Mima Foundation Success Stories

Kayenje, Uganda Projects

In 2005 a group of MIMA volunteers went to Kayenje, Uganda in East Africa to the home village of a Jacksonville Beach, Florida priest named Lawrence Mulinda. The initial goal was to build a well in the village and assess the possibility of bringing a surgical team. Both proved difficult due to the distance and remoteness of Uganda. However, much has been accomplished thanks to MIMA donors to this cause. Two new school buildings have been built. Complete with new desks, water tanks for harvesting rain water, school supplies and a hand cranked mimeograph machine for exams and worksheets has been donated. Also, the neighboring church was completely renovated with new pews and church items. A well was dug for clean, fresh water access in the next parish of Lugazi. In the summer 2008 a kitchen was constructed which includes a lunch program that serves hot lunches to all of the 500 students daily.

Most recently, 2 bore-hole wells have been completed to access fresh ground water. In order to attract more, qualified teachers to the school, a group home was built to house 4 teachers and their families.

Providence Home, Nnkoknjeru, Uganda

During an unplanned stop in Nnkoknjeru, a remote village on the way to the Nile River, the travelers found an orphanage that was described as “the place for children nobody wants”. What they found was an orphanage for the disabled, vocational school and home for the destitute elderly. The nuns of the Little Sisters of St. Francis run this home like a true home and the children there are loved and well taken care of while they learn a vocation with the goal to become self sufficient in the future.

In 2008, MIMA purchased 6 - 2,500 gallon water tanks to harvest the rain water and added wiring to bring all the buildings in the compound electricity. In 2009, a new stove was built to allow the residents to cook for themselves and 3 classrooms in the school were brought electricity in 2010. The school runs a community bakery, chicken farm, leather shop and sewing shop to teach vocation, produce their own food and sell to the community. These simple basic necessities will make the home safer and more productive.