It's been a while since I have last updated. I'm sorry! I have very limited access to the Internet but the past week has been amazing. We have been interacting with a larger orphanage/school by the name of Impact Ministries. It's called home for about 250 students (many walking for several miles) all striving for an education. The school itself isn't in the best of shape, but we spent two days with the kids repainting and adding a little color to the classrooms. Needless to say...the kids LOVED it. It was a good little project to get us started and today all the children invited us to their big "back to school" party. The danced and sang songs and they prepared us a hot meal. Afterwords the kids got their daily meal but as we began serving the rice and meat (they got feed a great meal since the occasion) but we soon realized not all the kids would eat. Limited food means limited mouths to feed. At the end we realized there were 31 mouths to feed but that was all the food Impact had, so the poor kids just put there head down and walk away with their dirty dish. It's sad because death and hunger isn't anything new to these people. It simply woven into everyday life in Uganda.


Every now and then, I have to tell myself I'm not living in a dream or some obscure world. Yesterday was one of those days. We meet a man named Michael about 3 weeks ago. He and several others started a local NGO here in Mbale called Christian Faith In Action International (CFAI) designed to touch the untouchable, and to reach the unreachable. They have been supporting a small village up in Mt. Elgon and yesterday we decided to go with them and do a full on site assessment of the village of Bunabuyoka, in the Manafea district on the border of Uganda and Kenya. Four of us from HELP and six from CFAI all somehow fit in a small taki for 1 1/2 hours on the wonderful roads of Uganda and hiked a couple hours through the beautiful jungles of Mt. Elgon. Passing through the small villages are the most incredible thing. The side path led us to a cliff where we continued on and somehow made it to Bunabuyoka. CFAI informed us of our arrival and the whole village was there in the church and welcomed us with a 4 hour presentation of song and dance and gave gratitude for our long treck. It soon came to our attention that us four were the first white people to ever have visited the village. There was a special spirit of unity there and I instantly fell in love. We then broke off into groups and discussed the needs and challenges the people face every day. Once again, water was a problem. No access to medicine, the school was made of mud, and the lack of new farming techniques causes major economic challenges. Despite everything, they worship our every move and fed us their dinner, which I know left some people with nothing to eat. They begged for knowledge of new skills and ways to educate their children. When we left, they said "if you cannot do anything to help us, just please pray for us." That's the life here. It's hard to know where to start because the needs just flow from every direction. We have several project proposals lined up as a team. We will be starting some Health and sanitation classes at a local medical clinic and I'm heading a project with Dane to find a solution to the water issues in the Namatala slum just outside Mbale. We have found some great partners but have learned there is so much to development and one project research can take so much time. But were excited for what we have lined up. Each day is an adventure.


Thank you again for your support from Uganda!

Pictures - Round 2

Pictures - Round 1

Big Ben and other parlements

Uganda Embassy in London

Arriving in Entebee Uganda!

Welcome to the Mzungus!

Baptism at the LDS Mbale branch

All our new friends

Mzungu!

Ole Otye! This week has been great and very busy! We spent the past 5 days exploring and finding potential NGO's to work with. We visited orphanages, hospitals, and several other wonderful places. We cut the heads off chickens for dinner, collected white ants to eat(but couldn't find enough)and so many new things. It's slowly beginning to feel like home. The jet lag is slowly wearing off but the guilt of what I own so freely back home never seems to leave. We visited a small village yesterday and upon arrival they welcomed us with song and dance all by homemade devices. The people are so talented in what they know. We have a couple great ideas on some projects both near and far and will be submited proposals soon and im so ready to get started. So much work to do, and feels like only a "drop in da ocean" they say, but everybody is so happy we are here. We have secured a compound next to some crazy South Africans that LOVE us and there our new friends when there sober. There has been some political issues with Museveni and the election which caused us to come in early but were all safe and well. Were all becoming experts with playing cards since that's about all we have to do every night but our team is awesome and we love it here. Were slowly making way and finding local leaders who own there own dreams. They strong individuals are the future to find a way out of the slums. Yesterday we visited 1100 kids (many orphans) in the slum living where ever they find a place. The leader Kenneth of a NGO opened so many ways we can introduce some new ways to childrens and were excited to start working there, Life is great. Perfect I should say. More to come and thanks for the support!

T.I.A... (This Is Africa!)

