Joska

Greetings from Joska!

Receive our greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that God has kept you the same way He has kept us at Joska. The last term of the 2024 academic year has come to a close and we would like to share with you some of the highlights of this term. Thank you for all your support as we bring hope to the community in Joska. 

Erick Wabuti
Head Teacher, Joska

Hope Transforms: A Success Story

Pauline* comes from a big family. She lives with her four siblings and both her parents. Her mother was a casual laborer in her community, relying on washing clothes or other household chores that she could get on a daily basis. Her father struggled with alcoholism and as a result, was not always there for his family. A few times while she was growing up, he abandoned their family, leaving her mother to take care of her 5 children on her own.

Some of Pauline’s older siblings began to work to help keep the family afloat. It was tough growing up in a dysfunctional home, with drug and alcohol addiction and domestic violence was something that the family grappled with every day. Pauline joined Joska Center, this gave her a safe place to learn away from the struggles at home. She had access to three nutritious meals every school day, qualified teachers and social workers who became mentors and parental figures whom she could look up to.

The weight of her family's struggles weighed heavily on Pauline, but nonetheless, she managed to finish high school. She then joined MOHI’s Mnara program, which gives high school graduates the tools they need to navigate and successfully transition into adulthood.

She knew that her family did not have the resources to take her for a higher education, but she was determined to start her career in social work so she too could support her mother and help take care of her younger siblings. She talked to her social worker about getting into MOHI’s Technical Training Institute (MTTI) to study social work. Pauline joined the school on scholarship and finished her course.

God answered all of Pauline’s prayers. She is one step closer to becoming a social worker. She wants not only to provide for her family but also to bring hope to other children who may have grown up the same way she did. Pauline is grateful that MOHI has walked with her through each stage of her life. We thank God for Pauline and the hope that MOHI was able to give her.

*Name changed for privacy

Term Highlights

• We are grateful and proud to have participated in the MOHI Soccer Tournament. Our girls emerged winners in the junior secondary school female category while the primary school boys emerged as second runners-up in their category. 
  
  
• We are also proud of our students who participated in the MOHI spelling bee and public speaking competition. One of our students emerged second runner-up in the spelling bee competition and two girls emerged in positions 5 and 8 out of 17. Congratulations to our students. 
  
  
• We were happy to host some of the Madoya Center social workers who came to see students from the Madoya community. This visit proved to be instrumental in helping the social workers in Joska get to know the students from Madoya better. It also helped to maintain relationships with their home social workers even as they board school at Joska.

Partner Connections

• We were happy to host the Africa Fire Mission team this term. They conducted a fire safety assessment and a fire drill that prepared our students and staff for fire emergencies.
  
  
• We were also happy to host the Christ’s Church of the Valley medical team this term. They conducted a whole-day community clinic where members of the community and staff benefited from their services.

Prayer Requests

• Pray to God for the safety and good health of our students during the long holiday.
  
  
• Thank God with us for the term we have had and ask Him to give us the grace to keep making an impact here in Joska.

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