Invest in women, accelerate progress was the theme this year for International Women's Day and we have been continuing this focus to help break the generational cycle of poverty.

With our expanded work in rural communities in Uganda this year, you have helped children get a healthy start in life. One of the most challenging issues our team faces is helping single teen mothers who have no resources, no one to turn to. 

Since my first visit to Uganda 14 years ago, I have enjoyed spending time visiting schools and even doing a little guest teaching. This time I visited about 20 schools and was in about 100 classrooms I think! 

 It was great to visit the students you all helped send to school this year! Each time we stopped at a school, our students were told to report to the principal's office. You can imagine they might have thought they were in trouble for something!  Monika was relieved when she saw it was us!

Meet Goreti, Sarah, & Christin. These girls had to leave school two years ago because their families could no longer afford the tuition.  In rural Uganda, girls who have to leave school are often left to “fend for themselves” to get food to survive. You might imagine what that means!