Pilgrim's Agathos Relief and Aid Program completed the distribution of clothing, hundreds of yards of fabric, and musical keyboards donated to Pilgrim, and transported to Uganda courtesy of Thain Boatworks and Earthwise Ventures. Included were thousands of new clothing items from a Seattle, WA clothing distributor, dozens of musical keyboards given to Pilgrim, and numerous rolls of cotton flannel donated by World Concern in Edmonds WA.
Pilgrim Uganda's Director of Relief, William Denis Omara, organized and directed the multi-site distribution effort. Six staff from Pilgrim travelled with him to transport and give out the goods; they were assisted by volunteers at each distribution point or village. Targeted recipients for this distribution were the elderly, women with small children, pregnant women, the disabled, and most destitute of each area. The elderly in Ugandan society are often very needy if they have no living children to support them. Each beneficiary received two pieces of clothes; mothers received fabric for baby blankets and diapers, and elderly persons were given flannel fabric for bed sheets.
One distribution site was Namuwongo Revival Church, an inner city church pastored by Pastor Opio Wilson, located in Namuwongo, a large slum in Kampala. Clothing, mostly pants and shirts, and fabric yardages were handed out to the needy, amid much rejoicing (see photos). These were timely "Christmas presents" to about 600 church members.
Teso Safe Motherhood, a sister nonprofit in Teso, NE Uganda, assists pregnant women and new mothers in the Teso region. The many rolls of cotton flannel given to that organization will in turn be divided to give out to new mothers for their babies' needs.
Many rolls of fabric were given to the Beacon of Hope Medical Center for various uses such as sheets and nursing needs. The students at Beacon of Hope College received fabric yardage to make bed sheets. The majority of students at the College are completely sponsored by Pilgrim, so this fabric donation helped keep supply costs down.
The final distribution sites were the vulnerable population of Amotom IDP (internally displaced person) Camp in the Amuria subdistrict, and the village of Kapelebyong, also in Amuria. Local government officials assisted William Omara's staff with the identification of the most needy, assembling people, and distribution. Notice the large but orderly crowds gathering to line up for clothing and fabric in the photos.
The final kinds of items distributed were piano keyboards. As Pilgrim works with local churches, finding eager takers for these keyboards was not difficult.
Pilgrim's distributions activities of food and other things to the most needy occur when significant amounts donations are given, and often in cooperation with other organizations. A special thanks to Thain Boats and Earthwise for their generous gift of shipping these goods for Pilgrim.
Related Links: Beacon Of Hope Secondary School, Beacon Medical Centre
RSS Feed
