News from Mulongo

The foundation is laid. Bricks are fired. Sand, stones, and bricks have been carried by villagers to the construction site. Cement and roofing have been purchased. We hope and expect that Phase One of the Nursing School in Mulongo will completed within a few months, depending upon the rainfall.

The Nursing School is the dream of Dr. Ivan Mulongo and District Superintendent Joseph Mulongo. (no relation to one another or to the village name, that we know of) Major funding has been provided by Denver and Robin Thornton of El Dorado, Arkansas, and Faith United Methodist Church in Indianapolis. Through sweat equity, brick making, and locally available materials, the community will provide about 80% of the total cost of construction. Cash donations from America provide the cement and roofing.

Now in its fourth year, the school has been meeting in a temporary, borrowed, and inadequate classroom. Their three year curriculum prepares nurses for hospital work as well as village nursing.


Dr. Ivan's dream is to build a network of village clinics supported by the hospital in Mulongo and the Nursing School. District Superintendent Joseph Mulongo's dream is to train more women nurses. Roughly a third of the student body is now female. This high number is the result of Joseph's community leadership and scholarships provided by the Thorntons.

This is how Friendly Planet Missiology works. We go where community leadership is struggling to emerge. We learn their passions and issues. We provide a bit of coaching in how to leverage local assets and connect their projects with donors who share their passion and concern.

As the project moves toward completion, the aim is that the leadership of the community has been strengthened by strategic assistance, not destroyed by well meaning charity.

Bob