This reflection captures just 24 hours of my recent visit to Uganda – a day that held both sobering challenges and surprising moments of hope. It was a powerful reminder of the complexity of the context we work in, and the difference that even small seeds of support can make.

Crippled Systems, Growing Desperation

This was my first trip back to Uganda since the latest round of global aid cuts began to severely disrupt services for refugees. Uganda remains home to Africa’s largest refugee population, with over 1.8 million people seeking safety here. But the international response is faltering.

In May, the UN Refugee Agency announced that food rations for around 1 million refugees would be cut entirely. The rest have seen their monthly rations slashed to unmanageable levels. We arrived in Palorinya Refugee Settlement – home to many South Sudanese refugees – where we were met by Robert, our Nutrition Officer. Normally an unshakably positive presence, Robert didn’t mince his words. “The health system is crippled. Education is crippled. Nutrition is crippled,” he said as we travelled along the dusty tracks towards our HHA projects.

What does this mean in practice? It means services that once offered a lifeline are now reducing or in some cases gone. NGOs and UN agencies have made huge staffing cuts. Essential, life-saving supplies are running desperately low.

Take Plumpy’Nut – a therapeutic food used to treat severe acute malnutrition. Since 2018, HHA has partnered with Edesia (a US supplier of Plumpy’Nut) and UNHCR to help plug supply gaps, shipping this life-saving product to frontline clinics. But the pipeline is now critically strained. One aid worker told us plainly: without extra support, they soon won’t be able to treat malnourished children at all.

The result? Children who could be saved will die.

I struggle to write that sentence. Many of you know our personal story – my wife and I lost one of our sons, Noah. Yet amidst that grief, we carry the comfort that Noah received the very best care possible. The very best support, the very best love. That’s a gift every parent should have. But it’s no longer the reality for thousands of families across the world – families who watch helplessly as health centres run out of the basics they need to save their child’s life. To then face the prospect of losing your child inside a health facility, not because the treatment doesn’t exist, but because it’s simply not there – that leaves me speechless, and angry.

Hope amongst the cabbages

And then, on the same day, against this harrowing backdrop, we stepped into a field of cabbages – more cabbages than I’ve ever seen.

Walking through maize fields to one of our agricultural sites, we found ourselves in what felt like an oasis of peace. A refugee father welcomed us, proudly overlooking his crops. “Before I was introduced to HHA, it felt like I was walking through a desert,” he said. “Living in the dark, with nothing to show for my efforts.” Now, he’s harvesting over 800 cabbages – enough to generate over £475 for his family and others, a huge amount when many families in the settlements live on less than $1 a day. Beyond that field, over 100 acres of HHA-sponsored farmland stretched to the horizon.

Further along, we found 100 wheelbarrows, each filled with tools and seeds funded by one of our amazing donors. These will support 100 new families – most of them including a person with a disability – to join this growing movement of hope. It was a joy to see each family walk away smiling, carrying not just equipment but renewed purpose.

A powerful reminder of the ongoing need

At the edge of the crowd of this distribution, we noticed a mother and her beautiful daughter, who has Down syndrome – much like my eldest son. They arrived in recent months, having fled the war in Khartoum, Sudan, with seven children. As she shared her story, I was struck by the familiarity of her expression. It mirrored the faces of South Sudanese mothers I met in 2017 when this settlement first opened – a mixture of grief, confusion and quiet resilience. A kind of dignified calm in the midst of deep upheaval. They’re not yet enrolled on our programme, but our team took their details to ensure follow-up support through our Community-Based Rehabilitation team. Meeting this family was a sobering reminder that this refugee crisis is ongoing; that, just like when I first visited in 2017, new people are arriving every day and are in desperate need of support.

Extraordinary News – and an Urgent Need

And to add to this extraordinary 24 hours, we also received a message from our partners at Edesia. Not one, but two containers of Plumpy’Nut had been secured for our joint efforts. Over 3,400 cartons. Each one representing a child who can now be saved from malnutrition. It’s extraordinary. An answer to prayer.

But here’s the challenge. We’d only budgeted to ship one container this year. The second wasn’t planned – and isn’t funded. We’ve taken the decision to say yes anyway. Because how could we not? We’re now urgently working to raise the additional £7,500 needed to ship both containers and get them to Uganda as soon as possible.

This was one day. One glimpse. But it says so much. It tells the story of why your support – your prayers, your donations, your advocacy – matters so deeply. In a world of overwhelming need, your generosity is changing lives.

If you’re moved to respond, we’d love you to consider helping us fund the second Plumpy’Nut container. We have the product. We have the team. We have the need. We just need the means to deliver it.

Donate Now – and help us bring hope and healing, one carton at a time.

