jerimiah

The Lord does Great and amazing things, i am so much delighted to belong to Christ, time has passed by so fast that sometimes i fail to give a good account of my life especially what i have done for the Lord.For we try to come to the stature and fullness of Christ but to fully conform to His image is not just something to ponder about, its more than just read the Bible, its more than that, its a step of faith, there has to be an action to that end.....faith without action is dead!!!!! I have tried to do something for the children and the youths, to help them just like the Lord helped me, born from an Anglican background, i was almost chocked by what people could say BELIEFS and that almost stunted me to progress in a lot many ways, but thanks be to the Lord who has called me to triumph through Christ Jesus, i can be called HIS own because i have already been purchased by His blood. I realized the youth needed to know such great pathway to salvation and how they can realize their potential in Christ Jesus. Not to just hear the message but also to move in the direction of the word, thus being doers of the word and not just hearers. We work with children and youths and have been doing so in the direction of creating sustainability among them through the use of skills and talents that the Lord has endowed to the them as well as looking for possible support elsewhere to help them live better. Owing to the diverse impact of HIV/AIDS in the country, we had to make to responsive action to combat the tide or else we would lose a whole generation and through such holistic interventions, we have been able to create a spirit of team work, discipline, and hardwork amongst the youths. COISER (Community Initiative for Self Reliance was established in 2004 as a community Based Organization to try and fight the plight of orphaned children and also the ever increasing needs of youths in our local communities. Below is a list of things for which we have been registered for. 1. Local and international Missions 2. Evangelism( Crusades, conferences and seminars) 3. Orphan Education 4. HIV/AIDS sensitization and awareness 5. Widow’s and elderly empowerment projectsBackground COISER began its operations in 2004, By then the communities were succumbing to so many atrocities including the deadly AIDS disease and also its devastating impacts.I realized that there was a vast generation of children and youths that were perishing due to increasing poverty and disease among many. I realised that the HIV/AIDS pandemic had encroached on every sector including the body of Christ and countless numbers of orphans lacked someone to help their voices be heard from the darkness and if i were to do anything for my community, i had to look at my immediate environment, the church. While at Covenant Church (Mpumudde Community Centre building), i shared with my pastor (Pr.Maganda Peter) about incorporating the small charity and with financial help from the church (Covenant church) we officially incorporated COISER in 2006 as a Community Based Organization and has since perpetually advanced in its scope of operation. The organization looks primarily at the restoration of hope to the hopeless generation that have faced all challenges as presented above by reaching to them first with the word of God which is life itself. I have personally experienced loss of lives in our family due to the AIDS scourge and work with children and youths has had a turning point in my life to try and be part of the solution to the problem by disseminating information to the local communities who have taken AIDS as a myth. MISSIONS Local missions have been the most highlighted outreach program that COISER has devotedly and effectively carried out in the rural domains that have not been reached with the gospel. The rural settings have been sidelined by the gospel suspectedly due to impassable roads and non favorable environments due to poor drainage and thus poor hygiene and renowned preachers have preferred big stadiums and big church settings as the only avenues of their operation. On the contrary COISER have put up emphasis on reaching the un reached communities with the word of God. Last year a total of over 1200 souls were won for Christ by Evangelism programs that took place in Bulongo, Bulike and Bulopa respectively in Iganga District. Since then COISER has continued to be on the forefront in spreading the gospel of Christ Jesus and our driving force has been derived from scriptural emphasis especially in Mathew 29;19-20 ……Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and….. However, COISER unique strength has been derived from a perpetual commitment to prayer and dedication to the Lord’s service.Local Mission updates COISER will be conducting its second annual missions program in Kamuli District in the Eastern part of the country from December 26th -1st January 2008. A group of over 20 ministers have enrolled for the program and registration is still open to others who would be willing to team up with us. Bulopa Miracle Centre has again been chosen to host the one week event that will see the following programs filled and they have accepted our request to work with them for the one week event. 1. General Conference (2days) 2. Youth Conference (2 days) 3. Crusades and door to door Evangelism (5days) 4. Baptism 5. Overnight prayersEvangelism We have tackled Evangelism on a wider perspective ranging from the church setting to the outdoor events. In 2005 we were able to start three (3) home cells in three different locations in Mafubira and in 2007,two (2) more groups have been added from two other regions of Kayunga and Mpumudde respectively.Covenant Church Senior Pastor: Maganda Peter,31 Population: 110 adults and 72 children The church has been behind all activities and victories won by COISER. The church has been of great contribution in terms of resources and of course prayer. Covenant church is situated in the heart of Mpumudde division about 2 km from Jinja town and housed by Jinja Municipal council(Mpumudde Community Centre building).Sunday services begin at 8 am and end at noon while evening services begin by 3pm and end at 6pm. The church boasts of a dedicated committee that helps put in place administrative structures that ensure continuity and prosperity in the body of Christ Most of the members working for COISER come from Covenant Church and others from other locations residing within Jinja and Iganga.Orphan Education Children’s school attendance and enrolment have been greatly battered by AIDS, to such an extent that countries like The Central African Republic and Swaziland have reported a drop in school enrolment and attendance of 20-30%, attributed to AIDS and orphan hood. In the same way, Uganda has immensely been affected by the AIDS trend that continues to loom over the nation. The cruelty of this epidemic is greatly manifested by the degree to which it drains, not only the energy of the victim, but the general basic mechanisms that propel a society to progress yet education is such a vital ingredient of a country’s development recipe Uganda has moved a step in the right direction by embracing Free Primary Education for all since 1997. Despite this, studies have uncovered glaring gaps in the quality of teaching and an astronomical increase in the number of dropouts, decreasing enrolment notwithstanding. This, they say, is a function of implicit costs like building fee, feeding, uniforms, books and pens and other scholastic materials, plus the incidence of AIDS, as children are required to stay home to cater for terminally ill relatives .COISER realized that it was her role to plug this gap in helping non-school going children access formal education through the provision of the stringent scholastic requirements necessary. COISER does this by pursuing a double-pronged approach. 