The below post was written by board president Tom Mayer.
I first met Fr. Alfred Tumwesigye at the 124th Men’s Cursillo weekend. He was a candidate and I was working my first weekend in the Palanca chapel. At that time in 2012, Father was completing a Master’s degree at DePaul in Chicago and planned to return to Uganda In August of that year. After our friendship grew so did my call to help Father Alfred’s mission to build a Medical Center in his home village of Nyakyera and to service the surrounding Ntungamo District in Uganda – East Africa. After the Medical Center is completed this remote and rural area of Uganda will provide medical care for about 30,000 people.
In August 2013, Father returned to the US with a specific need to raise funds for the roof of the medical center. After understanding and defining Father’s mission, Friends of Shalom for Uganda was formed as the US entity to support Father’s plan. In January of 2014 our group was incorporated in the State of Illinois and this August the IRS recognized us as a 501(c)(3) public charity.
On August 22nd our first fundraiser was held at St. Petronille in Glen Ellyn where over 200 people joined us for a delicious spaghetti dinner and fellowship. Father Alfred presented to the attendees the work he is doing in his village to provide health, spiritual, psychological, and hospice care to the local people.
After the event, with the generous support of parishioners from St. Francis of Rome parish in Chicago where Father lived and served while in Chicago, and many other family and friends including many from the Joliet Cursillo Community, money was sent to Father to help execute his mission.
The money was used at the medical center to make a payment on the land and to pay for a new septic system, shutters for the doors, electrical and plumbing work to allow the medical center to start seeing patients this November.
A portion of the donations was used in a special way to support a local 20 year old 1st year midwife student by the name Ninsiima Christine. She had made a request of our board to pay for her school fees so she could “… achieve my desired goal and dream of becoming a midwife who will readily assist pregnant mothers to have safe deliveries, to promote life and generally to offer my dedicated service to God’s people professionally.” Upon completion of her midwife degree Ninsiima will work at the medical center bringing her skills to the care and comfort to those in need.
To be a part of this work and be called to help raise funds that care for the poor and needy half way around the world is a truly awesome experience. To provide an education to change a life that will help bring life to countless others is the work of the hand of God.