Given by the global family
- 2022: $6,802
- 2023: $29,142.50
- 2024: $34,062
- 2025: $45,578
Year in review
2023
A year of growth, and of grief
2023 in numbers
40+ Unique Donors joined our Global Family in 2023! We had 18 in 2022.
$29,142.50 was donated to our family in 2023! We had $6,802.00 in donations in 2022. This is an increase of more than 325%!!
THANK YOU!
7 out of 33 Sponsored. Thank you to those who have adopted a Desire Kid for sponsorship. Monthly sponsorships not only cover all basic needs, but they also help us cover emergencies and keep our costs down overall. Let's find sponsors for them all in 2024! Many hands make light work... 5 friends can sponsor a Desire Kid for $10 each when given together. That's less than the cost of a pizza.
An Incredible Year of Growth For Desire!
Valued Global Family:
As the new year begins, let's revisit what we accomplished and survived together over the past year. To see photos of the amazing progress your support has helped achieve, you please visit our Facebook Page and other social media. Subscribe for regular updates!
In 2023 we were gifted three guitars! Help us grow our music program.
Three Desire Kids have chronic illnesses which require constant attention and costly hospital stays. Sponsor them each for $100/month.
This year has been a true symphony of highs and lows for the Desire Child Care Organization family. We celebrated remarkable victories, bringing us closer to securing a brighter future for our children, while also facing significant challenges that tested our resilience.
Grief and Growth
The year began with a heavy heart, mourning the tragic loss of 11 year-old Goloba Ibrahim. He was attacked and killed by wild lions while returning home from fetching water miles away, starkly highlighting the constant struggle for basic necessities like clean water that we face daily. Goloba's memory fuels our determination to secure land with a borehole, ensuring clean water access and saving lives.
However, amidst our grief, hope blossomed. With your generous support, 30 children experienced the joy of attending school throughout the year, receiving daily breakfast and lunch, school supplies, and even new uniforms! This continued support led to outstanding academic achievements across the board, with each child being promoted and two sitting for their primary leaving exams, paving the way for high school next year. We are so proud of them. We know you are too!
You can contribute to The Goloba Amazzi Fund, which continues his Memorial Water Tank Fund. Clean water is an essential human right. No child should have to risk their lives for it... Rest in Power.
Like clean water, food, healthcare, and safe shelter, education is also an essential human right.
Your sponsorship covers all of the above, including education fees and supplies for each child. Without this support we risk losing our NGO status as it is required that every Ugandan child attend school.
Please sponsor today!
Livestock Blessings
May brought positive Spring tidings with donations that allowed us to start a small collection of livestock. One milking cow and one goat have multiplied now to two cows, three goats, and our four chickens have skyrocketed to 30! We have even enjoyed delicious chicken soup and fresh eggs throughout the year. Our rabbit family also flourished, growing from four to over 30. While we had to sell most of our pigs due to lack of land for growing their feed, these 2023 successes have provided valuable lessons in animal husbandry and vital sources of protein for our children.
Our two sows birthed 20 piglets at Christmastime!
For us, livestock means survival. Our animals provide food and currency, and also education. You can help us grow our livestock population by helping us purchase farmland.
Big Changes
In June, generous donors made a life-changing impact. All of our children have at last received bunk beds, replacing years of sleeping on the floor. Each child has now received their very own mattress, bedding, and mosquito net. This has significantly improved their comfort and well-being, and the nets are the best protection against Malaria, which is rampant in Uganda.
Angel donors also helped with school fees for our unsponsored children. Our goal for 2024 is to find sponsors for all the Desire Kids, which will minimize the need for individual donations.
In 2022 the children slept on old foam rubber on the floor and shared blankets. No mosquito nets.
In 2023, thanks to some generous angel donors, ALL the Desire Kids now have bunk beds, proper mattresses, bedding, and mosquito nets! They are so happy.
The Children of Africa
Speaking of talents, thanks to a kind donor, we now have three guitars and our friend volunteers music lessons whenever he can. This ignited a creative spark, leading to the birth of "The Children of Africa," a song written by our Desire Kids to raise awareness and hopefully fundraise for our big family.
You can download their song from YouTube and even use it as a sound cover on TikTok! We're working on getting it on all platforms and next year, plan to shoot a video that will amplify our message to the world.
Beyond music, we actively encourage sports and academic excellence. We received football jerseys, footballs, and netball balls, and two of our children are even school captains! One is the school goalkeeper, and many of our boys are talented footballers, while some of our girls shine on the netball team. If we secure land, we plan to develop sports facilities, music rooms, and a theater to help these creative and talented children chase their dreams. You can help!
