St. Mary The Boltons
open in thought
It begins with a child:
It begins with a child:
The story of Alex
“Our sponsored child in Uganda”
Sunday school with the help of the wider Church has been sponsoring Alex who lives in Uganda and this is his story and that of our sponsorship so far:
It was Sheila Peers who suggested four years ago that Sunday school might like to sponsor a child in a developing country. With her husband she has sponsored children herself and knows just what a positive effect it can have on those children’s lives.
We were very lucky to have Sheila’s personal recommendation of Compassion, a Christian charity that supports children around the developing world.
How were we linked with Alex?
Compassion has pictures of all the children waiting to be sponsored. It is impossible to look at their faces and not want to sponsor them all. We thought to place the decision in higher hands than ours and ask to sponsor the child who had been waiting the longest: to help the neediest child. We had no idea what country this child would live, how old the child would be or if they were a girl or boy. We waited to find out with great interest.
On 30 June 2008 we received a letter telling us that were now the sponsors of Alex, who lives near Kabale in Uganda.
Alex was born in January 1999. We started sponsoring him when he was nine years old and soon he will be 13 years old. He is the perfect match for Sunday school.
“Alex lives with his parents at home, he helps his mother by carrying water, caring for the younger children and looking after animals. Both his mother and father work as farmers when work is available. There are seven children in his family: Alex and his six brothers. Walking, bicycling and hide and seek are Alex’s favourite activities.
In primary school he is in the middle of the class and he also regularly attends and enjoys church activities.” The project he attends is the “lift up Jesus child development centre”, 2km south of Kabale.
“The family lives in the hillside community of kabala, home to approximately 10,000 people. Their houses are constructed of cement floors, adobe walls and tin roofs. The main ethnic group is kiga and the most commonly spoken language is Rukiga. The regional diet consists of maize, beans, bananas, fish, beef, plantains, potatoes and cow peas. Common health problems in this area include malaria, HIV/AIDS and malnutrition. Most adults are unemployed but some find work as day labourers and earn the equivalent of £15 per month.
Our sponsorship allows the staff of “lift up Jesus child development centre” to provide Alex with bible teaching, games, hygiene education, health screening, home visits, academic support, counselling, bedding and mosquito nets. The staff also provides positive parenting seminars, bible teaching and income generating activities for Alex’s parents.”
Sunday school exchange letters with Alex regularly and send additional help to him and his family at Christmas and on his birthday. He writes to us about his life and we reply with news of our own and slip in a packet or two of stickers.
We can only send paper items of little value, but the children have sent him some colourful drawings over the years, as he always sends us a few on each of his letters. We have also sent him lots of postcards of London, photographs of snow, the sea-side, the country-side and of course photographs of the Sunday school children themselves.
The children love receiving his letters and photographs of Alex and his family. Sponsoring Alex helps the children understand that other lives are different to their own and it makes them think about those differences. It makes them want to help those less fortunate than themselves. They also, importantly see that an “underprivileged life” can still be a very happy and rewarding life and that children everywhere love and enjoy the same simple things.
Alex with his mother, brother and friend at his birthday picnic. Alex is in the black suit sitting next to his mother.