Second Opinion

We met with the Oncologist at St Joseph Mercy Health and laid out the plan for treatment. He was able to answer several questions for us. Most that my PhD biomedical engineer daughter had thought of. So good to have her as a resource worker! He also brought up the MRI and CT scans to show us the details of the reports. He was very straight forward and concurred that the plan we have at UM Melanoma Clinic appears to be our best option at this point.

So it looks like I start the immunotherapy this coming Wednesday!

Thanks for all the prayers, contacts and visits you have all made to date!

Metastatic Choroidal Melanoma

For the last 11 years I have had annual CT scans, blood work and chest x-rays to see if the choroidal melanoma had spread after the radiation treatment I had for it. Well this year the CT scan showed several highlighted areas in my liver.

After several CT scans, MRIs, blood workups and a liver biopsy, I have been diagnosed with metastatic ocular melanoma with five tumors in my liver and a tumor in a lymph node next to my trachea. My lungs and brain are clear for the moment.

The plan is to start immunotherapy on Wednesday May 3, 2017 with Keytruda at the U of M Melanoma Clinic in Ann Arbor. There is no cure for this condition, but hopefully the treatment will slow or shrink the tumors. While only 13% of patients get a benefit from this treatment, there is the possibility of some clinical trials if I do not respond to this course of treatment.

We have so many friends who have responded with so many prayers and calls and notes. It has been overwhelming to experience this kind of love and care for my family and I. I plan to use this blogspot as a site to keep everyone up to date, so please feel free to log yourself in. I would love to have you send messages and prayers via this site whenever you can. Know that our home is always open for anyone to stop in and spend time chatting. We want to know what is happening in your lives too!

Peace and all good,


Deacon Don Leach

BIC Newsletter Vol. I No. I August 2015

Bridging International Communities Newsletter

Vol. I No. I--August 2015

A Wonderful Young Woman from Kampala

This is the story of my contact with a young woman in Kampala Uganda. Some of it is in my words and some of it is in her words. I offer this story as an example of what we are trying to accomplish through the Diakonos Don Foundation and the House of Jjajja Don.  I met Cissy in 2011 when I was visiting a local college program. She was a student in her final year and took to me as soon as I came into the building. She was studying marketing and had a friend who was an artist who painted large murals. She asked if we would be able to use his services at St Kizito and the medical clinic there. I told her I would check into it and she gave me her phone number

A few months later I called her from the United States and told her that St Kizito was interested in contracting for a mural and that she should call Fr. Yiga about it. She was astounded that I had followed up with her. She was done with school by this time and told me se was looking for work but could not find anything. I gave her my email address and asked her to stay in touch with me.

A few months later we were taking young women into the House of Jjajja Don to learn how to sew and weave uniforms and other clothing items. They wanted to sell them and hoped to be able to come up with a marketing plan.

I returned to Uganda after another year and talked with Fr. Yiga about selling the clothes that the girls were making. I mentioned the contact I had with Cissy and Fr Gerald remembered her. We invited Cissy to meet with us and discussed her coming to work for the house as the Marketing Manger. I promised to fund a portion of her income her for six months at which time we would evaluate how her marketing plan was developing.

A few months after I left, I got a message that Cissy needed to talk to me. I called her and she talked to me about some very personal things she had not told me of earlier. She told me she had a young daughter and did not know where the father was. She was having difficulty with the girls in the house because they said she had not been open and honest with me. I thanked her for telling me about her daughter. I told her it made no difference and that I still wanted her to be the marketing manager for sales. The girls accepted her and ask her to move into the house with them which she did.

Cissy was bale to develop a plan whereby the girls contracted with some of the local schools to sew uniforms and weave sweaters for the students. The girls also were bale to rent a small shop in the neighborhood of the house. Sales did not go well in the shops as many of the locals still have stigmas about the girls who are former prostitutes. Another factor however was that the girls’ products were better and more expensive that what they were used to having available to them.

Cissy called me later and told me that she wanted to have her daughter, Catherine, baptized but did not have anyone who would be the godparents. I had her speak to her pastor and I agreed to be the godfather and a nun there agreed to be her godmother. Catherine was baptized a few months later.