Triumphs and Trials
November saw another fantastic milestone: becoming a fully registered non-profit with indigenous NGO status. This opens doors to grants and proposals, helping us achieve our goals. Unfortunately, that same month, we lost access to the land we used for food, creating unexpected food and financial challenges. Yet, your incredible one-time donations, monthly contributions, and even spontaneous support during these emergencies mean the world to us. You are our heroes.
Lwanga's Surgery and Recovery
In November, your kind generosity also blessed our boy Lwanga Sillaje with lifesaving spleen removal surgery due to his chronic sickle cell disease. We are eternally grateful for the $4,000 raised for his surgery and aftercare, including a $2000 matching gift from one of our Angel Sponsors. Lwanga is recovering at home now, and we were able to share a joyful Christmas together as a family.
A Christmas Wish Come True!
Christmas was truly a blessing for the Desire Kids. Your generosity allowed us to get them beautiful new clothes, a delicious feast, and a memorable party. Sister Lydia donated decorations and cakes, and our brother DJ Godizila even provided the colorful lights, music and sound system! It was a celebration filled with laughter, joy, and hope.
Two Angel donors supplied funds for an amazing Christmas feast that will be remembered for years to come. It was the perfect way to celebrate all we have survived in 2023.
Your help in providing daily meals and other needs for the children during their school break is deeply appreciated. School provides two meals daily, which reduces our food costs significantly. It increases significantly when the Desire Kids on break. We pray your supplemental food support will continue into the new year.
Amidst the celebration, our little girl Nakato fell ill on December 23rd and required a blood transfusion due to anemia from gallbladder problems caused by Malaria. She's recovering at home now, and has since gained a loving monthly sponsor.
As we close the chapter on 2023, our hearts overflow with both gratitude for your unwavering support and excitement for the possibilities that lie ahead in 2024.
What we were reaching for next
Building a Brighter Future Together. As we look forward to 2024, your continued partnership fuels our dreams of:
Securing land: Owning land will be transformative for us. We can build a safe and comfortable home base with clean water, establish our own farm, and finally put those food security plans into action, becoming completely self-sufficient in no time! Imagine our Desire Kids playing freely without the dangers of fetching water.
Expanding education: We dream of building a residential school on our land, offering not only quality wholistic arts-based education, but also a loving and supportive family environment for these and future vulnerable Ugandan children. Picture classrooms buzzing with activity, bright eyes shining as our children learn and grow. We are already seeing glimmers of this. With your support it can be full0time, as every child deserves!
Nurturing talents: With dedicated spaces for music, sports, and theater, we can provide outlets for creativity and unlock the hidden potential within each child. Hear the joyful melodies from our music room, feel the cheers erupting from the sports field, witness our talented kids blossom into confident performers and leaders!
Building a sustainable future: By developing our own farm and fostering our small agricultural business model, we can strive towards total self-sufficiency, and empower our children to become independent and active members of their communities. See our fields flourishing with crops, our adopted brothers and sisters learning valuable skills for their future.
This is not just our dream, it's a shared vision for a brighter future for the current 33 Desire Kids and other vulnerable children from across Uganda who will come to us in the future.
Please consider these ways you can help us build this dream in 2024:
Become a sponsor: Even a small monthly contribution can make a significant difference in the life of a child. 26 children are still waiting for support. $50US individual sponsorship per month covers all the their basic needs. Three of the children require $100 per month to provide extra healthcare support for their chronic health concerns.
Make a single donation, or as you can: Every amount counts! It helps us cover immediate basic human needs like food, housing, healthcare, hygiene products, and education fees and supplies, and can also provide a little surplus in case of emergencies.
Spread the word: Share our story with your friends, family, and network. Help us reach more people who want to make a difference in the lives of children. Amplifying our song "The Children of Africa" and raising awareness about it will also bring attention to our cause.
Volunteer your skills: Whether it's fundraising, teaching, or administrative support, your skills can be invaluable in helping us achieve our goals, paving the way for our children to not only survive, but to thrive.
Together, we can make 2024 a year of transformation for the Desire Kids, and set Desire Child Care Organization firmly on the road toward self-sufficiency through agriculture. Your support is temporary. We have a plan. A good one. Help us realize it in 2024.
Thank you for believing in us and for being part of our journey. The Desire Kids are counting on you.
With love and gratitude on behalf of our big family,
Bugingo 'Desire' Moses Founder, Desire Child Care Organization
P.O. Box 109071 Kampala GPO Uganda +256 755 608431