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Greetings!
Happy New Year! In this month's newsletter, we invite you to learn more about the primary school and dormitory, read updates on some of the children that COVE serves, and mark your calendar for Fr. Hilary's spring visit and COVE's largest fundraising event of the year, Out of Africa, taking place April 10, 2010. Please pass this newsletter along to friends and family who may be interested in COVE. As always, thank you for your generous support!
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Kapeeka Christmas Party a Huge Success!
The response to the 2009 Christmas Appeal was truly amazing. This was the 3rd Christmas party in Uganda for sponsored children, their siblings and guardians, along with the staff of COVE Alliance - Uganda.
A party for over one thousand guests is no small endeavor. We were asked to raise 6,500,100 Ugandan Schillings ($3500 US) to cover the cost of the party and to provide a very special gift for each of the 156 children in the sponsorship program. This year's gift for each child was a 3-inch foam mattress. Donors gave over $5500, with extra funding going to the health clinic, primary school or area of greatest need as designated by each donor.
Father Hilary shared: "I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the donors for this very generous contribution. It will be a wonderful Christmas in which some of the children in Kapeeka will sleep on a mattress for the very first time in their life!" |
Foundation Poured for COVE Center Dormitory
In late December, the foundation was poured for the new dormitory at the St. Jerome COVE Center in Kapeeka. The dormitory will house children attending the primary school, with first priority being given to COVE-sponsored children.
The dormitory will be home for up to 80 children. Divided into four sections with ten bunk beds each, the dormitory will provide two separate bathing areas (one for boys, one for girls) and a laundry space. A matron's room will be located in the middle of the building.
The new dormitory is scheduled to open in March 2010.
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New School for a New Year
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Dormitory construction seen here with new primary school in background (left)
A new primary school will open at the COVE
Center in February 2010, just in time
for the beginning of the new school year.
The school year in Uganda
runs from February to December and has three terms, about three months each,
with breaks in between.
The school will be headed up by Joseph Lule, who has served as
teacher in a progressive school for nine years.
Assistant teacher Angella Atuhaire comes to COVE with two years of
teaching experience. These
energetic teachers hold diplomas in primary education and are eager to begin
working with the students.
For 2010, COVE's primary school will house a first and
second grade classroom; additional classes will be added each year. Students at the school will study
math, English, geography, social studies and science. There will also be time for art and
outdoor activities such as soccer, net ball and volleyball.
Special thanks go to the Vernon
Hills High School
"Candle Campaign," which raised $33,000 for the primary school, and to MoneyGram,
whose $10,000 grant provided school supplies as well as community orientation
and training.
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A Bright Future
 COVE Alliance literally brings a brighter future to Justine Nakaguli. Since her mother's death, her father Henry Bbosa has raised her and a younger brother by himself. A peasant farmer who also does all of the household's domestic work, Henry made additional sacrifices to enroll Justine and her brother in a nearby primary school. After COVE member Marsha House-Cunningham began sponsoring Justine, COVE monitors learned that she was not receiving a good education. COVE relocated 11 year old Justine to Bright Future Primary School where she now thrives in the third primary grade. Here COVE is vindicating the hopes of a single parent who would otherwise be unable to provide his daughter with her best opportunities. |
COVE Fundraising Event Meeting
Tuesday January 5, 2010, 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
St. Mary of Vernon Parish Center, Room 120
COVE Grants Meeting
Saturday January 9, 2010, 10:30 am - 11:30 am
Caribou Coffee, 375 N. Milwaukee, Vernon Hills
COVE Board Meeting
Wednesday January 13, 2010, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
St. Mary of Vernon Parish Center, Room 120
COVE Communications Committee Meeting
Thursday January 14, 2010, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
St. Mary of Vernon Parish Center, Room 120
COVE Sponsorship Meeting
Tuesday January 19, 2010, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
St. Mary of Vernon - Rectory Lower Level
Chicago Public Radio Global Activism Expo
COVE will take part in this event along with other organizations to celebrate Chicago-area global activists.
Saturday April 17, 2010, 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
UIC Forum - 725 W. Roosevelt Road, Chicago, IL 60608
Click Here For an updated COVE calendar of events. |
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Letter From a Sponsored Child |
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A child in Uganda wrote this letter to her Sponsor:
Dear Sponsor,
 It is a pleasure to communicate to you again. Thank you so much for the love, care and support you give me through COVE. I have received the gifts you sent to me in the mail. My mother, sisters and brothers send regards to you. I am happy to be in school. My school is near COVE Alliance Centre. Our school land borders with COVE land. When I grow after my studies, I want to become a nurse. I will be saving people's lives. I have to walk from home to school and back every day. I study from Monday to Friday. I am proud to be the last born!
In my village it is a season of mangoes. When my friends and I get back fom school, we get the mangoes. Boys climb up as the girls are down to collect the mangoes. We share equally by dividing them amongst us.
May God bless you and yours,
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For more information about COVE Alliance,
please visit our website at:
To make a donation via PayPal, please click the Donate button:
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Admirers gaze at gifts piled high.
For more pictures of the Kapeeka Christmas party, click here.
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Executive Director Father Hilary Muheezangango will visit COVE US this spring from March 24 through April 22. While here, he will be eager to express his gratitude and share news about COVE Uganda.
Please consider hosting a coffee or tea during Fr. Hilary's visit so that your friends and neighbors can meet him, hear his inspiring story and be updated on COVE Alliance's latest accomplishments. For more information, call Darlene Frantonius at 847-438-4780. |
Do you like to travel? Would you like to visit COVE Uganda?
A trip to Kapeeka, Uganda is being planned for the summer of 2010. At this time, four COVE members plan to go. To travel there, certain shots are required.
If you may be interested in going, call Darlene Frantonius at 847-438-4780 for more information.
To learn about immunizations, call Carol Armstrong at 847-295-2904.
We are limited to six people in all. It is truly a life altering experience. |
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Lisa Wagner
When Lisa Wagner learned about COVE Alliance from long-time member David Hibbett in the spring of 2008, she joined the organization as a general member almost immediately. Impressed with the work that COVE had already done in Uganda, Lisa hoped that her previous experiences with small non-profit organizations could help to fulfill more dreams of COVE Alliance.
Lisa was a board member last year and also did extensive work with the COVE Grants committee. She found much personal fulfillment from COVE's continued success with the children in Uganda. Recently Lisa left the board to pursue other challenges, but she hopes to remains an active member of COVE Alliance, helping when and where she can.
Lisa now lives in Chicago with her husband Joel and works as a Research Assistant for the Chickasaw Indian Nation. She feels that her time with COVE Alliance has helped to prepare her to work more closely and compassionately with indigenous and under-served populations right here in the United States. |
April 10, 2010
COVE Alliance
5th Annual Fundraising Event
More information coming soon!
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Our vision is of a world of hopeful, responsible human beings who respect human dignity and are in a position to sustain themselves and their families in the future.
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Darlene Frantonius
847-438-4780
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