Africa! Well everybody we made it! but more importantly my baggade made it! Wed morning we took off to chicago, where we caught a connecting flight to London and spent a full day there. That was an interesting experience :) stories later to come...then took off on a long flight to Kenya where we caught our last short flight over to Uganda where we were picked up by our country directors. Only 23 hours of flying. No big deal. We flew in yesterday early morning and then all 14 of us Mazungas (white people)stuffed ourselfs into a small ancient bus and all our luggage for a 7 hour treck accross the country over every kind of road amaginable. What an experience that was. Uganda is amazing though! We looked outside as we landed and saw the small barefoot children of the village of Entebee playing soccer with a "ball" I have never seen before and I instantly fell in love. Our journey lead us through village after village and we instantly became celebrities. The children laughed and everybody stared and pointed fingers and welcomed us to their village. I am in a complete daze at the beauty of this country but more importantly the kindness of the people. We are having a few problems securing a safe place to call home, and everybody is willing to leave and sleep outside so we can rest our heads. So humble the people are. Mbale itself is wonderful. We spend the day along the dirty roads and riding the Boda Bodas (small motercycles) to get around. It's amazing how anybody survives those things. Mbale is a pretty good size city and people are everywhere. Villages run along side and become very remote. The day we arrived it was nine at night and after 3 days of traveling, jet lagged and starving we found out no have no electricty either. Instantly I will never complaine again! We were all so tired so just through up our nets to go to bed when about 2 hours later we all woke with burning eyes and swollen faces. Aparentlty the nets were a little strong and nobody slept. This morning we woke up, cut up some fruit, and just laughed at everything that has happened and crazyness of this all and keep saying "guys...were in AFRICA!" I seriously feel like I fell in the Alice and Wonderland hole and get up in the morning wondering where I am. Despite it all, I already feel apart of everything and were now begining to work with the Sr. LDS couple here and there sooo excited to have us. I have found myself already fallen in love with this country and Uganda has a funny way of surprising you. Always something crazy.Stepping off the plane the warm humid air was so refreshing and I'm excited to be apart of something with so much potential. Were just trying to nail down a safe place to live, meet with potential partners and get established. There is so much poverty here, and the lifestyle is quite the shock to me, and is taking some getting use to. Sometimes I just melt inside and try really hard to not burst out in tears for so many poeple. At the same time gives me a lot of motivation to live with these people, build with these people, help these people, and help them help themself. I can't wait for the future and im thankful for what it holds for me. Thanks for your support from everybody. I'll post pictures when I can. Sighing off from Mbale Uganda!!

Normally I not a huge fan of broadcasting my thoughts and every little detail of my life through social networks, But sometimes I have opportunities that would be selfish not to share. I dedicate this blog to capturing my experience with HELP international and to the small children in Uganda hoping for a brighter future.


It's going to be an amazing summer for all of HELP's programs, but especially Mbale Uganda! Im excited to work with all the volunteers on our team. We have a lot of diversity of skills and assets everybody is bringing to the table. And for all those haters who don't think it's not possible for a small group of students to make a difference in a complicated country such as Uganda we echo the words of Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed it's the only thing that ever has." Here we go. First wave leaves Wednesday. Wow. That's tomorrow. No looking back. THIS ONE'S FOR AFRICA...

Greetings from Uganda!

Uganda is in East Africa and is known as the "Pearl of Africa" because of its lush jungles, rolling hills and temperate climate. The official language is English, however most Ugandans speak a tribal language as their first language. Though Uganda lies on the mouth of the Nile River and is replete with natural resources, the Ugandan people remain deeply impoverished. Uganda has suffered immensely from a civil war in northern Uganda that ended a few years ago. 

This will be HELP internationals first year in the city of Mbale, and surrounding villages. Projects in Uganda include: HIV/AIDS support group, business training, adobe stoves, square-foot gardening, public health campaigns, support for children with disabilities, eye camps, and more. HELP international is a non-profit organization started at BYU in 1999 in response to Hurricane Mitch. Since then, HELP has expanded their work across the globe, empowering local community members by teaching self sustainable skills that can be passed on to others.

Currently HELP is working with impoverished communities in eight locations around the world- Belize, El Salvador, Fiji, India, Thailand, Uganda, Tanzania, and Peru. 

     "Why Africa?" This seems to be the popular question. I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and served for 8 months in a west African refugee camp in southwest Houston, TX. During this time, I saw the aftermath and stories of the civil war fought through the 90's. It was during this time I fell in love with the kind and pure nature of the African people, and since then, I have always had a special draw to their homeland. Since then, I knew I would make it back to help them as they did for me. The conditions of Uganda call for the needs of education and sanitation. For these reasons, my family has decided to come together and raise $9,500 by April 30th 2011 to fund a new school outside Mbale. As we speak, 51% of Uganda's population is under the age of 14, and the schools ratio is over 80 children for every teacher. For this reason, we come for your help to provide a need we take for granted every day. At the 1 minute 10 second mark in the video below, is a similar design of the school we are fund-raising for. We know money is tight, but any amount of money contributes significantly. To donate, click on the "Donate" tab up at the right and you will be directed to HELP's website.  From there, you can donate through PayPal, including "Devin Wengert" in the comments section, specifying your donation to our school project. Or you can send a check addressed to HELP-international with "Devin Wengert" in the memo line to HELP-international, 455 N. University Ave #212, Provo, UT 84601 to avoid transaction fees, and please remember, every penny donated goes toward this fight against poverty.

While I spend the four months in Uganda this summer, I will be heading this project and construction of the school. This blog will be updated weekly so you can see the progress and faces of those being touched directly and see where your donations are going. We ask that you give whatever you can to this cause, and stay tuned to this blog through the months of July and August 2011.  Thanks to the commitment of community members, donors and volunteer programs such as HELP, we can take action and be of great service in this achievable progress against poverty. 

                                HELP international, Lugazi Uganda 2010