NAMUNGO VILLAGE, UGANDA

Since 2017, Holy Trinity has supported a relational ministry with Namungo village in Uganda. This relationship began when Ugandan Patrick Sserunjogi came to members of Holy Trinity and talked about the dire needs of a village of 2000 families scattered throughout a few square miles of the jungle and about 1.5 hours by car from Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

Water wells were the most urgent need for the families in this village, and Patrick asked Holy Trinity to consider raising money to support the drilling of a bore-head well, which would provide clean water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning-forever changing the lives of the people living here. Holy Trinity parishioners responded by funding a well through their annual giving (designated relational mission funds), and in the summer of 2018 the first 70-meter well was drilled. The goal is to have a well for every 200 families. These first wells are being used by up to 400 families. In addition to annual giving, the second and third bore holes were supported by gifts from individuals, the Glanton Trust Holy Trinity Endowment fund, and children's lenten mite boxes.

To convey the gratitude of the people of Namungo for our providing this valuable gift, Patrick and his wife Sarah returned to Holy Trinity in September 2018. The personal bond that has been forged between the Sserunjogis, Namungo Village and Holy Trinity parishioners has continued to grow, as have our efforts to meet their most dire needs. Holy Trinity and its ministries have now funded a total of five wells.

The pandemic created a critical food shortage in Namungo, as it did elsewhere. With additional support from the Glanton Trust, Holy Trinity sent $9,000 to purchase and distribute food in this area of Uganda. We also provided funds to prepare land and buy plants so the villagers could grow community gardens. Today the gardens provide food, a source of income when there is extra produce, day labor in the preparation and transportation, and a source of seeds for future planting. They are growing cabbage, beans, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, and bananas. Our funds also contributed towards the purchase of land for a community center and health clinic.

In May 2024, a team from Holy Trinity—Robin and Steve Duke, Joe and Shelley Aistrup, Bob Karcher, Christine Mercer, Will Meadows, Lila Meadows and Morgan Watkins—went to Namungo Village for a week in order to grow relationships within the community and to meet with elders to learn the specific needs of the village. The team was very busy—filling each day with a steady schedule of projects, visits, learning (reciprocal), playing and praying. They left behind a well-equipped soccer league, a large brick latrine for a grandmother raising her nine grandchildren, hygiene kits and clothing for many families, feminine hygiene kits for young girls, coloring pages and school supplies. The team visited two wells funded by Holy Trinity, and commissioned the newest one. They toured the land that Holy Trinity helped purchase for the Community Center and blessed it. They presented Patrick Sserunjogi with a $3000 donation. They visited three schools, several families, a coffee factory, the Community Gardens and finally commissioned the latrine.

If interested in supporting or getting involved with this ministry, please email Robin Duke.