With deep gratitude,
Carwyn

As shared in our latest newsletter, we’re thrilled to invite you to our next Challenge Event on Saturday, 6th September—a stunning adventure along the south coast of England, all in support of HHA’s life-changing workaround the world!

🚶‍♀️ Choose your challenge:

• Team 1: 25km from Eastbourne to Alfriston – a perfect intro for first-timers!

• Team 2: 57km all the way to Hove – for those wanting to push further.

• Team 3: 100km ultra challenge to Arundel in 24 hours – the ultimate test!

Whether you're walking a few miles or taking on the full distance, every step helps fund:

🍽️ Nutritious meals for children with disabilities at Maison de Grace, Haiti

💊 Life-saving medication for patients in South Sudan

🌾 Food security & resilience programs for refugee families in Uganda

🎉 It’s been a few years since our last big challenge (remember Yorkshire 3 Peaks?)—let’s make this one unforgettable!

✅ Ready to take part?

👉 SIGN UP HERE and we’ll send you everything you need to get started.

💡 Can’t join us in person?

No problem! Host your own fundraiser—run a race, host a bake sale, or celebrate your birthday with purpose. Your creativity can transform lives.

It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the year! As we reflect on the past six months, we are so grateful for the incredible progress happening across our projects – all made possible through your prayers, generosity, and partnership.

It’s been a while since we shared a big update, so this news item is a little longer as we celebrate some of the most joyful highlights from recent months. Be sure to read to the end for an exciting opportunity this autumn to get involved alongside our (brave? slightly crazy?) CEO Carwyn and a team of other intrepid supporters!

This World Health Day’s theme is "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures" – a commitment to providing a strong, healthy start in life for every mother and baby. For me, this theme could not be more relevant: I have just got back from a trip to Haiti, where I spent time visiting our maternal and infant healthcare projects. While it was a trip filled with joy, it was also a sobering reminder of the immense need, and of the critical importance of helping mothers and babies to thrive in regions where pregnancy and childbirth are still hugely dangerous.

At Fort Saint Michel, a small but vital health clinic in one of Cap-Haïtien’s poorest neighbourhoods, I met the health workers delivering our community healthcare programme for mothers and babies. This initiative provides antenatal consultations, postnatal home visits, 'Mothers' Clubs' for education, and training for Traditional Birth Attendants to support safer home births. It is a lifeline for women who would otherwise have no access to healthcare during pregnancy.

However, the programme is at risk. Recently, the clinic lost a major international funding source, leaving Community Health Workers unpaid for over a month. Despite this, many continue to work voluntarily, driven by their commitment to protecting mothers and newborns. As we walked through the community, women - having heard about the funding cuts - stopped us in the street to desperately share how much this programme means to them and their families. It was a sobering reminder of the critical need to keep this work going. We are now working with our local partners to ensure that support continues, because without it, too many women and babies will be left without care.

At Justinien University Hospital (JUH), the largest government hospital in the north, it was a joy to see firsthand how our support is saving lives. We have seconded an expert paediatrician, donated five mOm incubators, and are providing medical-grade oxygen and financial support for vulnerable families.

It was here that I met Baby Justinien, who was born prematurely on the street. His mother, who has learning disabilities, was unable to care for him, so a kind stranger brought him to JUH. He was extremely premature and in a critical condition, but, thanks to the incubators and oxygen your support has helped provide, the doctors and nurses were able to stabilise him. They named him Justinien - after the hospital - and in an extraordinary display of compassion, they are now taking turns caring for him as if he were their own.

This World Health Day, as we celebrate "Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures," we are reminded that hope begins with access to healthcare. Without it, too many mothers and babies face unimaginable risks. With it, futures can be transformed.

We want to thank every single person that is joining us on this mission, with a special mention to J&K Wonderland Foundation, whose ongoing support of this work is making incredible things possible, and to Konbit Sante, whose partnership locally is truly invaluable. Thank you for helping us to ensure healthy beginnings – so that more mothers and babies have the future they deserve.

CENTRE DE RÉADAPTATION DE GRÂCE 

On July 26th, we inaugurated our brand new Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Centre! Our local team was joined by the Director of the Ministry of Health for the North of Haiti, as well as some of our UK and US team and trustees, to celebrate this exciting milestone.

It was incredibly poignant to stand alongside Dr Toussaint and Pastor Gideon –  with whom we first dreamed our Haiti dream, standing in a field back in 2005 – as we took this exciting step together. This new centre feels like a true answer to prayer, and our special thanks go to our amazing partners, the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation, Haiti Rehab Schweiz, Walkabout Foundation and Free Wheelchair Mission, whose continuous support has made this - and everything still to come - possible. 

