News Release

Sister Bingham concludes Uganda trip with UNICEF

First-hand experience

Sister Jean B. Bingham, first counselor in the Primary general presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has concluded a visit to Uganda that gave her first-hand experience of the challenges faced by displaced children.

Sister Bingham got the opportunity to familiarise herself with the work that the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is doing in Uganda.

The week-long trip also saw Sister Bingham visiting with the members of the Church in the Kisugu neighbourhood in Kampala this past weekend. She also hosted a devotional for Young Single Adults and conducted training for local Church leaders.

During her visit to Uganda she witnessed the work currently underway to care for children who are among hundreds of thousands of refugees. In one of her stops, Sister Bingham met teachers and parents at a school for displaced children. There she heard pleas for assistance with such things as a fence, water, a wash station for the girls, books, wages for more teachers, repairs to water tanks, desks, electricity and computers.

 

The mood at the school was jovial, and was summed up by an instance whereby one of the drivers for UNICEF walked into a classroom of 50-plus children and began teaching them “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, including the hand motions. Some of the UNICEF staff explained that the driver was not a trained teacher but all their drivers had educational qualifications.

The Church’s recent donations to UNICEF for refugees have been for immunizations and for early childhood development centres.

Sister Bingham was accompanied on her trip by Sister Sharon Eubank, director of LDS Charities worldwide and of Humanitarian Services in the Church’s Welfare Department, David Frischknecht, director of temporal affairs in the Africa Southeast Area, and by Phillip Moatlhodi, Africa Southeast Area welfare manager.

Style Guide Note:When reporting about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, please use the complete name of the Church in the first reference. For more information on the use of the name of the Church, go to our online Style Guide.