2025

January: Crisis Averted

We entered 2025 facing a serious threat of eviction and four months of unpaid rent. Thanks to Shared Funds pooled through your November 2024 generosity, we were able to:

• Pay four months of overdue rent and clear outstanding utility bills (water and electricity)
• Provide all 33 children with new clothing and personal care packages
• Supply simple, nutritious food and fresh fruit to help the children thrive physically and emotionally This was nothing short of a rescue. We began the year grateful and determined.

Education

Education remains our most powerful tool for transformation. In February, 16 sponsored children returned to school on time for Semester 1, joining three girls whose fees were generously covered by Little Raph in the United Kingdom and her trampoline fundraiser. Each child received school fees, required materials, and two meals a day through March. By Term 2, additional sponsors stepped forward, and by the end of the year 27 of our 33 school-age children were enrolled and attending regularly. Watching them carry their backpacks to school remains the image that keeps us going. This year brought genuine academic milestones. Four of our children sat their Primary Leaving Exams and will be joining secondary school in 2026. Five children were elected as school prefects, a remarkable distinction that speaks to the character, leadership, and trust their peers and teachers place in them. We are proud to share something that surprises no one who knows these children: every Desire Kid who attended school this year was promoted to the next grade level. They are excelling not only in their studies but on the sports field as well, representing their schools with energy, teamwork, and pride. These are not children surviving on the margins. They are thriving at the center thanks to your support.

A Miracle in the Dirt: Bugingo Survives a Black Mamba

On a day like any other, Bugingo Desire was servicing and cleaning an outdoor latrine for the children when a Black Mamba struck without warning. The Black Mamba is among the most lethal snakes on Earth. A single bite injects enough venom to kill 15 grown men. Doctors at the hospital called his survival a miracle. For days, Bugingo lay partially paralyzed, his body fighting the venom. He spent an entire month in the hospital receiving antivenom, anticoagulant treatment, and rehabilitation. Under the inhumane but common practice of Ugandan hospitals, he was held until the bill was paid in full, and every hour he stayed, the total climbed higher. The moment word reached our community, donors responded with extraordinary generosity. In a matter of weeks, supporters raised over $7,000 for Bugingo's treatment and follow-up care. Nine donors gave $1,400 in the first week alone. He is alive. He is home. And the 33 children who call him Taata still have their father. But the story did not end there. In February 2026, Bugingo suffered a mental breakdown brought on by the accumulated weight of anxiety, pressure, and stress. He has been under a psychiatrist's care and has improved significantly, but his blood pressure remains dangerously high as new challenges continue to arrive. The physical survival was a miracle. The recovery is ongoing work. Bugingo has struggled because he refuses to stop building something essential for these children. That is who he is. And your response, your speed, your generosity, your refusal to let him fall, is who you are. Thank you.

Lwanga Sillaje: Our Sickle Cell Warrior

If you have followed Desire Child Care for any length of time, you know Lwanga. You met him orphaned at age 12. He is now 16 years old, turning 17 in May, full of humor and grace, with a smile as bright as the sun, surrounded by 32 loving sisters and brothers, and living with debilitating Sickle Cell Anemia. He has endured more pain in his young life than most people will face in a lifetime, and he meets every crisis with a sweetness and strength of will that leaves everyone who knows him in quiet awe. In 2025, Lwanga faced more than six sickle cell crises. Each one sent him to the hospital. Each one required blood transfusions, pain management, and around-the-clock care. He required two major surgeries this past year. Team Lwanga rose to meet him. Donors raised over $6,000 for his surgeries, and more than $2,000 for his hospital visits and ongoing treatment throughout the year. Lwanga came home. Lwanga's dream was to become an actor. He has the charisma for it, and the story. But facing death changes a person's vision. He is now determined to become a doctor so he can help other children living with Sickle Cell Disease. His medical needs are ongoing, his spirit is indestructible, and we are currently fundraising to cover his latest round of treatments, hospital bills, and care. Part of the current campaign includes purchasing a laptop so Lwanga can continue his studies at home during recovery. He wants to attend nursing school, and his education cannot wait for his body to cooperate. In Lwanga's own words: "I do not take your support for granted." Please support Team Lwanga here if you are able: gofundme.com/Team-Lwanga

Health: A Year of Crises Met with Community

Beyond Bugingo and Lwanga, 2025 was a year of significant medical challenges across the family. Mum Grace, the matriarchal caregiver for our children in the countryside, also required life-saving surgery. Generous donors contributed over $3,000 to make it possible, and we are deeply relieved to share that Grace has greatly improved and is back caring for the children she loves so dearly. Throughout the year, 26 of our 33 children battled various illnesses including malaria, ulcers, HIV complications, and childhood accidents requiring hospitalization. Sponsorship funds and additional donations covered their medical bills. For the first time in four years, not one child was denied care because of finances. This is progress. We are deeply grateful to also share that the Community Development Office recognized Desire Child Care as the best large child care NGO in our subcounty of Kasawo, and one of the best in Mukono District, recognized specifically for our children's health, clean environment, and good hygiene. This honor belongs to every supporter and sponsor who keeps the lights on, the water running, and the children fed and educated.

