Latest News From Lasting Smiles 6.12.23
General Updates
We have a lot to report! We’ve had several positive developments at the school and through the generosity of donors like you, we’re accomplishing some great things.
On Monday, May 29, 2023 we begin the spring semester after a three week break. Our students and teachers continued to have meals and activities for our students throughout the break in an effort to keep the community connected and nourished.
Lasting Smiles is supporting 28 high school students who have successfully graduated from our school and are now attending a nearby secondary school. This continuing education is a critical part of our mission to provide the best opportunities for our students to break the chain of poverty and provide a platform for them to flourish in life.
Our garden activities over the last few months have been very successful. We planted and harvested 9 acres of corn and 2 acres of beans. These crops help to feed our students, and also serve as a teaching laboratory for the community in sustainable agriculture.
New Additions
Through the goodness and generosity of our donors we funded five capital projects totaling just over $95,000.
Lasting Smiles took delivery of a new Toyota pickup truck last week. This is a HUGE help allowing for safer transport our leaders, staff and students. The truck will help us to serve children in need of critical medical care as well as expedite the delivery of supplies, materials and other support staff to Kyajja. The truck was funded through donor contributions and a $50,000 loan from Blue Harbor Bank in Mooresville, NC.
We also completed the purchase of a new generator to pump water from our ground well up to our reservoir tank. Our team previously had to rent a generator for this purpose that was often times unavailable.
We also were able to purchase a second new reservoir tank that will provide basic water services to our teacher housing units.
New Projects
As a result of some very generous donations received in the last two months, the board approved $19,000 in funding for a gate and fence system for the school. This is a requirement of the Uganda Ministry of Education for our upcoming certification. The new fence will greatly improve safety for our students and staff. Semei expects that we’ll have the fence constructed in the next 60 days.
$19,500 in funding was also approved for the installation of solar power to illuminate the campus at night as well as provide some charging power for the basic computers and technology that we are beginning to use at the school. The school and village have never had electricity, and this will be a big help to our team. Electricity lines terminate about 7 miles from the school and our long term plan is to encourage the utility company to bring permanent power to our campus. However, this is another 3-5 years away.
Increased Enrollment
Our enrolment has increased from 500 students last year to just over 600 students today. The young students under age 5, have increased significantly and our current teacher to student ratio is 1:100 students. Semei and Susan have worked tirelessly to recruit four new teachers for these students, and we are excited that these teachers will be starting this semester. The board voted to increase the operating budget by $660 per month to cover the salaries for these four teachers. NOTE: Our average teacher salary is $165/month.
Passing of Michael
We unfortunately lost one of our 10-year-old students, Michael. Despite the best efforts of our team to get him to the hospital via boda-boda (motorcycle), he passed away prior to treatment. We believe that he had something lodged in his airway. Some of our operating budget was used to conduct funeral services for his family.
$52,000 Call To Action
Our next critical needs are two new pit latrines and a second 10 room teacher housing unit.
Our estimates are $6,000 for each latrine and $40,000 for the second teacher housing building.
In the spring of 2022 we built a teacher housing unit to accommodate 10 teachers (pictured here), and we are now in desperate need of 10 additional rooms. Currently 10 of our teachers are sleeping 2-3 to a 10' x 10' room, or they are sleeping in the classrooms at night.
We also anticipate that the latrine we constructed in the fall of 2021 (pictured here) will be completely full this fall. Our plan is to construct two new latrines that will flush with stored rain water allowing us to have them pumped out in the future, giving us a longer lifespan.
We hope that you will consider donating to these projects. You can click the donate button below to help.
Mark Lingo Joins Our Board
We’re excited to have Mark Lingo from Brighton, Michigan join our board. Mark brings a great deal of experience in fundraising and donor relations. We're excited to tap into Mark’s expertise as we work hard to support the continued development of Lasting Smiles Uganda.
Upcoming Mission Trips
July 10 – 16, 2023
We will be hosting 13 people from the Cove Church in Mooresville, NC who will be visiting the school in a continuing effort to seek out God’s plan for their deeper involvement with our school and the lives that are being changed by Semei, Susan and their team. Please pray for their safe and enlightened travels.
February 23 - March 3, 2024
Lasting Smiles Uganda donor trip! Please consider joining us on this life-changing mission trip in 2024. Please reach out to board chairman Jeff Steiner at jeff@lifesfood.net if you'd like more details and information.
In Closing...
As I write this newsletter on a rainy Sunday in North Carolina, I'm incredibly humbled and blessed to be the president and board chairman of this organization. The tireless hard work that our team in Uganda does day in and day out under Semei and Susan Ziva's leadership is nothing short of amazing. Your contributions and prayers have such a direct and meaningful impact to this remote village in a place that is so different from what we enjoy here in America.
I hope that God will tug at your heart to engage deeper with us at Lasting Smiles.
Your contributions mean more to the children, staff and families then I could ever describe in an email.
I look forward to what God has instore for all of us on this incredible journey.
Blessings To All,
Jeff Steiner
LSU President & Board Chairman