Pendeza David's Story That Inspired Our Name & Vision.
At the age of six, he did not have a name and knew no home than the streets of Wandegeya and the Katanga slum in Kampala, Uganda. He never met his father, but lived with his mother, Eyang, two severely malnourished six-month-old twins, and one other sibling.
Even when Eyang and the twins were put on a child survival program and the family given housing in Kagugube by the help and intervention of Christine N. Walubo, things did not get any easier.
This boy and his other sibling did not know how to dwell in a hygienic environment or how to properly use latrines (toilets). Additionally, Eyang tried to help her fellow Karimojong women and their children by welcoming them into her rented house. Lastly, members of the group tended to “borrow” items from their neighbors. These three things together caused great consternation among the residents of that area, and his family were forced to leave this home.
Christine rented another house for this struggling family, located closer to Deliverance Church, Makerere Hill campus, where Christine attended and officed. The boy started visiting the church regularly, and people could see from his young face that he was tired of street-life.
But there was a downside to the boy’s church visits. It meant that he was not spending enough time as a beggar on the streets, and this got him in serious trouble with Eyang. Unfortunately, her frustration frequently led to regular and severe beatings. To this day, he has bodily scars from his mother’s drunken rages.
In addition to all of the above, this boy had an extremely insolent temperament, knew no language other than improper hand signals, and had a tendency to take food from people’s very plates in front of them. Clearly, he needed some significant investment and rehabilitation.
There were a few people, Christine included, who looked beyond the boy’s poor upbringing and loved him the way that he was. He received a name at the age of six, when Christine asked friends who knew Swahili what a good name would be for him in that language. Pendeza (translating to Love) and David from the Bible were the names chosen for him.
Seeing the difficulties of Pendeza’s complex life, the staff from DC Makerere Hill and the fledgling organization that would bear his name decided to start making a monthly contribution to his welfare. The decision was made to send Pendeza to an institution named Dwelling Places, since a conventional school would not give him what he really
needed.
From 2012 to 2013, Pendeza was at the rehabilitation center and made steady transformational progress. He learnt life skills, and started relating with people a lot better than before. By the time he left Dwelling Places, he was a totally different person. He was taken to a boarding school where he settled in well and caught on quickly.
However, things with Eyang were not progressing at the same pace. She dropped off of the child survival program due to not upkeeping the regulations involved with it. The little family, Pendeza not included, moved to a place that the team could not easily find her, and it proved futile to convince her to leave behind the habits she had learned on the streets such as begging. This was a hard loss to the group who had tried to help her improve.
Eyang’s life decisions continued to affect Pendeza. Now, he had no home to return to during school breaks (holidays). To help meet this need, a widow names Nakabugo Jane took Pendeza in and gave him love and good care beginning in 2016. She shared with Pendeza her meager resources, which she received occasionally from her daughter who was also without steady employment.
Due to the investment by this tight-knit community, Pendeza David became a social, enthusiastic, and jovial boy at the age of 12. By this time, he attended Primary 3 (2nd grade) and was proving to be a well-disciplined lad.
His sponsors kept on praying that one day God would provide a stable family with both a mother and a father, since at his age a father-figure is so critically important! Praise God that a couple from DC Makerere Hill, who had followed his story closely over the past years, agreed to foster Pendeza. He has lived with them for 3 years now, and seems to be very happy there.
When the time came to formalize our operations as an independent nonprofit, it was only right that we took on Pendeza's name. This daily reminds us that there are many children and families in need of our love and support - both by our presence in their lives and by financial contributions.
You can also be a part of Pendeza Uganda’s story by joining us in supporting needy children. There are several ways to support children like Pendeza David:
- Financial support for a family
- Financial support for a child in terms of paying for school fees and other school needs.
- Giving of items/gifts (clothes, shoes, bedding, food, and school bags to name just a few) click here to donate items.
- Volunteer with us
- Prayer support
- General financial support for our program activities
- Together we can transform lives and communities! Donate now!!!
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Compiled by Christine N. Walubo and Esther Carey. Last updated May 2023.
