Wells of Hope organized a two day psychosocial support meeting for grandmothers and spouses of prisoners under the theme “A transformed Mind, A transformed Community” and a total of 32 participants attended the workshop. The training was conducted on 3rd and 4th August 2017.  The aim of the workshop was to empower caretakers of children with parents in prison with HIV & AIDs information, entrepreneurship skills and parenting skills. The facilitators of the workshop where experienced and professional social workers, doctors and counselors who tackled different topics.
Day 1
The day was commenced with Devotions where Susan, one of the mothers encouraged her peers to put their trust in the Lord and rely on him for everything. She referenced the study from Psalms 123. After the devotions, two participants shared their testimonies; one was so thankful for the release of her husband which greatly encouraged the rest of the caretakers and the second participant was an Ex-Prisoner who encouraged the rest of the participants to pray for their imprisoned relatives because with time they come out of prison.

Ellen Eva Ssuubi (Mrs.) Wells of Hope Executive Director gave the opening remarks; she welcomed the caregivers and thanked them for honoring the organization’s request and turn up for the workshop. She mentioned that the aim of the workshop was to bring caregivers together as a family, meet together and see how they are progressing in life and check on how the organization was performing. She explained the organization intervention model to the caregivers and the organization interventions.  She availed the theme of the workshop to the caregivers as “A transformed Mind, A transformed Community.”
Mrs Ssuubi said that the topics that would be taught would change our minds; their attitude towards work, life and other issues so that they could go back in their societies and transform them.

After the opening remarks, the caregivers were taken through an Entrepreneurship session. This was facilitated by Esther Ndibulima (Mrs). She took the caregiver in a series of activities with different sub topics but which all were connected to financial training. The different sub topics included: I can attitude, Business idea development & Market Research and Marketing. Esther told the participants to believe in themselves, take risks in order to reach somewhere in life. She encouraged the participants to utilize every resource that was in their community because from there, business could be formed. Esther challenged them by telling them that the greatest resource was human beings; “people despise the fact the others exist, but without man they are dormant.”
Esther urged participants to do the business perfectly with interest and love, have customer care, have commitment and overcome fear. She also advised participants to always do a survey in their areas before they start up a business.

Esther said there were different categories of capital like working capital which was a raw material like owner’s equity like livestock which one could sell off and buy a machine. She also said capital could be in form of a loan from bank, money lenders and relatives. So she urged members to identify sources of capital starting within their environment.
After the session, the caregivers showed enthusiasm to go back in their communities and utilize the resources they had to start or boost their businesses.

Some of the responses from the caregivers after the workshop included;
“I am so grateful that I participated in this workshop, it’s my first time to attend this workshop, it’s been the best and I am eager to learn more the next day” said Silvano, a grandfather of 2 children under Wells of Hope.
“I want to thank Wells of Hope for loving us to teach these wonderful topics, I have indeed learnt a lot, I do weave handbags and money purses so I have learnt how to look for market, how to treat my customers and the next time I come here, I swear I will have a testimony about a change in my business” said Deborah a mother of a child under Wells of Hope.

Dr. Ashur also said that uncircumcised men could cause cervical cancer to their female partners. He said that the body has the cells to fight it but if it over grows the body becomes weak; the virus affects the cervix, in most cases the uterus has to be removed or surgical operation has to be done to cut off the diseased part if the cancer is detected early.
Dr Ashur encouraged the female participants to test since the screening was free as was being provided by Wells of Hope and it was being brought nearer to them. He said that in most hospitals, such screening was at a fee which in most cases was not affordable for low income earners so such an opportunity ought to be utilized. Seven clients turned for breast and cervical cancer screening, five of them were negative with no signs and no one with posture signs for breast cancer, two female clients turned out with positive signs and were referred for further investigation; he noted that the two clients with positive signs on screening didn’t have cancer simply they have positive signs on their cervix.

Stella gave closing remarks by thanking the participants for attending and participating in the 2 days workshop. She concluded by urging the participants to practice what they had learnt and assured them that Wells of Hope would carry out follow ups to assess whether what they were taught had created a great impact.
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All throughout the workshop, the sessions were interactive. The caregivers were refreshed with a appetizing breakfast and lunch. The day was concluded with a closing prayer from a participant after which participants departed to their different areas of residences.

