SHALOM ACTION 2009

October Issue  This issue highlights two stories: Our Journey Toward Solar and a praise story from the Shalom Widows Hope Fund.   a) When the Lights Went Out: Our Journey Toward Solar A few years ago, we brought electricity to the community we serve through advocacy. See the previous blog on electricity here .  It was a big moment, and yes, we still celebrate it.  Since then, though, Uganda has struggled with an unreliable power supply and poor management of it for the past three years. In June, the problem hit close to home. The transformer serving our community blew. The government says it is waiting for a replacement, but no one can tell us when it will come. Months later, we still have no power. This has made our work much harder. Our work with the school has been disrupted, and much of our office work has stopped. Anything that needs electricity now means traveling elsewhere, which costs us time, money, and energy that should be going into the c...

As a community project dedicated to development work in our community, we endeavor to develop a holistic view of development. We offer a Christian-integrated approach to development that does not separate the spiritual from the community's holistic development. Community Leaders Workshop 2012 The Namutere Shalom community church began as an outcome of the annual community leaders summit, where we brought all community leaders together to discuss and build their leadership capacity.  A large percentage of the leaders who attended were church leaders, and yes, this community is deeply Christian. Small group discussions  As we continued hosting missionary volunteers who served in the project as medical workers and teachers, they initiated evening Bible study, mostly with young people.  This evening Bible study grew steadily, and by then Pastor Patrick, our project coordinator, was completing theological education. After completing it, he began providing leadership and insi...

  September issue                                      Pastors Training  This week marked our fourth  cohort of pastors' training, held in partnership with Apollos Training. Most church leaders and pastors in our region lack access to basic theological training, and as a community project, we recognize that our community's needs go beyond the physical; they stem from the wholeness of who people are at their core. That's why our education, health, and community development work must be paired with an honest spiritual assessment of our community's foundation. Two years ago, we began offering training for pastors from the wider Busia community. Since then, we've developed a curriculum aimed at providing not just quality training, but training that is contextualized to our setting. When pastors and church leaders are equipped, the ripple effect reaches their congregations, members ...

"Shalom Widows Hope Fund".                                                                                     August issue The Shalom Widows Ministry is part of the community development arm of Shalom Namutere Project. In 2022, we observed that a reasonable number of the women we were empowering were widows. We held our first meeting with the widows to listen to them and provide a space to process their grief. Read about the first meeting and findings  from the widows' meeting.  Over the last few years, we have been trying to come alongside the widows in response to their needs.   Through our partnership with Apollos Training, we have conducted several trainings, ranging from basic Christian discipleship to skills development. We provided magnifying read...

Uganda is one of the youngest countries in the world. Over half of the population is under  18 , and nearly  80% are under  30 . This demographic reality is not just a statistic—it is a defining moment in our nation’s story. A young nation means that Uganda is still being formed. Its economy, institutions, values, and leadership are actively taking shape. The children we educate today will determine the kind of country Uganda becomes tomorrow. This is where education moves beyond classrooms and into nation-building. At Shalom Care School , we understand ourselves as participants in Uganda’s development, not observers of it. Investing in children is not charity; it is an economic and social strategy. A well-formed child becomes a productive adult—one who contributes to innovation, employment, civic responsibility, and community stability. Conversely, neglecting education in a young population places enormous strain on future economies through unemployment, dependency, a...