Ugandan Bishop Callist Rubaramira will visit Los Angeles and St. Joan of Arc Parish from Sept. 9-22. Bishop Rubaramira, who shepherds the Diocese of Kabale in rural, southwestern Uganda, is traveling to Southern California to meet with and thank the donors to the Uganda AIDS Orphan Children Foundation (UAOCF) for their work in supporting AIDS-orphaned children in the diocese. There are 30,000 orphans in this area, about half of them having been orphaned by AIDS.

Bishop Rubaramira will celebrate the 9 a.m. Mass at St. Joan of Arc Church Sept. 11. A reception will be held in his honor between 4-6 pm in the parish hall.

UAOCF is a charitable, nonprofit organization founded by Father Frederick Byaruhanga, a priest from the Kabale Diocese. Father Byaruhanga has been in residence at St. Joan of Arc Parish since 1993, while he was obtaining his PhD degree in education from UCLA. In 2002, he founded UAOCF, with the support of the parish and its pastor, Father James Barnes.

The foundation's mission is to provide support to orphans in foster homes and to support Hope House, the Kabale Diocese residential facility/ technical school for orphans.

"As a nurse, I have worked with AIDS patients and have seen the terrible disaster that happens in families' lives," said Angeline Jacobs, a St. Joan of Arc parishioner who serves on the volunteer management team of UAOCF. "My heart went out to these little children who need help."

Currently, UAOCF is supporting 100 children at the level of $300 per year, which covers school tuition, uniform and books and some assistance for food, housing and medical care. Of the 100 children, 76 are sponsored by specific donors and the remaining 24 out of the general fund of the foundation.

Hope House, the residential facility and technical school of the Kabale Diocese, has been refurbished by a generous grant from the Holy Childhood Association of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Anyone wishing to sponsor a child or to make a donation of any kind can contact the Foundation at (310) 397-8396 or see www.uaocf.org.