MAISON DE GRÂCE

After many months of searching, we were delighted to find a location for our respite home for children with disabilities, which will be called ‘Maison de Grâce’ - in memory of one of our earliest Maison children whose life was a testament to the transformation that care, love and hope can make possible. The next steps will be to make the building accessible (including adding ramps and railings) – and we hope to start providing respite care for up to 20 children, three and a half days a week, in August!

A GROWING TEAM

After months of recruitment, our HHA Haiti Hub team now includes 30 permanent members of staff, including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, administration staff, a vocational therapist, psychologist, cleaners, laundry staff and security guards. In addition we are delighted to have secured the services of a visiting Urologist; a much-needed skill sadly in very short supply in Haiti. Over the past few weeks, we’ve run several workshops with this new team, including not only role-specific training, but also sessions on leadership, teamwork, and HHA culture. This team will grow to almost 50 when we open the Maison de Grâce. We can’t wait to see what they will accomplish!

Thank you for joining us on this journey. Your support, encouragement and prayers are truly invaluable as we build our nest in Haiti, little by little. Piti piti zwazo fè nich li!

Ellie said:

Being born with a disability hasn't held me back. But for some people with a disability, particularly those living in remote regions of the developing world, every day is a struggle.

We sincerely thank Ellie for taking the time out of her busy life to present the appeal for us. We also thank the BBC for giving HHA this opportunity to reach so many people with our message, allowing us to raise a transformative amount of money for our work.

You can watch a short video of Ellie at the BBC here.

The BBC Appeal formed part of a wider appeal we ran in May called Matched May. Named so because one of our funding partners generously offered to match fund all donations given in May. The initial target of £30,000 came and went with the total figure eventually exceeding £90,000, over £180,000 once the match funding was added! We have been overwhelmed by the response and can't wait to share more about how this money will be used to support those with disabilities in South Sudan, Uganda and Haiti. Read more about Matched May here.

Thank you once more to all those who made our BBC Radio 4 Appeal, and Matched May, a huge success!

• Enabling us to provide wheelchairs, custom-made prosthetics and orthotics, and rehabilitation to people with disabilities in South Sudan and the refugee settlements of northern Uganda.
• Providing health and nutrition education from our centres in Uganda and South Sudan, with the aim of empowering beneficiaries to improve their wellbeing in the long term.
• Supporting the children, staff and carers at our respite home for children with disabilities in Haiti – providing care, education, and rehabilitation, especially as we move the centre to a new home.
• Reaching more people with disabilities with our agriculture projects in the Ugandan refugee settlements – providing seeds, tools, land, and farming & business training, to give them a sustainable source of not only food, but also income.
• Supporting the setup of our spinal cord injury rehabilitation centre at our new Haiti Hub, where we’ll provide specialised care that is extremely difficult to access in this part of the country.
• Providing wheelchairs and training across Haiti through our amazing network of local partners, giving mobility and dignity to people with disabilities – the majority of whom have never had a wheelchair before.

Your generosity will enable us to do all of this and more – and we can’t wait to update you on the impact of your support. In the meantime, on behalf of all the people that will be touched by what you came together to achieve in May, thank you.

Key Statistics (since opening in September 2023)

• 5600 outpatients seen
• 4000 laboratory tests
• 6200 received health education
• 84 pregnant women registered
• 72 prosthetic & orthotic devices provided
• 36 wheelchairs & trikes given
• 230 physiotherapy sessions provided

Highlights from New Hope Kajo-Keji

• Clean running water is now available in the clinic thanks to the addition of a pump, control unit, insulated water towers and sinks. This is a huge upgrade and will dramatically improve working conditions for our team and their patients.
• Electricity is now available onsite thanks to installation of a generator, solar panels and battery storage.
• Prosthetic limbs, and wheelchair distributions are taking place at the clinic thanks to outreach mobile clinics provided by our team from New Hope BidiBidi.  
• First baby born at New Hope Kajo-Keji! - although deliveries are usually referred to the government hospital, one baby girl decided to make an appearance quicker than expected. Our amazing midwife stepped in and delivered a healthy baby girl.

Story for New Hope Kajo-Keji: Rose and Solomon

Rose lives in Kajo-Keji with her son Solomon, having returned from BidiBidi refugee settlement in Uganda. Although she has to walk three hours to reach the clinic, Rose has been making use of the services available since the clinic opened in September 2023, and has returned three times with Solomon when he has been suffering from a fever and diahorrea.

Rose and Solomon visited the clinic again in March, when Solomon was diagnosed with Malaria through a rapid test and was given medication to combat the disease. Malaria is the most common case the team seen at the clinic.