While Cissy was in the house, she learned new skills and passed the state

 Certification test for sewing. One of the primary goals of the house is to get the girls ready to move back out on their own with some better skills and loving supports. Cissy and two other girls moved out of the house to start their own little business. I bought them a sewing machine and have stayed in touch with them since the move.

These are Sissy’s words about her life at the time of these ongoing contacts.

I was born in MAKONDO Rakai district. My parents paid for my education up to a Diploma level. After completing my diploma course in Marketing, I came to Kampala to look for the jobs. It was not possible to get the jobs I studied for. In the circumstances of not having any relative or friend in Kampala and no source of income, I ended up on the street. I hit the street in 2011 after teaming up with other girls who accommodated me in their rented rooms from where we would look for all sorts of jobs ranging from acting as waiters at eating places and bars, as well as street standing. Eventually I got pregnant and delivered a daughter. The boy responsible for the pregnancy abandoned and disappeared from me.  I took my daughter to the village where she stays under the care of

my mother while I remained in Kampala to look for jobs and money.

It is from the street that that Don picked me and adopted me to the house with an assignment of marketing the items produced by the house inmates. During my stay in the house, I learnt skills in tailoring, knitting from the instructors provided by Don.

I would like to further my academic skills in Marketing to attain a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing so that I can support the organization to market its products. In return it will also give me employment to enable me to take care of my daughter.  This will accord me opportunity to gain a decent social status in life.

I am a single mother; I do not know the whereabouts of the father of my daughter. As we stand today, I am still jobless, finding it hard to get food and money for my daughter.

I request DIDOFO for financial support to upgrade my academic skills to graduate level.

Cissy wrote these words as she was leaving the House of Jjajja Don. She has dreams of a better future for her and her daughter. She wants to continue her education. Life for her will be difficult as it is difficult for most young people in Uganda. I believe she has developed a character that shows her how to survive without putting herself at such great risk. I chatted with her on Facebook a few days ago and this is the essence of our conversation.

Facebook Chat with Cissy Nandango on 8-18-2015

Cissy: For sewn goods here at Nantere I Started a group called ‘‘''Agali Awamu Voice Of Youth Dev't Group''’’ In Nantere with 30 youths we started Sewing Activities and I Am Also Active.

Don: Excellent let me know how this all develops!

Cissy: Do you want to know how group members develop?

Don: Yes I would like to hear about what you are doing and accomplishing

Cissy: We Found that we have the same problem of economic empowerment and we started as group of 10 people in the same area with contributing cash round but now we are 30 we save money in the group we have a vision of fighting poverty. Members do tailoring and we also practice farming we do garlic farming; we make nursery bed for some trees like kilotons etc.

Don: Excellent. Who came up with the idea of forming into a group?

Cissy: I My Self

Don: Excellent! I am so proud of you! That is the same strategy I used in getting the girls to start the house. I knew they could not get off the streets alone. They needed each other.

Cissy: Wonderful Statement. You pray for me I Also Pray for you...

I wanted to tell you this story so that you could get a feel for what we are doing to work with these young women on the streets of Kampala. It is a long and involved process with no set course or direction. It can be messy and demanding with no certainty of success. However, it is as joyous as life can be as we see the deep and profound changes that occur in so many of their lives.

I hope this allows you to have little better understanding what we are doing in Uganda.

Donald E. Leach

President

Bridging International Communities

44257 Fair Oaks Dr Canton, MI  48187

Post Script

A report from Kampala Uganda today (August 18, 2015) says there are 8 girls in various primary and secondary schools from the House of Jjajja Don, four more are living in the house learning vocational skills and one girl is now back in her college program. There are five more girls in the pipeline to leave the streets and return to school in January.

We are now dealing with 18 young women who have been taken from the streets of Kampala and removed from commercial sex work. It takes around $3500 a term (three terms per year) to keep the girls in school and provide for them in the house during their breaks from school (which is a critical time since many girls work the streets while on break to earn fees for school). Anything you can do to support us in our efforts to work with these marginalized young women is greatly appreciated. Please pass this message on to your friends and ask them to consider helping us too. Remember to use smile.amazon.com for your Amazon purchases and select Bridging International Communities 46-3971672 as your charity to support with your purchases!!!

