My name is Paul Muyomba Benon; The Founder and Executive Director of SMILE A CHILD UGANDA, A Non-Profit Organization. (SAC) was Born on 24th January 1977. I am an Orphan with only Younger Brother called Kelvin. This is my story…
As a small child I loved to care for other children so much. Every day I would love to play, Share my everything with my fellow children at our Village and even at school. But despite of all my family was too poor even though my Dad was a Major in the army and my mother a nurse in a clinic they didn’t have enough money to support us.
My mother, Father were killed during the war that brought this regime in Uganda and other two siblings, my brother Daniel and sister Phiona died at the same day in a car Accident when they were running away from bullets when I was 14 years old, leaving me to be a housemother to my younger brother Mackelvin . Every time I remember 4 coffins in our sitting room, they were even not fitting in the room because the room was too small, I remember how our mother used to look after us despite of her having no money, she truly loved us. May her soul Rest in peace.
The following year, we went to our uncle, he was also poor with a big family and life there wasn’t changed, we got mistreated instead then we ran away to streets. While on the Streets life was so disgusting, No hope to Food, No more School, No shelter, everything there was “NO” One day around the village some good men and women of God came and organized a big Crusade (I cannot remember their names), they preached to the people, me and my brother were there listening but our intentions were to get something to Eat not Gospel, The next day of the crusade the woman who preached talked about this verse; I will not leave you as Orphans, I will come to you. John;14:18 this touched me and I asked my brother have heard that? He answered no. Reading the Bible for the first time in my life taught me truth about God.
In 2005, still on the streets, an Angel of Wisdom came to me and said to me to start helping my brothers and sisters on the streets, and one man Called Alex gave me a small job at his bicycle garage paying me $2 a day, and this was the money I used to buy others food and water for drinking. God blessed me and this good man rented a house for me and my brother because I was hard working, I didn’t tell him that I was going to bring others in. Unfortunately he died in 2007. My personal scripture was Psalms;10:18 you defend the fatherless and oppressed, so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them. When I invited others in, God started working in me and rescued as many as 32 children now to 298. My first work was to gather the Orphaned and Abandoned children at village encouraging them and giving them Hope through words. Then using the little money I had to buy them something to Eat, when God is in you nothing is impossible, God put songs back into the hearts of the children and they accepted to leave with me despite of our poor situation. Since then, with the support from you and our nearby village people, children are able to get something to Eat, to dress up and sleep under a roof not at the streets. Glory is the Lord. We Still have a long way to go; we need to buy our own land to be able;
1. To build our own Charity home to accommodate more needy children,
2. To build our own School to educate more needy children who aren’t in position to afford school fees on their own.
3. To Grow our own Crops to stop Hunger. Upon graduation, they attend vocational college to learn skills in tailoring, computers, building, carpentry, or agriculture. . Many talents are within these kids “When they grow into functioning human beings, we are building a next generation not orphans!” Every single human being deserves a chance to leave a good life.
Each child is entitled to food, water, medicine and education.