1. Aware that AIDS robs children of their parents, we trace the next of kin to them and place them there, so as to keep that unique semblance of parental attachment going. In the absence of these, we identify families with the capacity to absorb one or two extra souls, and then place them there. These families are expected to treat the orphans as though they are their own children, by providing them with whatever their families would afford like food, shelter, medical care, education, clothing, but above all, love without peripheral qualifications. COISER now visits such homes regularly every month to supervise and ascertain compliance to COISER’s minimum set standards. 2. In a bid to ease the burden of looking for requisite materials necessary for schooling, COISER has developed a home school ( COISER Nursery and Primary School) to try and help provide basic education and health education to over 40 orphaned and vulnerable children and meeting other educational needs like uniforms and scholastic materials. COISER believes that this is one of the ways we can keep our hopes alive and claim to be doing anything in improving the quality of life of the orphans and the suffering young generation. The school meets daily on week days from Monday to Friday and have been fed daily from small income generated from the church and other local organizations whenever we reach them, we have been working on international funding through a number of ways and most of our new friends have been got through myspace. Thanks to all our myspace friends for the tremendous work you are doing for us!!!HIV SENSITIZATION AND AWARENESS The AIDS pandemic has no doubt been the most highlighted incident in Uganda and almost everywhere in the world taking dominance in the press and on talk shows. Moreover a vast number of people still engage in risky behaviour which are vehicles of transmission of the pandemic. The pandemic has also affected the health workforce in many ways. It places demands of new skills and practices to manage the disease at the individual and community level. It has greatly increased the burden of work and emotional toll. The fear of contracting the disease deters entrants to the profession. COISER has taken on the role to educate masses on the dangers of the disease and also educating them about risky behaviour that exposes an individual to infection and how to prevent the transmission from spreading. Use of visual materials and teaching aids like magazines and films, drama and dance have been a basis of our teaching efforts in the community not leaving the spiritual approach that draws people to their creator as one of the means to crack down on moral decay and other ways that seem to be pathways for transmission. Widow’s Empowerment Women have been immensely affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic not ignoring the fact they are more vulnerable to infection than the male counterparts. This trend has put women in a great crisis of bridging the financial gaps left between them and their children after the death of their husbands. Women have found themselves getting involved in dubious activities like prostitution in a bid to earn a living for the starving children. Setting up women in productive groups that help them cope with the societal demands and the family have been advocated for by COISER Below are three of the most highlighted business opportunities that women would be involved in to help them live meaningfully and without much stress and strife that would otherwise deprive them of their parental responsibility to care for their children1. GROUNDNUT PROCESSING PROJECTS. Research into the small scale businesses running in the communities have shown that this project is profitable and yet the demands for the product is ever increasing. Groundnut processing is one that requires less labor and less skill especially for the illiterate women in the community to operate. It requires $900 to purchase machinery and an extra $60-100 for installation. A smaller mill grinds up to 1000 kg a day at a cost of 300 shillings raising about $380 per day. The bigger mill doubles the results for the smaller one and goes for $1300 for machinery and additional $ 100 for installations. A smaller mill occupies no less than 4 sq. feet of space including that of the operator. Women who lack income generating projects could benefit from such projects as it requires less skill and labor and availability of market. Groundnut paste has daily been transported to Northern Uganda where poverty has been on the increase. This project could act as a boaster in the income generating sector.2. GOAT REARING PROJECT The project requires an initial capital of $ 940 to begin the project of 12 animals on the farm (10 females and 2 males) The projects are on the increase both in the rural and urban settings however the latter has advantage of the abundant land resource that enhances flexibility of the animals to graze from a wider range of the grassland. I Local goat cost Ug.shs 60,000 1 male goat costs 75000. A demonstration project of 10 local goats and 2 males would give rise to no less than 15 kids per year. Most of the women have a passion for animals like dogs, cats and rabbits however the most generous are the goats and cows. The scheme would encourage women to be participative in such projects and helping them stay away from risky behaviour that would otherwise lead to their early deaths thus leaving behind a generation of orphans without anyone to offer them support. In light of the geographical requirements, Uganda boasts of a rich environment that greatly supports the project especially the optimal rainfalls that support growth of pasture for the animals. Zero grazing method is highly emphasized to cut down costs on labor and special housing for the animals. 3. Ice cream project. Requires $ 2500 for initial capital and is one of the top competitive businesses in town, in Mpumudde, only one ice cream plant is available, the profits are really good to help women get started with the same.CHALLENGES Lack of funding to meet operational costs for the school and other Evangelical programs has always hampered progress in our activities. Missions require at least a minimum of $700 monthly to effect our operations while the school requires USD3000 to cover all its programs the money goes to transport costs, food, scholastic materials, and water bills.