May 2026 Newsletter

What’s happening?

As I sit here writing this newsletter, I’m sitting in the hosptial with Mama Zack and Moses. As most of you know, the primary clientele of my organization, here in Uganda, are street connected youth. A big part of what we try to do also is family reunification and healing those broken connections for healthier futures. This week we are focusing on a mama in a dire situation.

The beginning of last week, in the middle of taking 32 students to 3 different schools one day, I got an emergent call about the mom of one of my primary students, & felt the extreme burden to dig a little deeper and pray about what we could do to help her. By the time we finished school drop offs, mama was in terrible condition & we brought her to the hospital, that I use here in town, for my boys. Mama ended up having an emergency surgery early the next morning, by a new to us surgeon, which ended up being much more complicated than we ever anticipated. Less than 24hrs post op, mama’s surgical site was looking pretty bad, she was having too much drainage from her surgical drain, & labs were starting to decline at a pretty rapid rate. The surgeon made a terrible decision to reopen the surgical site, in an unsterile environment, while I was away. Not only did he do this, he ignored major signs of complications, stating “she doesn’t speak my language, so I can’t help her well anyway”. (Mama is Karamajong, one of the poorest/looked down on tribes, but we had translators we trust here for her). I called my trusted surgeon in Gulu when I came to know all of this with picture & video proof (Dr Derrick is the one who has done more than 20 surgeries for us) & he immediately got in the car for the 9 hour journey to come help us. When Dr Derrick arrived, mama was in a more critical state & he jumped in to start correcting abnormal labs & complications that continued to present. She ended up having to go to OR for a 2nd emergency surgery to correct whatever was knicked by the first surgeon and to do a washout where the other surgeon had totally opened her back up in an unsterile environment. She’s had 6 units of blood in a 24 hour period, as of now, and will be getting more as we go. We are going to have to go for a 3rd surgery today or tomorrow as well. Each time we have to do surgery, it becomes more complicated and more risky, but at this point it’s necessary to complete the procedure to save her life. We never should have had to be in this situation, but only God knows why it’s happened this way. We pray that in it all, all glory goes back to God. Many people have asked why I call a specific surgeon from far, or why I stay in the hospital with patients all the time. Honestly, it’s because of situations like this. God called me to be a voice to the voiceless and one way that I’m able to do that is to advocate medically for the patients we care for, regardless of their economic status & language or ability to pay for services. Unfortunately, especially in the hospitals where we are in Jinja, if you don’t know anything about medical situations & don’t advocate for your patient & watch what’s being done first hand, things go badly really quickly, especially when you’re from a tribe that’s so looked down on, which is the tribe most of my boys and families are from. I won’t get into the gory, dirty details of the whole situation, but what the surgeon did without supervision, could have killed her, & still puts her at a major risk for infection & further complications. I’m so thankful for Dr Derrick coming to help us out. I trust his judgement & his expertise. At the end of the day, this whole situation is in God’s hands & out of ours. But I know that I followed God’s call to be a voice for this precious mama in the situation at hand.

Dad Zack is at home also not in a good situation. Dad was hit by a taxi last year & is a T-12 paraplegic who spends his days lying on a mattress in their small room. Mom is the primary & only caregiver for him, having to do everything for him, including doing a urine catheter on him every 6 hours & helping to position him to prevent wounds, plus everything else that goes along with his condition. Dad lost his business, which was the only support for the family after the accident, so now mom also works random small jobs to provide for the family on top of being a full time caregiver for dad & mom to many.

Soon after picking up all of our boys from school for their 3 week holiday, we took 6 back to primary school for candidate holiday programs. This is a big year for them, for testing, which can determine their future in education, so we want to set them up for success in the best way we possibly can. They spent all but 6 days of their holiday back at school preparing for the next term.

We also spent 5 days a week with all of the other students. Between bible studies, holiday packets, and bracelet making, we had a busy, but sweet, 3 weeks with everyone. We were all able to learn how to make paper bead bracelets and some wrapped thread ones and we currently have over 500 bracelets for me to bring home later this year for fundraising. They’re so pretty!!! Next holiday we will make some more in different colors so I will have a wide variety to bring with me.

Also during this holiday, Joy and Ben went out to the primary school we partner with and taught a trauma healing class to the teachers and staff over a 3 day period. After some pretty big issues first term, we requested from the Headmaster that we offer this course to them, free of charge. There was such a positive response, both during and after the course, and we pray that this term of school is much better for the staff and all of the students. There’s a lot of trauma introduced to everyone here, from birth all the way up to adulthood. We pray that by offering this class the teachers can, not only be healed from their own trauma, but also that they can see each student in a different, more understanding way rather than jumping to harsh words and beatings.

