A Letter from Uganda: How Your Boarding Scholarships Brought Safety to Nine Vulnerable Children

Mark and Debbie Glotter are tireless champions for Global Village Connect. They recently returned to Mbale on the Ugandan Community Connection trip, visiting villages and schools where GVC makes an impact. Below is a deeply personal and moving update from Mark about their time spent with GVC’s supported children.

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After spending a few days in Uganda, and even though it is my fourth time here, all I can think about is my feelings of gratitude and happiness, immediately followed by profound sadness and hopelessness.

Most of all, it takes so much energy to control my emotions, knowing that we are making such a life altering impact on so many people’s lives. You see it in their smiles, you feel it in their hugs. You feel it in their giant welcome as the earth literally shakes when our van arrives in their communities.

But most of all, I see it in the immense gratitude these Jewish, Christian, and Muslim families express to our tiny organization, Global Village Connect, consisting literally of a handful of dedicated Minnesotans (mainly) who have taken it upon their shoulders to support and protect these wonderful people.

Meeting our “Ugandan Kids”

Yesterday, Debbie and I sat under the shade of a mango tree with our “Ugandan Kids.” These are nine children ranging from 9 to 18 years old whom we support in school and in life.

Behind their warm smiles are life experiences that are difficult to comprehend. One young girl was raped and impregnated at the age of twelve by her uncle. Another boy’s father beat him so severely that he lost an eye, and later stole the very goat given to him to help lift him out of poverty.

Then there are two little kids, now just 9 and 10 years old. Their father, who had four wives and nineteen children, left them entirely on their own to support themselves. They lived in a rented room for $10 a month. When we first found them, they were doing odd labor just to survive and were sick with multiple diseases, including typhoid. Another was an orphan who was married off at the age of twelve simply because there was nobody else to care for her.

“We have plucked them out of their terrible situations and now all nine of these kids are boarding at their schools. They consider themselves the lucky ones. They are now safe, have friends, go to school, and are fed.”

— Mark Glotter

Safe, educated, and nurtured

Thanks to GVC’s boarding scholarships, these nine children have been lifted out of adversity. They now live in secure school dormitories, eat nutritious meals every day, study under caring teachers, and have a vibrant community of friends.

During our conversation, I told them my greatest wish for them: that when they get older, they will have the opportunity to pay it forward and help others just like they were helped.

Debbie and I feel such profound sadness for what these kids have gone through, and at the exact same time, immense comfort knowing they are finally safe. Debbie worried that she might never see them again, but deep down, I know she will. We gave them all tight hugs and told them they never have to worry again, we will keep them safe.

How lucky are Debbie and I that we have the opportunity to help others?

Mark & Debbie Glotter
November 14, 2024
Mbale, Uganda