We are glad to report that on 27th July 2017, 82 children visited their parents in prison; 5 prisons; 16 of these were visited their parents for the first time. The children were so happy to meet their parents and the parents too were overwhelmed with joy upon meeting their children. They visited Women Prison Luzira, Luzira Upper Prison, Kitalya Prison, Jinja Prison and  Nakasongola prison. The children were accompanied by Wells Of Hope volunteers.

11 children visited in Women Prison Luzira, 53 children visited in Luzira Upper Prison, 3 children in Kitalya Prison, 7 children in Jinja Prison and 8 children in Nakasongola prison.

Below were the highlights of what transpired in the different prisons;
Women Prison Luzira: The mothers had prepared a lovely meal for their children and they tried to provide scholastic materials along with some basic needs for them like plates. The most life awakening moments at a time the inmates met their children after a long time. As the children waited for their mothers in the waiting room, Frank 8 years one of the children who was visiting his mother for the first time said that his father had tried to explain to him how his mother looked like, but he wasn’t sure of what he looked like. When his mother came, tears of joy rolled down her cheeks; she couldn’t believe that she had finally met her son. Florence 15 years and Rachel 14 years were also in great amusement that they visited their mother after 7 years; they had a great moment to get together again. Their mother was amazed at how fast they had grown. Maria 9 years and William 14 years visited their mother for the first time as well; on seeing Maria and William, the beatific look in her eyes would not hide the joy she felt even though it was going to be short lived, the brooding face also made it clear that seeing her children alive, was another miracle. She said that Maria and William were going to be murdered at the time she committed the crime. Patrick (7 years) and Edith (7 years)’s mother was overwhelmed to see her children too; she kept on saying that her children were going to die because the community wanted to take revenge on her. She cried when her children sang and danced for her.

In Boma section, the children found their usual spots where they usually interact with their parents as they started practicing their special presentation for the parents. There was a lot of anticipation as the children waited for their parents who later joined them. There was a lot of excitement as the parents hugged their children, others were seen engaging in an opening prayer with their fathers and were deeply engrossed in conversations. Parents later started serving their children the meals they had prepared, it felt like ‘home away from home’; they were all in high spirit with look in their eyes.
Nusula 5 years and Juma 10 years also met their father for the first time; they were quiet at first but with time they caught up and started chatting with their father, he was extremely happy to see his children and encouraged them to study hard. John, Mary Agono (17 years)’s father said, “ I am glad that my daughter is different from the other girls of her age I left in the village; she would be with 3 children by now, but because of Wells of Hope she is still in school. She challenges me, the fact that she speaks English so well.” Faith 10 years and Tendo 7 years also visited their father for the first time, the girls were very happy as they ran to meet and hug him. Ismail their father said “I am very happy to see my daughters; they are all grown up and beautiful, thank you Wells of Hope for taking care of them.”
Juliet 13 years and Jenifer 10 years, visited their father for the first time; he said, “I cant remember Juliet because when I was imprisoned she was light skinned and now she is dark skinned, I have to closely look at them because it has been a very long time.”
Later, parents assessed their children’s reports and encouraged them to read hard, they also had some food stuffs prepared for the children to take back with as they went back to school; it was a great thing to see parents provide for their children school necessities like basins, sandals, books, pens and pencils.

In Condemn section; the parents were very happy to see their children and expressed their gratitude towards Wells of Hope for taking care of their children.
The teacher who had accompanied the children assessed the children’s academic progress with the parents and they were very glad on seeing how greatly the children had progressed; they encouraged their children to read very hard and make sure that they balance their studies and other activities.
The highlight of the day was when all parents gathered and the children in lower primary made music presentations for them; it was very amazing because the solicitors were children who were rather quiet but were confident and they sang with very good English.

