Fiona and Simon Barnett share reflections from their visit to Kabubbu in rural Uganda, where small acts of kindness offered hope, dignity, and lasting change to families facing hardship.
How does someone decide whether to give a goat or a chicken to a mother in rural Uganda who is struggling to provide for her family due to poor health? For Simon and Fiona Barnett visiting as part of the Kabubbu Development Challenge, the answer was simple: give both. And when the same woman explained she needed a caesarean section in January but could not afford the cost, they offered to pay for the operation. She was overwhelmed, describing the support as lifting a huge burden from her shoulders.
These experiences were among many during the group’s ten-day visit to Uganda, designed to meet the poorest families in Kabubbu and understand how small acts of generosity can create lasting change. For Fiona in particular, a key purpose of the trip was to meet the children their family sponsors. Two of these young people had already completed primary and secondary education with their support—one is now externally funded to study teacher training at university, and the other is training to become a nurse. The trip also offered Fiona and Simon the chance to meet three younger children sponsored through their education for the first time.
Some of the most uplifting moments came from meeting the managers of the farming and training programme and the maize mill, both of whom were once sponsored children themselves through the Quicken Trust. Each had gone on to gain a university degree and returned to Kabubbu to invest their skills back into the community.
The Quicken Trust, a small charity celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has played a major role in transforming Kabubbu. Beginning with its first borehole, the charity has helped bring nine boreholes, a primary and high school, a grade-4 health centre, a vocational centre, farming and training programmes, a piggery, a maize mill, a street-business school, a church and community centre, and a district-wide health and welfare programme to the area. The group also enjoyed trips to the Source of the Nile and the Entebbe Wildlife Reserve on Lake Victoria, discovering Uganda’s natural beauty along the way.
Anyone interested in supporting the Quicken Trust or sponsoring a child can contact: admin@quickentrust.com
For information about next year’s trip, email: kabubbu@quickentrust.com
