Our 2012 KUZA Banquet was a huge success thanks to all our amazing sponsors, guests and speakers! Many people were able to hear the KUZA story for the first time and we raised lots of support for our students. Care to see some highlights? Here they are!
We had such a good time sharing the KUZA story at our Banquet Benefit last night! Did you make? If not…don’t worry! You can watch the video right now and still become involved in the KUZA family!
We are just about a week away and could not be more excited about our upcoming banquet!
The Benson Hotel, Downtown Portland
Saturday, April 28th, 2012
Doors Open at 6pm
Dinner begins at 6:30pm
Valet parking is available for $7.00 at the front doors.
If YOU are interested in coming, contact us at sara@kuzaprogram.org
A proper post about the KUZA Office is a long time coming…as we set it up back in January 2011! While we did have some quick posts from Ugandan soil…we never really paid proper homage to our new home in Kampala! The pictures really don’t do the beauty of the office justice. The terracotta colored walls set against lush greenery on quiet hillside make the new office space lovely and peaceful. We are happy our staff now has a charming place to call home while working!
Kuza Students Enjoying the New Place
Praying over the new building.
After many generous donations from the KUZA supporters here in the states, we were even able to set up a purposeful Library. So far it’s been very useful to the staff and students alike. Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this happen. We look forward to showing you more updates from Kampala this summer when we send an August team!
Contact us at info@kuzaprogram.org to find out how YOU can sponsor a student today!
Well, becoming the most viral video OF ALL TIME ain’t too shabby right? With 77 million views on YouTube alone (90 million counting Vimeo) Invisible Children really has struck a chord. It looks like they’ll hit a 100 million views by the end of this week. Their topic? Rebel Leader Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistence Army (LRA)…and the atrocities they’ve committed in Northern Uganda, South Sudan, Congo and other neighboring nations.
Along with the flood of support and sympathy around the world, the KONY 2012 campaign has attracted a lot of controversy. If you are curious to dig deeper into some of the questions being asked, here’s an interesting article from NPR…but in summary people are questioning the accuracy of the accounts in the video….particularly in regards to Uganda.
Invisible Children have posted responses to all the criticism on their website.
Here at KUZA, we have received many questions about the movement since we work in Uganda…and have students in the program who were directly affected by the LRA in the past. We DO want to state that the LRA has not been active in Uganda since 2006, and that our students are safe and doing quite well.
Beyond that, we simply hope that the sudden focus on Central and East africa in the social networking world leads to good things. Clearly, Invisible Children’s efforts have not only attracted supporters to their own organization…but other organizations working in Africa are experiencing a surge in interest from the American people, and people the world round. While perhaps an unintentional by-product of the IC’s efforts…a good one just the same.
As for the rest of the controversy, we’ll leave it to you to decide for yourself. One thing we DO know, an educated Uganda is a better Uganda…and an educated Uganda is far less likely to allow dangerous people like Joseph Kony to ever take power again. One of our own students, Isaac Morgan Kimuli said this in regards to Kony, “ Honestly with me, I know for sure that when someone is given a chance to change and does not, then for a second time he gets another chance to change and never turns up… then law enforcement has to come in.”
We surely do hope Joseph Kony is brought to justice in a manner that suits the people of Central and East Africa. And as always, we pray continued peace for Northern Uganda and restored peace for the areas continuing to be affected by the LRA.
We created a short video in response to the KONY campaign…that we believe supports both Invisible Children and the Nation of Uganda. We hope that through these interesting last weeks, you’ve learned a little more about our program as a whole…and certainly East Africa itself.
For some other helpful information regarding KONY 2012 and the LRA affected areas:
Huffington Post Article by Ben Affleck
LRA Crisis Tracker Invisible Children
Nicolas Kristoff’s Blog New York Times Journalist
We are excited to announce our upcoming Spring Banquet Benefit on April 28th, 2012. This will be an evening of elegance and inspirational stories at the lovely Benson Hotel in downtown Portland. There are many ways you can be a part of the evening…..
HOWEVER our greatest need at this time is a call for table sponsors! You will host and invite 9 guests of your own for the evening while enjoying a delicious full course dinner courtesy of the Benson Hotel. Not only will this be an enjoyable dinner party scenario for you and your friends/family…but you’ll be supporting a wonderful cause and creating an opportunity for them to do the same.
We have a goal of 30 tables for the evening…and have currently filled nearly 20. If you feel lead to join with us and sponsor a table on April 28th, we would be so incredibly excited to welcome you into the KUZA family. We’ll provide you with a table sponsorship packet which will provide you with every tool to follow up with your guests, including invitations for the evening…
Here’s the details:
SPONSORING A TABLE IS $400
It includes:
If YOU want to join the KUZA story….please contact sara@kuzaprogram.org or kp_williams@frontier.com. If you cannot sponsor a table at this time, but are still interested in attending the evening…you may also email the addresses above, please remember that RSVP-ing is very important for this event. And finally, if you simply cannot make our benefit banquet evening, there is still opportunity for donation by visiting www.kuzaprogram.org.
Thank you so much for dropping by KUZA BLOG, and we hope to see you are our banquet evening!
Come one come all! KUZA will be liquidating our beaded jewelry…stop by the “Riversgate Church Tent” THIS Saturday from 9am-4pm in celebration of Multnomah Days…see the link below for more information….
Noerina working on a spiritual gifts test.
Fiona playing the drum.
Lucy and the Crew
KUZA program graduate Mega with some of the new students.