Over a 2 day period, we took back 54 students to 4 different schools. Boy was that exhausting! Back to school time is always chaotic and busy, but we are so thankful that we are able to continue taking these young men back to school, with everything they need to be successful provided. They are all now in the 2nd of 3 terms for the year, and will be in school until late August before their next holiday break. We will have visitation days in June and July for all of the schools, will be taking a new university student back in July, and another new university student back in August. While these 2 aren’t new to us, it will be their first term of University, and we are so excited for them to start.

Unfortunately the new school that we had put our little Edwin in (one of my 2 boys with special needs), didn’t work out after just 1 term. We found out that they were essentially allowing him to do anything and everything that he wanted, not providing the aide that they told us they had assigned him, and ended up putting him in a typical learning environment with no support. This is not why we took him to this school. We did some more research and found another school, nearby, for children and young adults with special needs. This school is a private catholic school, solely for children and young adults with special needs, and they focus on English, reading, writing, and skills training. Their goal isn’t necessarily for the student to take their promotional tests that Uganda pushes for, but to learn skills and things that can help them to be more independent in the future, where they are. St Ursula (the school) teaches things such as tailoring, shoe and bag making, knitting, basket making, bracelet and necklace making, cooking and baking, farming and animal rearing, plus many more things. We registered Edwin for this new school and also took him back this week for his first term. We pray that this will be a better fit for him, as he’s 14 years old. Our goal also is for Waiswa Blair (19 year old with Autism also) to hopefully transition to this school in the near future, if it’s as good as it sounds. With him, transitions are much harder, so we are slowly introducing him to the place, by taking him when we dropped off Edwin, we will pick him up from his primary school and take him for Edwin’s visitation and parent programs as well later this term. We want the best possible scenario and situation for our young men, and sometimes it takes a lot of trial and error to get where we need to get. We do feel better about this school though, and pray it’s the right fit for both Edwin and Waiswa Blair.

We also had another serious issue the second week of the holiday. We had an 8 year old boy dropped at our gate severely beaten by police with a wire bike lock, fitted with a brass padlock at the end. He was left for dead according to the friends who witnessed the attack and heard the officer’s words “He’s not moving anymore, he must be dead, we go now”. Sweet little Juma had more than 13 fractures on his tiny face according to the CT scan. After a period of monitoring at the hospital to make sure there was no breathing obstructions, Juma came home with me to be cared for. Unfortunately, here we don’t have the proper surgeons for cases like this and the 2 options were either to take him home or let them do experimental surgery to “see what we can do, but he’ll probably die”. After much prayer the lesser of the 2 evils was to just personally take him home to give meds and proper diet options for the best possible outcome. Juma has been such a good sport through it all. Now, a little over 2 weeks later, Juma is able to chew soft foods well and is not having any more pain. He was on hefty doses of steroids, antibiotics, and pain meds for a while, which also led to issues with constipation. After resolving all of that, Juma has bounced back to his usual spunky self. He’ll be going to school in another couple of weeks after we make sure he’s totally back to normal and can eat food well, without a special diet. He has a bit of a deformity where the fractures were so bad, around his eye and upper jaw, but it seems to be not limiting him anymore and he says he doesn’t have any pain. Dear Jesus, I’m so thankful that you have me here for such a time as this. These events are so traumatic, and never get easier, but to know that we can help, when the local hospitals won’t, is huge. I’m thankful that our home is a place of respite and peace, and a place that these young men come to when they need help. In the process, they hear of Jesus, and I hope they always see and feel His presence when they walk through our gate.

I also had a care trip planned, with a sister from GoSendMe Global, my missionary care organization. I stepped away from the hosptial for 2 days, however the trip was cut short due to the complications happening in Jinja at the hospital. Mary and I were able to drive out to Western Uganda, to Lake Mburo, for a night and see some beautiful animals and birds before I had to rush back here. I’m very thankful for this organization, the backing of Christ, and the missionary support and care they offer.

I don’t know why things happen the way they do most times, but I know that God has orchestrated and allowed it all, both the hills and the valleys. Whether I see the fruit on this side of heaven or not, we give God all the glory for the many things he’s doing, here in Uganda. From the boys, to the families, to the schools, and the villages, God is moving in ways we don’t even see sometimes. We trust that in these situations, He is still GOOD.

What’s to come?

