Orphan Train Project - Conductors Needed - Musana Orphanage- Uganda

The Musana Children’s Home in Iganga, Uganda, East Africa cares for 45 boys and 35 girls. Some of these children have special circumstances, a boy with twisted legs (who pulls himself with a stick), a girl with a club foot, a boy with dwarfism and still another afflicted with suspected autism. The director is Andrea Pauline from Colorado, USA. In addition to Andrea, there are 24 other staff members, all natives of Uganda. The story of the founding of the home is given in the letter that follows and on the home’s website at www.musana.org. Musana has its own 501 (c )(3) and is also a Community Based Organization (CBO) in Uganda.

Some of the needs and estimated costs of this home include:

Food, clothing, furniture repairs, etc: Varies

Truck to transport food: $20,000

Tractor: 15,000

Chicken Coop: 3000

Bathing Enclosure: 2000

Playground for Nursery School 2000

Bathroom Close to School 5000

Well (Awaiting Estimate)

Individual Child Sponsorship 480 per year

Volunteer Your Time and Expertise: If you have time and skills in Agriculture,

Community Outreach, Business, Teaching and Tutoring, Medical Care, Sports and

Games, Crafts, Music or Facility Upkeep, your Orphan Train Conductor

group might want to send qualified assistance. Details, including the costs

of sending volunteers, are found at the www.musana.org website.

Note: Regarding the land that the home planned to obtain, as mentioned in the letter below, the Orphan Train’s understanding is that the land has been recently acquired.

musana children's home (IGANGA, UGANDA)

February 6, 2010

Dear Potential Donors of Musana:

Re: Musana Children’s Home

The following is a summary of the history, current status and financial needs of Musana Children’s Home,

History: In May 2008, my friend Sally Carlson, my sister Leah Pauline, and myself (Andrea Pauline), three students from the University of Colorado, went to Uganda, East Africa for a three month volunteer program in a small town called Iganga. Iganga is located in eastern Uganda on the main highway between Kampala (the capital of Uganda) & Nairobi, Kenya.

There are 52 districts in Uganda. Iganga is one of two predominately Muslim districts. Iganga is 70% Muslim and 70% polygamous. Most men have 3-7 wives and 10-50 children. Because of high percentage of polygamous families and the fact that Iganga is a frequent truck stop, the incidence of HIV/AIDS is 8% higher than the rest of the country.

A few weeks into our trip, we began to volunteer at an orphanage located in the center of Iganga town. This orphanage housed 162 children. The orphanage consisted of three small windowless rooms where the children lived, slept, and had occasional classes. The children slept on rocky dirt floors & there was no electricity. The children had to walk a kilometer to get water. They shared two overflowing latrines (holes in the ground used for toilets) & the compound was a community dump. The hygiene of the children was poor & many of them had skin rashes and untreated malaria and/or typhoid. Most had no shoes and only the clothing they wore. Each meal was a few spoonfuls of ground corn meal mixed with water. The older girls frequently turned to prostitution in order to feed themselves and boys stole food from market vendors. The children were physically & emotionally abused.

Each night before going to bed at our host family’s home, Sally, Leah & I would talk about the vulnerable children at the orphanage. We prayed about the situation and it became clear to us that we had to do something to help the children. During that time period we met Morris, a young Ugandan man who had grown up in an orphanage himself. When Morris saw the conditions of the orphanage in town, he readily agreed to help us find a way to help the children. Morris and Haril, another young Ugandan man, have been with us since the very beginning of Musana Children’s Home.

Sally and Leah returned home at the end of the summer of 2008 and began to fundraise & spread the story. I remained in Uganda and teamed up with Morris and Haril to start Musana Children’s Home. We first had to convince the government to close down the other orphanage and allow us to take the children. This was much more difficult than we anticipated but eventually, we did it. We were registered as a Community Based Organization & were legally authorized to open Musana Children’s Home. “Musana” means sunshine in the local language. My sister Leah came up with the name of the orphanage after hearing the kids sing, “You are my Sunshine.”

