for the Collective Heart, our newest school being built in Katikamu. The evidence of how much the community wanted this school is in the love and care they have put into building it, placing careful consideration on each detail even down to what colors to use and where to place the borders. I think it must be the most beautiful school in all of Uganda! Tessa and I with other volunteers began hanging all the learning materials in the classrooms and the current students were even able to start using them while we were there. On Friday they asked if they could attend school again the next day, Saturday! I am so impressed by Eve, the teacher, and Judith, the head mistress, who are both exceptional and empowered women and leaders who really enjoy their jobs and are committed to providing a quality education to our students there. This is an important aspect of JLMC programs — to not just build a building but to ensure sustainable and quality education is ongoing in this community, something that requires outstanding teachers and leaders like Judith and Eve.

During my visit, I toured the facilities and staff of the Bishop Asili Hospital and got to know Sister Ernestine and Sister Angela who are both amazing women who I will work closely with as our partners. I am especially looking forward to working with Daisy and the rest of the community outreach team at the hospital. I was able to meet Dr. Jude who is just finishing his studies in Gulu and will soon be joining Dr. Charles as a second and much needed doctor on staff at the hospital.

Since my background is in micro and small business development and financial literacy I am eager to continue to build on the micro enterprise initiatives here. I was able to visit the sewing and jewelry making projects with the HIV positive women in Luwero and discussed their initial meeting with FINCA. Many of the women in Luwero who are already participating in income generating projects are ready to be mobilized into groups for micro-finance. Women in the remote villages will likely need start-up assistance through micro-enterprise kits prior to being ready for micro-finance. I look forward to discussing with the women further to see what type of assistance and training will be most useful.

There is much to be done to assist these communities in Uganda and I look forward to working with JLMC and our partners on the ground to accomplish great things together. And you can expect to read updates from me regularly on this blog as I keep you updated on our progress and share my experiences in Uganda.