Joshua

Joshua was a tiny malnourished 5 year old. His parents had so many children that they didn’t know what to do. In desperation his mother, who was a Christian, went to her pastor in Kalisizo and asked him to take her four youngest children as she could not afford to feed them or care for them. As Joshua was the only child of school age, the pastor contacted Fred at Rock of Joy Masaka School which was 14 miles away and asked if he would take Joshua into the boarding hostel.

Inside the Rock of Joy Masaka boarding house

When he first came to the hostel he wasn’t used to being given meals three times a day. His appetite was tiny and when he started to eat he was incontinent of faeces as his gut was unused to dealing with waste material. He was unhealthy with ring worm, intestinal worms, malnutrition and malaria. He was brought back to health by the school nurse.

Joshua is now thriving and enjoying school. He now has a school uniform and a set of casual clothes provided by the school. At the end of the summer term the parents were called for a prize giving. This coincided with the arrival of 6 wheelie bins of gifts from Heswall. With his father present, Joshua was the first child called up. He was praised by the teachers for being the most punctual and obedient boy in his class and was given first choice of the shoes that we had sent as his prize. This made the father realise that his son was valued by others and that he should value him as well.

He has gone home for the three week holiday period. The pastor in Kalisizo will check up on him and his mother has been told that if he becomes sick over the holidays the school should be contacted.

We hope that in this way Joshua will continue to thrive but also maintain contacts with his family.