Uganda Project

Trafalgar Presbyterian Church
Uganda Project

Trafalgar Presbyterian Church has partnered with community members in rural Uganda to provide leadership training opportunities to local youth. The initiative's first project involves a Community Learning Centre in Masooli and Kitettika villages, just north of the Ugandan capital of Kampala. This initiative has been incorporated in Uganda as the Network for African Youth Leadership Development.

This learning centre is a community-based effort that

  • Helps young people complete secondary school
  • Facilitates training in family care, health and AIDS prevention
  • Teaches youths skilled trades, such as sewing, woodworking, bricklaying

Meeting community needs through locally-available resources, the project has hired local artisans and unemployed youth to build and equip a study library and meeting space.

Joy: The Bear that Shares!

A fundraising initiative for the Uganda Project

Trafalgar is pleased to sell Joy Bears. They are available individually for $10.00 each or in boxes of 24. Five dollars from the sale of each bear goes directly to work of the Masooli-Kitettika Learning Centre in Uganda. These stuffed bears come dressed in one of a variety of shirts, including plaid flannel with buttons up the front, pretty pink sweaters, and white t-shirts with a sparkly iron-on design. Additional red and white winter outfits are also for sale for $5 each, and come nicely gift-boxed. Named in honour of the late Dr. Joyce Nsubuga, the founder of the learning centre, the sale of Joy Bears has already raised over $20,000 for this international partnership. To purchase your own bear or for more information, please contact Alison in the church office.

Joy Bears

Equipping youth to generate income is a critical step toward their education, since all schools in Uganda charge tuition and students must purchase their own books. AIDS-orphaned youth face additional challenges as they must head a household of younger siblings.

This project was founded by Dr. Joyce Nsubuga, an elder at Trafalgar Presbyterian Church. Dr. Nsubuga is an epidemiologist and public health worker with experience establishing community health clinics in rural Africa.

The project benefits from donations and sponsorships from other organizations, including: Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, Oakville Soccer Club, Clairlea-Westview Soccer Club, and members and friends of Trafalgar Presbyterian Church. For more than five years, financial contributions to the project were generously matched by Presbyterian World Service and Development.

In January 2008, a small delegation from Trafalgar travelled to meet our mission partners in Uganda. They sought to build relationships with the students, staff and families involved with the Masooli-Kitettika Learning Centre as well as offer support to the local Project Co-ordinator. Through a vigourous schedule of meetings and informal conversations, the team explored avenues for self-sustainability, marketing, entrepreneurship and capacity building. They also brought back a first-hand understanding of the community's culture and the Learning Centre's mission, hoping to ignite further support in Oakville, Ontario. To read about the group's adventure, read their blog.

Trafalgar Church holds an annual worship service featuring the choir of Ugandan Martyrs Church in Toronto to celebrate God's work in Masooli and Kitettika. All are welcome! The children at Trafalgar Church have learned about our friends in Uganda through special Sunday School presentations that include crafts, food, and music.

Please contact our church office for more information about this exciting project. Your support and donations are always welcome; cheques payable to Trafalgar Presbyterian Church, marked for the Uganda Project, are gratefully received at any time. They can be dropped off on Sunday mornings or during office hours, or they can be mailed to the church. Gifts are eligible for receipts for income tax purposes.