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BeFriend Adjumani

Start a Fundraising Campaign
You are an integral part of this friendship. 

The goal is to have 300 people BeFriend Adjumani by giving $33 each month for 3 years to empower hundreds of families through the church. 

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What is life like in Adjumani?
Adjumani is both a region of Uganda and the region’s capital city. There are two communities, the native (rural and in town) and the settlement (refugees). There are many different African tribes, most speak some English. Some tribes have both people that are “Ugandan” and people in the refugee camps from Sudan (the refugees are all from South Sudan because of the civil war there). 

Most families live in typical African one room grass huts, whether in town or in the settlements. Most extended families live in huts near each other. In the “town” there are clusters of 4-10 huts surrounded by farmland. In the settlements, there are huts so close together you can barely walk between them without much land to farm. In either case, many more kids than the average American 2.2. In the settlement especially, there are no healthy men - all are either women, kids, or disabled men . . . any able men are still off fighting the war, killed in it, or have run away in shame. Polygamy is common so instead of divorce and remarry, many wives and children are just abandoned. Daily transportation is walking or motor bikes. Most kids have an option to walk to a school, especially in the settlement. In town, parents are concerned if they will be able to pay for school.

BeFriend Collage 

What is their living situation like?
The people, even in the dire situations of the settlements, are joyous. They farm to grow their own food. Very few shop . . . it’s a new idea to think of growing enough food to sell to someone else. There are some one-room stores and one strip of buildings, mostly banks and cell phone shops. The only two-story buildings in town are the two hotels. Everyone has a cell phone - even if they don’t have power, they have a solar panel charging kit. There are a lot of cows, pigs, chickens, and goats being raised. But, no system of farming or raising livestock beyond what a family would like for itself.

What are their needs?
Americans would be tempted to say they need running water, larger homes, power, paved roads, etc. But, we’d be wrong. According to one of the pastors, they need to learn the basic business skills to start and grow their own businesses and provide for their families, churches, and communities.

BeFriend Collage 2 

How many churches are in the community, and what have they been doing?
Life In Abundance (LIA) works with 8-10 churches in Adjumani (there are more). There is a small business “savings” club at one church that started in 2017. They’ve started businesses: charcoal, peanut butter, eggs/milk, farming, clothing, market, gravel. The requirement to join is to confess Christ, pay 5000 schillings ($2.50) for their membership, and meet with the club every Sunday. They then give to 1-2 people a week who must return with 10% in a month. They have never had a default. Other churches also have orphanages or have started schools.

How will they be sustainable after we help them?
Using the LIA model, the churches will help people start businesses that solve community needs. The revenue from those businesses will help the people do more, start more, sustain more, and give more to the church, which will help continue to fund the programs begun.