Jinja prison; The Prison Wardens were welcoming and they helped in calling the inmates (parents) who were undoubtedly expecting the children. After a few minutes, the inmates came in; they expressed their joy on seeing their children. Later, the fathers served a lovely meal which they had prepared for their little princes and princesses.
Ben the teacher who accompanied the children briefed the fathers about their children’s academic performance and shared their reports to which the parents cheered their children; and where poor performance was observed, the parents encouraged their children to perform even better.
The inmates said that they were so grateful to Wells of Hope for the great work; “we are seeing our children after 10 months and they have grown and look so healthy!” they exclaimed.
The children happily and with bouncy faces shared their well colored letters which were also a special moment, some asked their little ones to read their letters to them, which was so touching!

The Highlight of the day was when Angel Nawangi 7 years read her letter to her dad while she sat on his lap. The smiles that cut across her face made him sob a little, Angel’s dad later shared that he was arrested when Angel was only seven months and then to see her looking so beautiful and reading her own hand written letter to him was very astounding! He said that he had no exact words of how to thank Wells of Hope! He is hopeful that he will be released soon.

The children expressed joy and excitement all the way to Nakasongola prison. 

​Wells of Hope Ministries is proud to have hosted Prof. Rebecca Ginsburg from the Education Justice Project (EJP) of the University of Illinois. Rebecca was accompanied by her daughter, Anna Ginsburg 10yrs who is also a volunteer with the Education Justice Project; this visit took place from July 8th to July 17th 2017. The Education Justice Project is a unit at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in Illinois USA. Education Justice Project provides college-in-prison programs that demonstrate the positive impacts of higher education upon incarcerated people, their families, and the neighborhoods.   The Education Justice Project publishes Mapping Your Future: A Guide to Successful Reentry, a reentry guide which is free for Illinois prisoners. The guide identifies things to do prior to release and provides a list of resources for after release.
Working with Wells of Hope, Rebecca and Anna Ginsburg during their visit, together we carried out an assessment of the reentry landscape in Uganda and general needs assessment required to develop the Ugandan reentry guide.

The Education Justice Project’s reentry guide that they developed for the state of Illinois has been very successful. Learning from what Rebecca and team did through EJP we hope to develop a Ugandan  reentry guide which we will probably call  reintegration guide the best way its described in Uganda. This will be a booklet or a pamphlet that will avail information to inmates before they are released from prison and after they have returned back to their communities. The guide will identify things to do prior to release and will provide a list of resources for after release. It could have things like where and how to get a national Identity card, mobile telephone lines, HIV/AIDS services for prisoners who have been on special treatment  and free legal services, how to continue with education for those who have been doing education programs in prison, how to get a job  and many other needs. It will include information of contacts for counselors, employers, housing, healthcare and many more that can help formerly imprisoned persons plan their next steps.

During the study, we interacted with the different people that come in contact with inmates in Uganda, these included: the children whose parents are in prison at Wells of Hope High School and Wells of Hope Junior school, the Uganda prison officers, spouses of inmates, prisoners, civil society organizations which included: The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI), and Franciscan sisters.

Later, the children led a wonderful praise, prayer and devotion sessions.
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We thank Quniana Futrell and everyone she worked with to ensure that she attends this memorable week at Wells of Hope Ministries. We thank National Children's Authority, Girl Child Network and Uganda Prisons Service for their continued support.

​On 18th June 2017, we were delighted to have Lubiri Cell Group from Makerere Full Gospel Church visit the children at Wells of Hope High School. Their main aim of the visit was to fellowship with the children and to encourage them in their studies.

Jonathan urged them to obey what God's word says. He urged them to read the Bible because God's word would streamline them as in Hosea 4:6. He also urged them to focus on their treasures in heaven and not to conform to the standards of this world. Pastor Katongole Luke encouraged the children to seek the Lord persistently because He alone has better plans for them as in Hosea 10:12 and Jeremiah 29:11.

