Saving the AIDS Orphans and Widows in Uganda

Maine group making a difference in Africa

A group sent by Boothbay Baptist Church, which in recent years has built three homes for orphans in Uganda, has this year helped raise enough money to build a new boarding school for 500 children in a remote village of that country. On three trips over three years, the group worked with Watoto Childcare Ministries of Kampala to provide housing for 24 children and three widows who serve as housemothers.

Local youth leader and pastor, Matthew McNutt, says, "The impact serving in Uganda has had on our community has been staggering. Almost every organization and group, from the Rotary Club to student-led initiatives, have been captivated by the need and moved to action. It is both incredible and inspiring to see an entire community rally together to make a life saving difference for those in Uganda."

In April of 2007, members of the team visited Kabaale Village, unknown to the world and neglected by society. According to local officials, since 2000, 40,000 people have died of AIDS and other diseases . Uganda has been devastated by civil war and AIDS, the disease which has made Uganda the youngest country in the world with a median age of 15 and has left over two million children parentless. Team co-leader Jason Schlosser, who has been on all three trips, says, "It would be a crime not to act on the suffering and devastation we witnessed. Our job is to come home and encourage people to action. We must do something."

Since that time the group has been working diligently to raise funds and build awareness. The team is partnering with Paul Mwesigwa, who is from the village and is also the East African Director of Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child which distributes toys to the poorest children in Africa. A com-prehensive plan is being developed which will involve the construction of an AIDS clinic, a vocational school, boarding school, homes for orphans and an agriculture program. In January of 2008, the first school to provide free schooling to children who have lost either one of both parents will open.

Team co-leader Pastor Dan McNutt says, "With God's help and the help of Boothbay Baptist, we
did what many thought was impossible: we built a home for eight orphans and a widow, and we did it three times. Now we are going to adopt and help an entire village. Then we are going to move on to the next village until the entire country and continent is changed."

In December of this year, a team of 13 from Boothbay Baptist and the surrounding community and Emmanuel Baptist Church in Plymouth will go on a medical and humanitarian mission to provide medical care for 350 children and 60 HIV-positive mothers and to train local pastors and church leaders. The medical team will be made up of local pediatrician Dr. Steven Feder, hospice nurse Nancy Van Dyke, maternity nurse Janice Wood, and paramedic and medical supply company owner Sean Welton. In addition, the team will be delivering life-saving mosquito nets, solar lights, first aid kits and blankets from a local group of service-focused ladies, the Lights of Love, based out of Boothbay Baptist Church.

A local church, inspired by their Pastor Daniel Coffin to participate in a movement called "The Advent Conspiracy," has challenged members to reconsider the tradition of purchasing Christmas gifts and instead donate that money to purchase much needed items for the village in Kabaale. Pastor Coffin said, "It is predicted that Americans will spend over $474 billion this year at Christmas for things that we really don't need and often don't remember. I am challenging Christians at our church and everywhere to consider spending less on meaningless presents and give instead to the orphans and widows in Uganda."

Future trips will involve pediatric surgery performed by Dr. Hernan Reyes of Boothbay Harbor and Captiva Island, who was the former Chief of Surgery at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. In addition the team will construct homes, build a pastor's training center and develop an agriculture program.

For more information, contact Jason Schlosser at 207-633-3263, reachuganda@gmail.com , or Pastor Dan McNutt at 207-633-5273.