Rose commented that the team have really helped and cared for her and she was grateful that HHA have empowered a local team. Our team provided Solomon with more than just medication – they also showed him love, and gave his mother hope in difficult circumstances. Ultimately, this is what HHA’s work is all about, and what we strive to achieve with every beneficiary that we see at New Hope Kajo-Keji.

Throughout May 2024, we are running our Matched May Appeal where all donations towards our global disability work will be doubled by a generous donor. This is an amazing opportunity for your donations to go twice as far. HHA is also being featured on the BBC Radio 4 Appeal presented by Paralymic gold medalist Ellie Simmonds so tune in and find out more about how to support this important work! Get all the info here.

• We’re delighted to have established a new partnership with a local medical university (which we’ve been working alongside for many years to offer training opportunities to their students). This new partnership will be mutually beneficial, providing us with an incredible space that will be the new home for some of our projects, as well as enabling the university to take the first step towards becoming a teaching hospital.
• Our disability rehabilitation unit will be moved to this new location, and will include a men’s ward, women’s ward, physiotherapy room and vocational training room. This will enable us to continue providing life-saving and life-changing care to patients with spinal cord injuries, who otherwise have very few options in this part of the country.
• This new home will also house our Wheelchair Distribution Centre, from which we will continue providing custom-fitted chairs with our in-country team and network of local partners. Our programme continues to transform lives every week, providing dignity, mobility and independence to people across the country, many of whom have never had a wheelchair before.
• Of course, we also visited Maison de Benediction, our respite home for children with disabilities, where the kids were all on great form (we were met with the usual barrage of hugs as we walked in!). We visited a number of possible new locations for MdB this week, and are committed to choosing a new home that will enable us to continue giving the children the level of care and support they need, as well as including areas for education, therapy and play - stay tuned!

After a week on the ground, we are so excited for this next chapter and all God's going to do – but we’re also aware that this new beginning is going to require significant energy, momentum and funds. That's why we're incredibly excited that between May 5th and May 11th, we're going to be featured on the BBC Radio 4 Appeal, in a segment presented by paralympian Ellie Simmonds!

This is an incredible opportunity for us to raise awareness and funds for our disability work – and what's more, for the whole of May, thanks to match funds, all donations up to the value of £5,000 will be doubled until we reach our goal of £30,000. That means we have the potential to raise a massive £60,000 for our global disability projects, including those that we are currently transitioning in Haiti. Please do tune in and give what you can – when all donations will go twice as far!

Here is an update from our Haiti Director, Michael Goldsmith:

Many of you have reached out to us in the past few days. As you may have heard, Haiti is experiencing heightened instability and gang activity, casting a shadow of fear and uncertainty over the country we hold dear. Thankfully, we have not experienced any violence at our partner hospital, HCBH, and services are operating as normal. Yet, even in the midst of turmoil, we stand firm in our commitment to serving those in need, guided by the unwavering light of our faith.

We recognise that our work is more vital than ever, providing hope to those affected by the chaos surrounding them. Our team on the ground remains steadfast in their dedication, facing each day with courage and resilience, fuelled by the love and support from all of you. We can assure you that their safety and well-being remain one of our top priorities.

In times such as these, we humbly ask for your continued prayers for our staff, volunteers, and the vulnerable communities we serve. Your ongoing support sustains us through these trials, giving us hope in the darkest of times. Where our faith remains, love triumphs over fear. We will keep you updated on any developments and how they may impact our work. Thank you for your continued support and dedication to our mission and the people of Haiti.

Michael and the HHA Team

Follow our social channels for up-to-date news as this situation develops. 

A few more of the things we’ve bought that have made a real difference…

Battery chargers - enabling us to keep vital equipment (like blood pressure machines, thermometers and calculators) working, even with limited access to electricity

Zip ties - helping our technicians to make specialised adaptations to wheelchairs, to make sure that beneficiaries are comfortable and well-seated, and most importantly to help avoid pressure sores 

Footballs and coloured chalks - for students at Amazing Grace School

LED light strips - used for our sensory classroom at Amazing Grace and in New Hope Rehabilitation Centre BidiBidi - to create safe, inclusive and educational spaces for children and adults with disabilities

Post-partum maternity pads - to provide dignity to new mothers at our clinic in South Sudan

Coloured chopping boards - to help improve food hygiene standards in our staff kitchens in both BidiBidi and Kajo-Keji

Safety glasses and ‘quality’ power tools for our workshop, where we custom-make prosthetics and orthotics

Brackets and wallplugs (particularly difficult to buy in-country) that enabled us to construct shelves in our pharmacy in Kajo-Keji - keeping the space organised and tidy!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this campaign making the purchase of these small, but hugely important, items possible.