Save The Aids orphans

Dear Friends,

My name is Pastor Nelson Lufafa. I am the director of

Save the Aids Orphans in Jinja, Uganda. We currently house 67 orphans. We also work with widows and vulnerable children in our community.

We are in desperate need of a van to help at the orphanage and for use in our community outreach. We are currently working without a vehicle of our own, leaving us dependent on unreliable local minivans for hire.

I would like to tell you about our organization in order to help you understand our need. Save the Aids Orphans (STAO) is a non-profit, indigenous and church based charitable organization whose mission and mandate are to uphold the sanctity of human life by endeavoring to meet the physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological needs of orphans, vulnerable children (OVC) and widows facing welfare problems.

STAO now works to:

- provide of formal education for HIV/AIDS orphans and

Vulnerable children

- empower widows financially and psychosocially

- sensitize communities about HIV/AIDS

- provide mobile palliative care for people living with AIDS (PLWA)

- fight poverty through pursing income generating activities

- spreading the word of a caring God

Our aim is to ensure the wellbeing of the orphans, vulnerable children and widows facing welfare problems. Our organization was started in 1997 to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in general, and the rapid increase of orphans as a direct result of HIV/AIDS deaths. These two factors being the most frequent reasons the faithful would turn to us for counseling and prayer, soon the intended boundaries of STAO were found to be outgrowing the demand for services at a terrific rate. In an area so vast that the resources, being physical, financial and human, could no longer handle the demand, and in looking to the future, STAO was upgraded to a non-governmental organization under the number S.5914/3552. STAO has its headquarters in Mafubira, 2 kilometers from Jinja, which is about two hours from Kampala, which is the capital city of Uganda.

I want to share with you how much the acquisition of a van would help us with the children here at the orphanage and with our outreach. A major part of our work is home visits where we meet with widows and OVC. We need to be able to transport people and patients, equipment and medicines in a more efficient and responsible ways then we can currently. At this time we have no transportation of our own and must rely on local minivans for hire, which drive only on the main roads.

We also would be able to use a van in our HIV/AIDS sensitization we carry out. In this community outreach we use TV sets, loudspeakers and a VCR to teach people in the community about HIV/AIDS. Our clientele live deep in the villages with poorly maintained roads or no roads making access difficult.

To gain access in the rainy season becomes even more difficult with ruts and potholes along the way.

We would also be able to use a van as a dependable way to

transport the children for care when they become ill. It would also help us to maintain regular visits to the families and OVC in the surrounding villages even if the weather is bad.

I have enclosed a more thorough description of our programs. I also included a list of achievements and statistics that STAO has accomplished in recent years. We are excited about the help we have been able to provide and continue to work to improve and expand in order to help more of the people in our community that are in need of care and help.

I look forward to hearing from you. I am eager to answer any questions you may have and hope you will be able to help us in achieving this goal of the purchase of a van.