Update: Evicted

I wanted to update everyone on the families from Hope Alive! who had been evicted from their homes in Kampala. (See the post below entitled “Evicted”.) Most of them have found another place to live, although a few are still searching for permanent housing. In the past two weeks, I have visited four of those families in their “new” homes. We are thankful that they have found alternative housing, but we must now hope that they will be able to meet the longer-term challenges that are a result of this situation.

(Above - With Hope Alive student's Moureen and Dutchess and their mother in their new home.)

First, many of the students who were displaced last month did not perform well in this recent school term. Who can blame them? These kids were abruptly uprooted from their homes in just one day. They experienced the angst that comes with being homeless and worried about how their family would survive. To make matters worse, some were temporarily separated from their parents/guardians, living with other relatives for a few weeks while their parents looked

for a new place to live. Needless to say, most of these kids found it difficult to concentrate on school work and received low grades this term. This was especially difficult for “candidates” in the upper classes whose grades will determine their placement next year and the course of their entire future.

(At left - Hope Alive student Bridget (on left) in front of her family's new place. They are renting the garage that is attached to the main house in this photo.)

Another concern is whether these families will be able to make their “new” rent payments. Hope Alive! helped most of the families with their “down payment” (first three months’ rent) so that they could have a roof over their heads and get back on their feet more quickly. Though families were required to find a place that was “reasonably” priced in order to receive the financial help, some families are finding new struggles in their new homes due to increased house rent or increased transportation costs since their new homes are a distance from the places they must travel for their normal activities.

Take, for example, Mary and her six children. Their new home is better than their former residence and is in a quieter area of the city. However, it is far from where the children go to school and from where they sell boiled maize for the family “business”. The three older children now walk very far in order to reach school each morning because there is no money to take public transport. (They each walk over an hour.) The three younger children attend school during the day and then sell the boiled maize (prepared by their mother) in the evening. The family’s only source of income is from selling the maize.

Without this income, they will all starve. Unfortunately, they cannot simply begin selling the maize closer to their new home, where it would be safer and more convenient. Like any business, they must first earn respect in the neighborhood and begin to build a clientele. Until that happens, the children continue to travel back to their former place of residence (about a 40 minute walk) to sell the maize where people are already familiar with their “business”. This means that the young children must walk all afternoon and work all evening, returning home tired. But this is the only way that the family will survive while also keeping everyone in school. In many ways, it is an uphill struggle. And like any parent, Mary constantly worries about her children and about how she will manage to keep a roof over their heads. Right now, the money they are making would not be enough to pay the rent and pay for food.

(At Right - Mary and two older daughters, Ruth and Esther, in front of new home.)

We are thankful that many of these families are no longer homeless, but continue to pray with us that they will be able to meet the continuing challenges that have resulted from their displacement.