Prior to founding Esuubi Trust my involvement in Uganda began when I went there for 6 months on an Oasis overseas mission Team. It was then that I first became involved with Mityana Orphanage. During my time there my team and I renovated an empty building that had kindly been donated to the Orphanage when the owner died a number of years before. On going round the building the first day I arrived in Mityana we found the building full of rubble and dust with much work needed.

So having raised about £1200 selling specially designed Golly badges we were able to pay for and help out with much of the renovation work that needed to take place. All six rooms in the building are now plastered and painted with doors and shutters in place. There was enough money to also buy beds, mattresses, blankets and mosquito nets so that the children were able to move out of the house where they had been sharing just a couple of beds between all of them into a safe environment where they could have a bed each!

During this work we experienced what it is truly like to live in Africa! For 4 days we fetched water for the builders from a spring a 45 minute round trip away, carrying at least 20litres of water each time. It was the most physically exhausting thing I did while we were there but the children at the orphanage at this time were making the round trip at least twice a day.