This week, Wells of Hope Ministries founder Francis Ssuubi was in Tanzania - Mbeya. The team in Tanzania learned a lot of things concerning the kingdom of God, and the care of children of prisoners. They spent time visiting children with parents in prison; the children received school needs which included: uniforms, shoes, exercise book, among others. The Children were delighted to return to school to continue studies as there were children who did not attend school because of the lack of these requirements. Children and their caregivers were very happy to see Francis. He visited  the children and encouraged them spiritually, so that they have the power to see that there are people who care about them. The Church located at Iyunga Street in Mbeya benefited from Francis' visit: he taught about "LIFE GROUP." This program would help the church to grow spiritually and numbers too. Brothers and sisters began to act on what they learnt; they learnt how to form a small group Bible study from house to house. 
We thank our friends for their continued support.

An interactive Training of Trainers (TOT) in HIV & AIDS for 100 inmate leaders (peer educators) in Upper Prison Luzira was successfully conducted on 16th May 2017. In attendance was the Prison Senior Officer (Warden), Prison Medical Officer (doctor), and three professional social workers who facilitated the training, inmate leaders among whom are church leaders, ward leaders and counselors. 25 inmate leaders were from Condemn Section and 75 are convicts serving long sentences from Boma Section.  The aim was to train and refresh inmate leaders with updated facts on HIV and AIDS and its trend after some of them have been released, some transferred and new entrants come in on a regular basis, which is quite a wide coverage of inmates empowered with knowledge about HIV and AIDS.
 
The leaders were provided with the current statistics of HIV & Aids. In addition to this, they acquired more knowledge about opportunistic infections, CD4 Count, Viral Load, positive living and the importance of disclosure. To crown the workshop, the leaders were taken through a session of qualities of a good counselor. At the end of the training the inmate leaders were awarded certificates of participation and they pledged to be “CHANGE AGENTS” in their respective wards and areas of influence.
 
In summary this was a successful training that enabled inmates to open up and share experiences in counseling of their peers and also ask questions which were responded to. Here below are some of the comments;
Swaleh; ”The workshop has been very educative, I have been refreshed and am going to do my best to pass on the same information to my peers, I will continue to not only help the HIV & AIDs positive but also those who are negative so that they can live free of HIV & AIDS in and out of prison.”
Jacob; ’’The training has impacted me with counselling skills, I now know how to deal with a person living with HIV & AIDs than before.”
Isaac; “I am very happy about this program that Wells of Hope put in place for us, I have gotten deeper understanding of words like” Viral Load, CD4 count and positive living.”
 
The Senior Officer who represented the Officer-in-Charge (OC) Upper Prison Luzira appreciated Wells of Hope for conducting this training annually which impacts more than 1000 inmates every year in the prison communities and saves many from losing their lives.
 
Ellen Eva Ssuubi Wells of Hope Executive Director thanked Uganda Prison Service for the continued trust and opportunity given to the organization. 

Francis Ssuubi, Wells of Hope founder was in Mbeya Tanzania from April 25 – May 1, 2017 to carry out follow up family visits to Children with imprisoned parents. Wells of Hope sponsors the education of 13 Tanzanian children with a parent in prison. He also visited Children Education Society (CHESO) in Dar Es Salaam where he was able to make connection with CHESO so that together we can work together to enable Children in Tanzania with a parent in prison to be able to visit their parents in Prison. Currently The Law in Tanzania bans children from visiting their parents in prison, writing and receiving letters from their parents.

In April, Pastor Mark Kato from Watoto Children’s Church Kyengera conducted four bible studies with the children at Wells of Hope Junior School. He taught about faith, stewardship and tithing and offering. Pastor Mark urged the children to use what God has given them as a way of glorifying Him. “Anyone who uses what God has given him/her will get more but those who don’t use what they have, even the little they have will be taken away,” he said. “God requires our whole in praise and worship, so if we don’t give him our whole, we rob Him,” he added. He encouraged the children to always praise and worship God wholeheartedly.

On April 13th, 2017 Well of Hope Junior School participated in sports activities at Kikyusa, a town near the school. 6 schools participated and out of these the school managed to walk away as second. Eight of the children were chosen to represent the school at Cluster level on 21st April.
From this great performance these eight children represented the school at cluster level where the school took the first position and had two of the Wells of Hope children chosen to compete at the district level.