Suzan - From Heartache to Hope

Imagine your firstborn child being swallowed by a python at the age of seven. Then imagine giving birth to nine children fathered by mostly different men. This heartache and disappointment cast a shadow over Suzan’s life, but ultimately she made the decision to raise her children on her own. Some of her youngsters found their way to programs facilitated by the Sports Outreach Ministry (SOM) team at the Sports Outreach Resource Center (SORC), located on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda. Suzan was living as a caretaker for a landowner, but when the landowner decided to sell a portion of the land (including where she had been growing crops for her family), she was left with just her small house and very little land.

Enter Hope College, who sent their second outreach team to Uganda this past August. While doing home visits with the SORC team, they reached Suzan’s house, and the entire team was so touched by her story that they scraped together $309 to give to the family. A day was set for Suzan to visit the SORC and upon assessing her needs, they discussed how she could best use the money. The plan included renting three acres of land to grow crops on for a year and establishing a small piggery.

(excerpted from the December 2019 newsletter)