Hello lovely friends,

As many of you know, God has brought me on a powerful journey over the years, cultivating and deepening my heart for global impact. It all began with moving to the middle of China and falling in love with another culture. It continued when my mom suddenly passed away, and I unexpectedly started working in full-time ministry. It was confirmed during my time spent in Sydney, seeking healing and direction for the future.

All of it has led me to this point. I'm beyond excited to announce that I'll be completing my clinical fellowship with Hope Speaks following graduation! This residency for speech therapists takes approximately a year to complete through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) before becoming fully licensed. I was blessed with the opportunity to visit Hope Speaks for a few weeks between my leveling year and starting graduate school; it immediately felt like an answer to prayer! Serving with this beautiful organization, utilizing the skills I've learned over the past few years and am so passionate about, is my heart.

Hope Speaks is a nonprofit organization based in Kampala, Uganda. Their mission is to inspire hope and raise the voices of people with disabilities through speech therapy, advocacy, education, and social services. In Uganda, 1 in 7 children are living with a disability. Hope Speaks' main focus is to make speech, language, and feeding therapy accessible for hundreds of children. In therapy, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) help children learn to communicate their wants, needs, and ideas, build social skills, and swallow safely. They also educate families and communities about disabilities and available resources to empower people of all abilities to reach their fullest potential.  

Many of Hope Speaks' volunteers are SLP graduate students as well as SLP professionals. Through volunteer partnerships, Hope Speaks strives to build the capacity of Ugandan therapists via training and mentoring. Additionally, Hope Speaks is involved in hosting groups that assist with various projects, providing food for families, respite care, children's day camps, and serving in the slums, among other initiatives.

Every donation is valuable and will enable me to help give children with disabilities a voice. Would you kindly consider donating to help make this possible? I would greatly appreciate your willingness to share this with others who may also wish to participate in this cause! My heart is especially with the children and families I visited in the outreach clinics and a rural village. My goal is to move to Kampala in early August 2024 to begin the clinical fellowship.  

I can't thank you enough for being a part of my journey and for helping me accomplish something that God's been building in my life for years! Your prayers and support mean the world to me.

If you would like to hear more of my story, please don't hesitate to reach out. I would love to share it and hear how He is working in your life as well!

Sending you blessings always!

In His love,

Kimberly