Uganda —Kiteredde Construction Institute

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Once you had no future. The outlook was bleak. Your father died of AIDS and your family was having trouble making ends meet. You want to take up a trade to help support your mother and siblings. But how?

Picture KCI.

Richard Kato lost his father. He is the oldest of five siblings and a first year student at Kiterrede Construction Institute. He is learning skills that will enable him to support his mother and brothers and sisters. His school fees, about $40 per term, are paid from project support. Without this opportunity, Richard’s future might be very different. He is one of the lucky ones.

Children, who might not otherwise get an opportunity to learn vocational skills, are flourishing. Students at KCI are learning skills to become tailors, farmers, electricians, office workers, bricklayers and carpenters. The stakes are high and the results worthwhile. When these young people graduate they will, not only be contributing to their family’s future, but to the future of their community as well.

Lutheran World Relief and KCI have long walked together to improve and enrich the lives of orphaned and poor children in the Rakai District of Uganda. Since 1994 this partnership has developed from a small LWR grant into a much larger program helping the youth in the area become productive members of their community. The relationship between the LWR and KCI has been built on trust and learning.

“KCI has not developed alone. The able and readily available guidance from the Lutheran World Relief Regional Office is the secret behind the success story,” is a sentiment expressed by Brother Hillary, school principal. He sums it up by saying, “The world often listens to the strong, but here we listen to the weak.”