George: The Hero Friend Who Stepped Up

No account of 2025 would be complete without recognizing George, Bugingo's best friend since childhood. When Bugingo was hospitalized after the Black Mamba bite, and again when he faced his recent mental health crisis, George did not wait to be asked. He stepped up completely, managing Bugingo's social media accounts, coordinating communications with donors and supporters, helping care for the children when their Taata could not, and navigating the thousand invisible tasks that keep a family of 33 from falling apart when its foundation is shaken. Sometimes it was just sitting by his friend and brother, grounding him with his calm, solid presence. George even sold his own motorcycle, something precious and hard-won, to help cover Bugingo's medical bills. He gave without hesitation, without fanfare, and without expectation of return or recognition. We should all be so fortunate as to have a George in our lives. He is a reminder that heroism does not always arrive with a cape or a campaign. Sometimes it arrives as a childhood friend who simply refuses to leave your side. On behalf of Bugingo, the children, and this entire community, thank you, George. You are seen. You are appreciated. You are family.

Faith & Spiritual Growth

Though we are not a religious organization, faith has become a source of profound stability for our family. The children are learning to hold hope even in difficult circumstances, and missionary guidance has helped our teenagers make thoughtful, responsible choices as they move toward adulthood. This year, 14 children chose to be baptized and join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We raise these children with faith while giving them freedom to discover their own beliefs. What we insist on is a belief in their own worth and future.

Agriculture & Livestock: Toward Self-Sufficiency

This was a year of genuine growth in our journey toward self-sufficiency through agriculture. Here is where things stood at the close of 2025:

• Cows: We began with one, which grew to two, but we had to sell one. We would love to purchase another milking cow to give our children much-needed protein and calcium.
• Goats: From one goat to eight
• Chickens: From three to over 30

The children are now enjoying milk, eggs, and meat raised by their own hands. This is more than nutrition. It is ownership, pride, animal husbandry skills, and a taste of what full self-sufficiency can feel like. We must also share a loss: over 30 rabbits were stolen because we do not yet have secured land of our own. This painful experience has deepened our resolve to purchase four acres of farmland in 2026, where we can rebuild the rabbit program and add pigs as we expand our agricultural footprint.

The Effects of Uganda's 2026 Elections

Uganda's general elections took place in January 2026. As anticipated, the period brought internet disruptions, lockdowns, and civil unrest. We stocked enough food, water, and essential supplies to relocate the children safely to the countryside before the election, where they sheltered as the situation deteriorated. We were able to receive funds during this period, for which we are grateful. What we were not prepared for was the freezing of our NGO account, blocking access to the funds we had been saving from donations and a grant to cover the children's school fees and medical emergencies. As of mid-February 2026, our account remains frozen, and these essential funds are still inaccessible. Several children were hospitalized with injuries from tear gas bombs and other election-related violence. We were forced to shelter and sleep in the bush to avoid further harm as a targeted humanitarian NGO. This was not the crisis we planned for, and we are still living it every day. We are calling on Angel Sponsors now. Every contribution means safety and stability for 33 children while we work to restore access to our funds. Please visit www.DesireChildCare.org or reach out directly.

A Word of Thanks

You are not donors. To us, you are family. You are the reason these extraordinary 33 children wake up in the morning with food in their stomachs, hope in their hearts, and a future worth reaching for. You have stood with us through eviction threats, livestock poisoning and theft, political uncertainty, child death, and the ordinary daily struggles of raising 33 beautiful humans in Uganda. We hope you had a joyful holiday season, and we wish you a year full of peace, health, safety, and abundance. May you feel the return of every kindness you continue to show us. With the deepest gratitude, Bugingo 'Desire' Moses Founder and Caregiver, Desire Child Care Organization Uganda, Africa Rev. Rabbi Henry-Cameron Allen, OCP, ICGC Mentor & Support Coordinator | Under the Patronage of Folklore LLC [email protected] www.DesireChildCare.org To sponsor a child and/or support Lwanga's recovery, TinyUrl.com/DesireSponsor | gofundme.com/Team-Lwanga or email [email protected] Every contribution makes a lasting difference.