Our Story

Brick by Brick - Loaf by Loaf

This is a story about two people at opposite ends of the world that had a dream to build a home for "orphans".  But children without a home or family feel worse when referred to as "orphans" so we named them our "angels" and gave them a home.

 

My name is Barbara Giraud and I am a 73-year-old grandmother.  Jaaja translates in Lusoga to grandma and our home was named in my honor.  I work from Canada with a 29-year-old young man named Edwin Lufafa who lives in Jinja, Uganda.  Whether these children were sick or living in the garbage dumps, we wanted to put them into a home; to have them go to school and learn to be productive citizens of their country. We felt there must be a way to help these children but neither of us had any idea how to start such a project.

God always provides a way, and for us He chose banana bread.

Who would have ever imagined that a loaf of bread would be the beginning of our journey?  Over 14,000 loaves, and with your generous donations, we are now well on our way to providing the needs for these children.  Thanks to Save on Foods and their donations of ingredients, 100% of the sales go to our home, brick by brick.  Thanks also to Global TV for their broadcasts on the nightly news, as this has given us the exposure we needed to tell our story.

Currently, we house 33 children but have the housing for 50 in the future.  The donation and sale of a cow in Canada, provided the funds to drill our well which continues to pump 5,000 litres/hour of water since 2011.  A nursery school was built on our adjacent compound in order to educate our 13 children under the age of 6-years-old.  In the near future, a primary school will also be constructed for the remainder of the children  All this started in 2009 with the sale for few loaves of banana bread to purchase some bricks to build one home.  We had no idea this would be possible from such humble beginnings.




At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.  We will be judged by "I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and your clothed me.  I was homeless and your took me in.  Hungry not only for bread, but hungry for love.  Naked not only for clothing but naked for human dignity and respect.  Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks but homeless because of rejection."

-Mother Teresa