Teamwork at Home...Chores can be fun!

Smiles, new clothes, a sense of belonging, love of a spiritual mum and dad along with brothers and sisters are a few of the elements making the new House of Hope Kabale a home. In addition to the spiritual and emotional side of the family are the practical tasks required to run a household. Pastor Johnson and Evas are training the children to manage the home by creating teams for shopping, household maintenance, meal preparation and compound maintenance. In the future another garden team will be added when the compost bin and garden are ready for planting and maintenance.


Each team has a team leader who is trained by Pastor Johnson and Evas. The leader then trains their team in the tasks assigned to their group. After a month rotating each week and learning different tasks all of the children will be trained in managing the home. When Evas goes shopping the shopping team joins her and learns how to choose fruits and vegetables in the market, budget the money for each week and keep records of what is being spent. The household maintenance team keeps the kitchen and bathrooms clean, removes rubbish, cleans the floors and makes sure the interior of the home is in order. The most popular team function is food preparation which involves meal planning, cooking, setting the table, cleaning the dishes and proper storage of food. Cleaning, slashing the grass, trimming the hedges, plus arranging flowers for the house and sweeping the outside compound are a few of the tasks of the compound maintenance team.

Practical life skills are just part of the wholistic approach to equipping the children for success in the future. Learning to use indoor plumbing is a new experience for the children but as Pastor Johnson reports, "the children are picking up using the plumbing. I'm amazed how they learn things so easily." After only two weeks Johnson says, "Evas is getting used to taking care of the many children. She has had a fun time learning to budget for many children. The children are also doing well and learning to work as a team."

Teaching by example that humility in doing any job is important and that teamwork makes work easy and fun are helping the children learn important principles.

Reflections-Opening the House of Hope

The following is an account from Pastor Johnson as he observed the children coming to their new home in Kabale.

Today the children entered the house, you missed seeing the great joy and excitement upon their faces. Some of them it was their first time to know they are going to sleep on a mattress, with bed sheets! Others being sure that they will at least have food daily was too much for them. Some of them have never been loved, your first message of belonging was taken seriously and the point went home. They are sure of love, comfort and protection. Knowing that they have a home is enough for most of them. Yet others knowing that their school fees will be paid on time and they won't have to be chased from school from time to time was great inspiration.

We went in a disorganized way because not much was complete by today. The house was not yet ready, but we said they will finish up when we are in the house. Benson too,had not finished all the furniture, I didn't see him to explain, but the children said they would rather sleep on the floor but sleep in their new home!One by one, they started coming in around 4:00 p.m, with their luggage in polythene bags.

On entering the house they would scream and shout with joy!They immediately helped to clean up the place, some mothers came to give a hand to clean the place. It was exciting, each one being part of the solution. They worked together and made the work easier. They already feel they are part of one family. It has been a tiresome day but I just could not go to bed with out sending you a word or two about the experience of entering the house.

Pastor Johnson's wife Margaret with Issac (left), Bruce (middle) and Andrew(right) as they give their testimonies of God's faithfulness in church after being in the House of Hope one week.