During the summer of 2014, ISWS had the pleasure of working with 1000+ children in three areas of Africa: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe; Livingstone, Zambia; and Entebbe, Uganda.

In Entebbe, Uganda, we completed the construction of a dormitory at Bright Kids Uganda orphanage that will provide a place of refuge for 100+ children. We started this project a year ago and we’re very proud of how it has come along.  The dormitory is split into a boy’s side and girl’s side.  Between is a storage room for school supplies and an apartment for the dormitory monitor/security attendant.  Each side has indoor plumbing with 5 toilets, sinks and showers for the children.  In addition to the construction of the dormitory, we provided bunk beds, mattresses and bedding.  We also invited 4 local orphanages with children ranging from 5-8 years old to participate in a “Soccer Fun Day”, in which all the children were split into teams of 5 and provided jerseys and soccer balls.  We taught the little ones the basics of soccer and played mini-games all afternoon.  In nearby Kampala, Uganda, we hosted a soccer tournament for 3 under-served schools, providing the children with jerseys, balls, refreshments and medals.

In the rural areas outside of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, we hosted 2 soccer tournaments and 2 soccer clinics for 12 under-served schools in the area.  Girls are often left out of sports activities, but ISWS seeks to empower girls.   Providing the girls of the area with their own soccer tournaments and soccer clinics is a source of pride for us and a wonderful experience for all involved.  We also hosted a boys soccer tournament and soccer clinic.  Aside from soccer, we provided all of our tournament and clinic participants with English and Math notebooks, as well as rulers and other school supplies. At Jabulani Primary School, we replaced their soccer goals made of fallen trees and with proper metal soccer goals and nets. In addition, we provided 3 new sewing machines and an overlock sewing machine (for sewing seams) to Rose of Charity orphanage in Victoria Falls, so they could continue to sew t-shirts and stuffed animals to sell to tourists (to help pay for the orphanage expenses). We also provided 3 amputees with prosthetic limbs and training in Chegutu, Zimbabwe.

In Livingstone, Zambia, we provided Inspiring Minds orphanage with new bunk beds, mosquito nets, kitchen supplies, a refrigerator, a dining room table and bookshelves.  We also built them a soccer field on the orphanage premises, complete with goals and nets.  Inspiring Minds is a new orphanage in Livingstone that was created to take in abused and abandoned boys and girls, and we are proud to have helped them get the supplies they needed to create a loving home for their children.

All in all, we worked with over 1000 children from 6 primary schools, 9 secondary schools and 7 orphanages during our 5 weeks in Africa.