Meet Jordan, one of our founding stars!

Jordan and Tamara, at Stars Daycare & Learning Center

One of the twenty-six stars (persons with disabilities) that come to the Stars Day Care and Learning Center each day of the week is Jordan Sirira. Jordan is 18 years old, with a look of a twelve-year-old. Jordan lives with his Auntie, who has been taking care of him since the passing of his mother. Jordan has been in a wheelchair since he was 8 years old.

The first time I met Jordan, I saw a young boy like any other. He was very handsome, brilliant, with a cute smile and a calm spirit.

As I learned about his disability, I discovered that his Auntie had two theories about his disability. One of the theories was that Jordan had fallen off a swing and broken his spinal code when he was eight. The second theory was based on a belief that Jordan’s mother had been cursed by her relatives because Jordan's father did not pay the bride price for their daughter before giving birth to Jordan. For some time I believed that Jordan's spine was broken.

On one of the days, when the Child Sponsorship Program at our local church (The City Church, Luzira) had play activities, I felt a strong conviction to take Jordan, just to have him see children his age, to interact with them, thinking that would make him happy being out. At this time, Jordan stayed indoors most of the time and hated being outside.

The day Jordan went out is the day his night turned into day! While on this outing, Jordan met Tamara, an America short-term missionary, who was in Uganda serving with other missionaries from her local church, back in the USA. Tamara fell in love with Jordan in a few hours, and they developed a friendship that has lasted since then.

Tamara conceived an idea that Jordan could go to school. I was excited and wanted to do whatever it would take, to have Jordan go to school. Not knowing what it would take, I tried to find a school in the neighborhood which could accept Jordan with his condition but failed.

I tried "homeschooling" Jordan at church. I got a teacher to teach Jordan at church. I would pick him from his home and drop him off at church for school and then take him back afterward. I started seeing other children with disabilities that needed the same opportunity and thought, these, too, can benefit from these classes while giving Jordan company so that he is not alone in class. What started as Jordan’s schooling opportunity has grown into a Day Care and Learning opportunity for children like Jordan in Luzira community.

With twenty-six stars that come to the Day Care and Learning Center every day, only Jordan has a sponsor who facilitates his daycare, medical care, and other benefits.

With the medical support that Jordan has received through his sponsor, we discovered that none of the Auntie’s theories about his condition was true. Jordan’s spine is not broken, and neither was his mother cursed by the relatives. Jordan was born with a condition called muscular dystrophy – which makes him lose weight and very weak to do anything for himself. Through the medical support, Jordan has been seen by medical specialists, who are providing treatment and guidance on how to support him.

We thank God for the support that Jordan gets. It is our desire that the other twenty-five stars would receive sponsorship to access medical and other services that SMU is currently not in a position to provide. It costs $100 a month to support a star to be in school, to access medical care, and to spend six hours in a caring, accepting and loving community away from home.

Get involved with SMU today by sponsoring a star. Visit our “Get Involved” page on this site for details on how to give or get in touch.

This story was narrated by Sylvia Kalyebara, Executive Director, SMU.