We rented a warehouse size building on a vacant site being developed as a secondary boarding school. After cleaning & painting the building, we moved in 80 bunk beds and built an outdoor kitchen. On September 16^th, 2008, the first 40 children moved into their new home, and in the next two weeks another 40 followed them. That first day was the most memorable day of my life.

Current Status:

Our initial purpose was to rescue these kids and provide a home. Thanks to financial support from the United States, as well as the community support in Iganga, Musana now has a Nursery and Primary School. We are now renting 4 of the 7 large buildings.

MCH now has four dorms, each a section of one of the large buildings. Each has a sitting room where the “family” can gather, a room with bunk beds for the 15-20 children, and a room for the houseparent(s). The orphanage of MCH is managed by Haril.

Musana’s Nursery and Primary is staffed with eight full-time teachers and a headmaster, all Ugandans. The school has eight classrooms all containing desks, a chalkboard, and other learning aids. The enrollment of the school is approximately 150 children (our Musana kids plus approximately 70 children from the community). Musana has allocated areas for church, health clinic, library, computer lab, and crafts.

Currently there are two main projects contributing toward the ultimate goal of self- sustainability. These two projects are the Musana Farm and Musana Craft Workshop. The Musana Farm currently consists of three acres of rocky & unlevel land (on the site we are currently renting) where we are attempting to grow vegetables and staple foods like maize and beans. We have seven dairy goats and one dairy cow. Isaac is our Farm Manager, and he supervises three full-time farm workers. Within the next few months we hope to purchase 20-40 acres of level & fertile agriculture land. We also plan to start the Musana Chicken Project as soon as we buy agricultural land.

The Craft Workshop is located in one of the buildings on the compound. Women from the community come each day to make rolled paper bead necklaces and use our sewing machines to tailor bags. The children roll beads every day after school and some are learning to use the sewing machines. We also work with a 17 member women’s group, deep in the bush, 20-30 minutes from Musana. The women help us make the beads for our necklaces and are paid piece-rate. The money they make helps provide for their families. The products are displayed at craft fairs & fundraisers in the United States and all of the proceeds go directly to Musana.

Some of the projects we hope to eventually develop are as follows:

- Café/Retail shop

- Secondary School open to the community

- Trade School open to the community

- Various Microfinance Projects

- Community Church

- Community Clinic

- Youth and Elderly Outreach Programs

Financial Needs:

Our plan is to purchase the land and buildings we are currently renting.

Our immediate financial need is to raise $200,000 to purchase the site we are currently renting as well as approximately 30 acres of agricultural land. The site we are renting consists of 20 acres of land, 7 warehouse size buildings, the foundations of an 8^th warehouse size building, 3 unfinished duplex type residential houses for staff & volunteers, security guard quarters, 10 pit latrines, 2 fish ponds, and a small forest.

The landlord has agreed to sell the site we are on for 500,000,000 Uganda shillings (approx. $250,000 US dollars). We have looked at many pieces of property and have conducted a market analysis of comparable sites and are convinced that where we are currently located would be an ideal permanent home for MCH. The additional $50,000 is for agricultural land. The Musana Children’s Home Board of Directors has allocated $100,000 to be used toward the capital campaign. We also have one year’s revenue in the bank. In order to purchase the site we are renting, and to buy the land for agriculture, we need to raise an additional $200,000.

Many have asked, “why not just rent”. Once we own our buildings & land, there are rotary groups and development associations such as Engineers Without Borders that will help us develop & improve it. There are also church based groups who have expressed interest in building us a kitchen, finishing the houses for staff/volunteers, building a clinic, fencing & landscaping the property, and making general improvements. Furthermore & most importantly, we want a sense of permanency! The children deserve a permanent home.

A Financial statement and the 2010 budget is available upon request. My mom, Pat Pauline (pat@musana.org), is the President of the board and my dad, Geno (geno@musana.org), is the Treasurer. As of November 2009 Musana Children’s home is a 501c3 non-profit organization. My folks or other board members can address questions regarding securing property in Uganda and the safeguards that are necessary. Additional information is available on our website at www.musana.org.

I know this sounds BIG. But, God willing, we can do this, one step at a time!

God Bless,

Andrea Pauline