East Africa · Orphan Care & Outreach
Uganda
Loving the least of these — across the world and close to our hearts.
Our Connection
How Uganda Became Family
For us, Uganda isn’t a destination — it’s a relationship. For years, we’ve sponsored children through Ugandan Orphan Childcare Ministries (UOCC), a Christ-centered orphanage in Jinja led by Director Daniel Kanu. Our sponsored children are not just names on a letter. They are family.
In 2025, Melissa and our daughter Claire made the journey to Jinja to finally close the distance between letters and faces, between prayers and hugs.
“What a JOY to be reunited after two years of waiting to come back — and just as they had a hard recognizing those who had grown, so did we. Talk about my heart being full.”
— Melissa Wolff
Ugandan Orphan Childcare Ministries
75 Kids. One Family.
UOCC is home to 75 children — true orphans with no living relatives — cared for, educated, and raised in a community built on faith. Director Daniel Kanu has poured his life into these children, building not just a home but a legacy.
Every day at UOCC is full — school, meals, worship, play, and the kind of chaos that only comes from a house full of kids who know they are loved. When we walk through the gate, the welcome is immediate: dancing, singing, running hugs. We sponsor several children directly and walk alongside UOCC’s ongoing work — from supplying everyday needs, to celebrating Shabbat, to handing out sponsor letters and gifts. To support UOCC directly, give at uoccusa.reachapp.co.
573
Kids received health education
126
Patients treated
1,268
Jiggers removed
149
Pairs of shoes given
Sole Hope — Bumadanda Primary School, Mbale
Sole Hope Ministry
Hands and Knees in the Village
On Day 3 of the trip, Melissa and Claire joined Sole Hope — a ministry whose vision is simple and radical: that every person in Uganda would be free from foot disease. Jiggers are parasitic fleas that burrow into the skin of feet and hands, causing intense pain, infection, and in the worst cases, permanent damage. Children and even adults often believe jiggers are a curse.
Sole Hope brings mobile clinics to villages and schools, washing feet, extracting jiggers, treating wounds, and fitting children with shoes made from recycled tires and denim. Melissa had the opportunity to wash the feet of both the smallest and the oldest patients that day — and to document and assist the nurse as she sanitized, extracted, and treated child after child.
“One of the children I helped had 98 jiggers removed. This little one will have follow-ups from Sole Hope, along with education for the family and village. The Sole Hope mobile clinic is changing lives — one foot, one child, one village at a time.”
— Melissa Wolff
Since 2017, Melissa had longed to serve with Sole Hope. It did not disappoint. Learn more at solehope.org.
Medical Support
Healthcare on the Ground
Every mission trip to Uganda carries with it real medical needs — for our team and for the people we serve. Our team included both a registered nurse and a functional medicine doctor, whose presence was invaluable not only for caring for team members who fell ill, but for helping UOCC establish its own on-site nurse.
Medical care is a big necessity in Jinja. Our nurse treated illness, administered medications sourced locally from Ugandan pharmacies, and ensured the widows who attended UOCC’s special days received attention — including IV fluids for those who were too ill to have made the journey at all. Having trained medical professionals embedded in a mission team changes what is possible.
Relationship & Discipleship
Showing Up Is the Mission
Claire became a fixture at UOCC in a matter of hours. She taught sign language to worship songs, sat with the girls in their dormitory while they braided each other’s hair, played guitar with the young men on the porch, and danced in the rain.
Melissa and Claire also led activity stations for the children — Zentangle art, sign language, and Melissa’s introduction to MC Escher. Later in the week, they joined a day honoring the village widows who helped raise Daniel and the UOCC children — women who danced, sang, and gave from their little with overwhelming generosity.
“These kids are beyond amazing and I love them all so much. This was a day I have looked forward to for years. Blessed.”
— Melissa Wolff
Empowerment Generation Campus
Beyond the Orphanage
Ugandan law requires that children leave the orphanage at age 18. But for many of UOCC’s young people — true orphans with no living relatives and limited formal education — the streets are not a safe option. UOCC has been building the Empowerment Generation Campus (EGC), a transition home and education center on nearby land, to bridge this gap.
During the 2025 trip, Melissa and our team were able to tour both floors of the nearly-completed EGC building — a milestone years in the making. The vision is for the EGC to house college and trade-school-aged orphans, freeing them from the poverty cycle and dependence on outside sponsorship through sustainable education and skills training.
The girls’ floor is close to completion. If you’d like to be part of getting them moved in, every gift counts.