The main priority right now is to do what we can for Mom and Dad Zack as she has this 3rd operation and a long road of recovery ahead. Joy and I are taking shifts at the hosptial so mama is never alone. Along with us, we have Mama Morris (our project cook) and Moses taking shifts as translators. They are both from mama’s tribe and speak her language, so we need their assistance, as that’s not a common language in Jinja. Hospital staff, nor us, can communicate with her, other than by playing charades otherwise. So, at any given time there are at least 2 of us in the hospital and then we have other boys who are checking in on dad and helping him as needed, along with a nurse who is going to do his catheterizations. We have restricted visitors to the hosptial so mama can rest as well. Her tribe likes to bring local alcohol and bring chaos during times of healing, according to Moses and Mama Morris, so we are not allowing that to take place here. Both Moses and Mama Morris live in the same slum area as Mama Zack and have been giving reports to dad and the village daily and are telling the village to help with dad while we focus our care on mom. Everyone is grateful for her care and they are ready to receive her at home when the time is right. Ben and Ivan are managing the project happenings, in the meantime. Luckily, we have already taken most everyone back to school, so it’s a little less chaotic than it was a couple of weeks ago. It takes a village, and everyone is jumping in to help out and carry the burden together.

We will have school visitations 4 weekends in a row, beginning the last week of June, but otherwise we pray that our usual programs can be uneventful as we help Mama Zack recover, and that we can all have periods of rest and recovery, as well.

Thank you

Thank YOU! Thank you for praying for us and with us! Thank you for donating, so that we can provide the great needs to these young men, and families, that otherwise aren’t available to them.

Thank you to those who donate to help us keep our boys in school, and add new students every year. Something that the students and families have given up on because of the great expense, but something so important to better increase sustainability in the community and lives of these young men..

Thank you to those who give faithfully to help us continue to do daily bible studies and feeding projects, keep boys housed, and provide both basic and life saving medical care for each and every street connected child/young adult we encounter.

These seemingly simple acts of love are life changing for the guys we work with. They now have a hope and a future in Jesus and in life in general, and for that we are grateful.

And, thank you. Thank you to those who help to support us for such a time as this and to those who pray for us regularly. God is working in mighty ways here in Uganda, and we strive to answer those calls as He leads us. Whether it’s new territory or something we see day in and day out, we continuously pray for wisdom and discernment to go where God leads, prayerfully trusting that when we step God will provide everything we need to take the next step forward.

Katonda Mulungi! (God is so good!)

Mama Zack just before emergency surgery #2

Sweet Juma after he was beaten and left for dead

Please pray for Mama Zack

Paper bead bracelet making

Quick Safari trip with Mary, from GoSendMe Global. How cool are God’s creatures!

Back to school time, however some of the big boys and college students don’t like pics!

Trauma Healing class for primary school teachers and staff

Sweet tiny pup that a boy brought to bible study

Big Ugly storks we have here

Home visits and reunifications

Max is ridiculous with his roof adventures. These are the kind of pics I get when I’m not home.

How can you help?

Prayer requests:

• URGENT PRAYERS: Prayers for Mama Zack’s full recovery from 3 major operations in less than a week.

• Pray for God to continue to give us wisdom and resources to help the many many medical cases we continue to have dropped at our gate. For both physical and spiritual healing for the boys and strength to not go back to the streets

• Prayers for our students as they’re back at school for the 2nd term of the year. To make wise choices, study hard, and focus on their education and futures.

• Pray for more seed sowers who can help partner with us to do the work that GOD has called us to. It’s only by HIS will that we are here doing what we are doing and we need financial partners to do this work. Tangible things such as a safe room, food, school fees, and medical care show these young men that they’re not given up on, like so many people here tell them. Education and Medical are typically our biggest expenses and both are life changing for these young men.

How is God calling you to partner with us?

Through prayer? Through financial giving? We believe that even as just one of these young men changes, there’s many more ready to start a new life also, due to the testimony of the one. God calls some of us to go, some of us to stay, some of us to give and some of us to pray. Where do you fit in? Please consider joining us in bringing hope and healing to these precious young men! So many in their community have given up on them, but we know that God has called them to more!

TAX DEDUCTIBLE CHECKS mailed to:

GoSendMe Global
PO Box 913106
Sherman, TX 75091
(Make checks out to “GoSendMe Global” and include a note with the check- but not written directly on the check- that it is for me, Tara Henson, Uganda)

VENMO: @Tara-Henson-1

PAYPAL: @TaraHenson

ZELLE: thens1213@gmail.com

How to Connect

EMAIL: thens1213@gmail.com

Isaiah 1:17 (CSB)

“Learn to do what is good.

Pursue justice.

Correct the oppressor.

Defend the rights of the fatherless. Plead the widow’s cause.”