We cannot change the truth,
We can only say "Welcome"
This is the chorus of one of the songs with which the children at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage Motherhood greet their visitors. Maybe they can't change their truth. Perhaps we can.
St. Mary Kevin Orphanage Motherhood is home to about 150 orphans and disadvantaged children. It provides shelter, food, security, clothing, medicine, love, access to education and training in vocational skills. The orphanage has few resources because of limited government programs and extremely high poverty levels.
They could use our help.
The children realize that education is the key to their future. But there are books, uniforms and classroom supplies that need to be provided. In the upper grades, there are school fees to be paid. On a more basic level, there are bed sheets needed for comfort at night, food and clothing needed just to get through the day.
St. Mary Day and Boarding School was established in 1987. The next year, the name Kevin was added in honor of a Ugandan saint, Sister Kevin, who kept the interests of children foremost in her heart. The word "motherhood" was added to the name to recognize the fact that the school is about family and raising children, not simply housing orphans.
Rosemary, the founder, transcended many social barriers when she began integrating orphans into the fabric of the school, but she felt compelled to do so as HIV/AIDS began to ravage the country and sometimes wipe out entire families. More than half of the school's population is now made up of orphans. They call St. Mary home, and they call Rosemary "mother."
The school raises some of its own money by bead making, farming and brick making. Not only does the school benefit from the sale of these items, the children learn marketable skills that aid them in their transition to mainstream Ugandan society.
Children at St. Mary Kevin have come to Uganda from as far away as Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan, Congo, Chad and Niger. They have been abandoned, often abused and
mistreated. Many of the children come from northern Uganda, where they have lost their families to war. The way things are, these children have little hope. That's
their truth... but with your support, we can change it.
Founder
