Author: Jim Johnson

2024 is shaping up to be a dynamic year for Kassunga Mission Initiative.  In the coming weeks, KMI will share news about the latest round of developments at St. Teresa Learning Center.  But for now, the focus is the two major fund-raising activities that bring supporters together to help the villagers of Kassunga, Uganda.  Come and be part of that bright future!

Wishing for Wells & Community Well-being Golf Tournament

Fore!  KMI will hold its fifth annual event on Monday, June 24, 2024 at Brandermill Country Club.  Here is the link to the tournament flyer that sponsors, friends and golfers will find useful.

Many thanks to tournament sponsors, golfers and volunteers who have signed up to help make for an enjoyable and successful day.  There’s still time to get involved!  Here are opportunities waiting for you:

• Sponsors & Friends of the Tournament—Contact Barbara White at bobarbwhite@gmail.com for details.  There are a range of options to recognize the local businesses who help make the tournament successful.  Individuals may also donate to this important effort.
• Golfers—Contact Laurie Weeda at middlemath@comcast.net to register your foursome, get ready to compete in the day’s contests and take your best shot at bringing home the oversized, engraved tournament trophy.
• Volunteers—Contact Barbara White at bobarbwhite@gmail.com to help.  Behind the scenes, there are two important ways to do so.  First, as part of the Tournament Committee, you can make contacts that turn into tournament sponsors and friends.  Second, on the day of the tournament you can help things go smoothly between the time that the golfers arrive and the recognition dinner concludes. 

Sponsors, friends, golfers and volunteers create a “village” of activity here in Chesterfield that benefits the village of Kassunga.

Concession Stand at Richmond Flying Squirrels

“Have Funn, Go Nutz!”  Everyone knows this slogan of the area’s minor league baseball team at The Diamond.  KMI mans the third base side concession stand on the upper level for four week-long home stands during the season. 

A core KMI group has already completed one week with good success.  But there are three more weeks to come, the weather is getting nicer, and the ballpark crowds will get bigger.  More help is needed so that KMI can have up to 14 volunteers at each and every game.

Contact Mary Carol Smith at mcandsteve@gmail.com for more information and to sign up for a day here, a day there that fits your schedule.  Carpooling is available from the Church of the Epiphany parking lot.  Here are the upcoming dates:

• Tuesday, May 14 through Sunday, May 19
• Thursday, July 4 through Saturday, July 6
• Tuesday, August 20 through Sunday, August 25

This is KMI’s second year working with the Squirrels so a good routine has been worked out for food and drink stocking, cooking and order taking.  It is easy to learn a role, the time passes quickly and money is raised to support the village of Kassunga.

An impressive view of St. Teresa Learning Center

November is the final month of the third and final term of the school year in Uganda.  At St. Teresa Learning Center (STLC), 30 some students in P-7 (Primary grade 7) have just completed taking the national learning exam.

They await their results, which will be issued in early 2024.  A passing grade allows a student to move onto to the first of four years of secondary school.  Hard work, determination and focus have all been part of the routine for these students.  Staff and teachers have been encouraging, supportive and dedicated to get them ready.

It looks like 2024 will be an exciting year.

This aerial view from Google Earth shows the STLC campus.  To the left is the primary section for grades P-1 through P-7.  To the far right is the nursery section where there are three levels of young learners referred to as Baby, Middle and Top. (Top is the equivalent of our kindergarten.)  In the middle is housing—girls’ dormitory on the left, staff housing in the middle, and boys’ dormitory to the right.

The compassion and generosity of some special people of good will have made all this possible.  STLC represents a tremendous investment in the quality of life for the people of Kassunga, Uganda.