PISWA, UGANDA – They tossed the confetti into the air – little white flakes of snow against the azure sky framed the celebration and gave shape to the singing that rose in a bright chorus.

Piswa.

A few of the things that have happened here: One FH initiated and now community-owned reforestation project, boasting one of the largest tree seedling nurseries in eastern Uganda; one FH-built health center, the only health center for at least a day’s walk; two FH-built primary schools constructed with the community in the lead, 284 FH sponsored children, and a series of cultural shifts happening that are completely changing everything.

The first vehicle entered Piswa in 1999, and shortly after, FH arrived. Tradition ran deep. Alcoholism was high, disease was rampant, only 300 children were in school. But today, 2,000 children are studying, diseases are being treated and prevented and alcoholism prevalence has plummeted.

“FH taught us how to work – people didn’t know how to do work that would really help their lives. People would just go hunting, drinking and fighting. Today we have many skills – tree planting is one of them,” said Stephen, a church elder at Mengya Church, the main community church in Piswa, from which much of the cultural changes have come.

FH encouraged truth-based messaging in Piswa and urged church leaders to teach things like gender equality and ending the practice of female genital mutilation and circumcision. Eastern Uganda has a historically embedded culture of female genital mutilation and early marriage, resulting in girls submitting to these excruciatingly painful practices for the sake of social inclusion. “If you weren’t circumcised you were considered an abomination, you couldn’t have a husband, you weren’t allowed to fetch water, you would be called a child forever and when you die they wouldn’t bury you,” said Jacqueline, a women leader in Mengya Church.

“But I said no to being circumcised,” Jacqueline said proudly. “And today, it’s the model in the whole district. And it is all because my Church encouraged me to say no.”

Alice Masai, a mother, wife and another leader of women, represents women at the sub-county level, fighting to bring sensitization of women’s rights and to encourage men to see women as bridges, as valuable, as equals.

Four years ago, Alice, her two children and her husband were considered wanderers. They had been living high up on Mt. Elgon and when they came to Piswa they were viewed as outcasts. Alice’s husband Moses was picking wild greens to sell. When FH offered educational sponsorships to their children, the ease of the financial strain made it possible for Moses to return to school. He was able to gain a degree and is now a teacher at a private primary school. The family bought their own land and Moses wants to use part of the profits to pay for other children to go to school, to receive the opportunity of education that he had wanted for so long and that his children have been granted.

A waterfall cascades over a sharp cliff, running like silver glass down the mountainside; a grove of trees, planted by a woman’s group, seems to be waving. Piswa is not just an anomaly; some might call it a miracle. Minds are changing, girls are getting to go to school, and an entire community is moving away from poverty.