Exciting News....

What excitement…….

On May 19, 2015 prior to my leaving for El Salvador, I wired the funds for the second payment on the House of Jjajja Don in Kampala, Uganda to DIDIFO (local Ugandan non-profit that manages the house). While in El Salvador, I received this note from Fr Gerald Yiga, “Allow me to report to you with excitement and gratitude that the final land purchase agreement at Muyomba-Wakiso was concluded yesterday May 27, 2015.”

The girls now have a permanent location to live and learn in. He also indicated that they were in the process of interviewing 35 young women, who are commercial sex workers in the slums, to see who would be willing to move into the house or at least partake in some of the vocational training programs in an effort to get the off the streets.

None of this could have been done without all of your support either financially or through your prayers. Thank you for all you have done to help my daughters in Uganda.

Deacon Don Leach

Move In Day

The girls moved into their new permanent residence on December 30, 2014. What a way to end one year. Thanks to all of you who have supported these operations and to the board members of the Diakonos Don Foundation in Uganda who manage these operations on a daily basis.

In September, 2014 we made arrangements to purchase a house as a permanent residence for the girls living in the House of Jjajja Don under the supervision of the Board of Directors of the Diakonos Don Foundation (DIDOFO) in Uganda. A purchase price of $61,244 was negotiated with a down payment of $28,532 with the balance of $32,712 to be paid over a three year period.

In November, we sent the funds for the down payment on the house. When the DIDOFO representatives approached the seller, he changed the terms of the agreement so no purchase agreement was signed. In the meantime, another house was located that would meet our needs. The owner wanted $57,170 for the house and property. He was willing to accept a down payment of $28,532 with the balance to be paid in six months. The lower purchase price saved us $4,074. The DIDOFO Board accepted these terms and a purchase agreement was signed on December 2, 2014 for the house. Now the girls will be able to move into a new permanent home in January, 2015. It is a three year dream that is finally coming true!

Funds had been supplied to pay rent for the entire year on the current location. The DIDOFO Board notified the owner the rental agreement would be terminated on December 31, 2014. The balance of the rental funds will be used to make improvements on the new house.

So many of you have been instrumental in keeping the house open and functioning along with helping make the permanent house possible. Thanks to all of you and the support you have offered.

The entire endeavor has been a learning experience for me and the DIDOFO Board members in Uganda. We look forward to being able to build a long term residence and training school for these young women rescued from the commercial sex industry. The Board is working to develop a working plan for the house and a reasonable budget to implement the plan.

The challenge for me and the Board members of Bridging International Communities is to raise another $28,532 in the next six months to finalize the purchase of the new house. We currently have $7,044 towards that goal. We look forward to the challenge of finding the balance of $21,490 and will keep you all up-to-date on our success in assisting the House of Jjajja Don and its residents!

Peace and all good, Deacon Don Leach

A New House for the Girls--any way you think you can help out?

Dear Don,

I tried on Friday, 07th February 2014 to raise you on phone, immediately after meeting the owner of the new proposed DIDIFO Home, of the forwarded pictures. It was not easy, any way!

We came up with the following:

1. The home is enclosed (perimeter wall)

2. The premises have 3 structures:

               a) A big house with 3 bedrooms

               b) A guest house

               c) A boys quarter

3. After negotiations, the selling price: Ug. Shs. 180,000,000 an equivalent of Us $ 75,000 (when 1 Us $ is equivalent to Ug. Sh. 2,400/=).

Terms of payment:

70% i.e. Us $ 52,500 (Ug. Shs. 126,000,000/=) on date of signing the agreement with his Lawyers.

30% i.e. Us. $ 22,500 (Ug. Shs. 54,000,000/=) after a grace period of two months (2 months), after signing the agreement.

N.B.:

The house will of course need some renovations, and there are still some tenants, who are still occupying it.

Among a number of premises visited, this has come out to be the most spacious, and reasonable. Others are too small and yet more expensive for the cause.

No one around here is ready to accept payments after a long period of time, as we had thought before i.e. paying in 3 installments for a period of 3 years, while paying Us $ 20,000 for example, please!

I don't know now what to do, as wait to hear from you! There are a number of some other interested buyers around, I have been informed!

God bless!