Visitor's are welcome

It is awlays an honor to host student interns from Gothenburg University in Sweden. Last week was not different. We visited families, POTTERS VILLAGE, a home for abandoned babies and a refugee transit centre; this is the camp where refugees fleeing the instability in D. R Congo are received and given various services before they are transferred to the settlement camps in other parts of Uganda. Thanks to the ladies who have taken on children for sponsorship. God bless you big.

CHILDREN'S CLASS

1st May 2016 was a great day for all of us at FALCO. We had a centre day which was special in many ways. First was the updating of info about the newly registered families, then workshops, singing and learning ensued. the theme for the day was children's rights and protection.
Too many children and their parents are not aware of their basic fundamental rights provided for under the law. for that reason, child abuse is almost an acceptable norm in many communities. That's why we decided to sensitise both the children and their parents on the topic. Children are denied their right to education, food, care, and other basic needs by many parents and nothing is done about it.
Child protection is one of our key objectives and we hope to continue working with the local government, police and other child advocacy organisations to promote children's rights.

Here are some of the moments with the children.

Teenagers class

Aunt Ronah we will call her. She is a professional counselor working with a street children rehabilitation project. She taught the teenagers concerning the different rights they have and how to ensure that they are respected. It was amusing and fun as the girls and boys shared about their different experiences and learnt from them. We still have a long way to go in this area. The girl child is especially vulnerable as many parents don't respect their right to education and knowledge. Ronah will continue to work with this group in future sessions until we see major changes.

Parents' class

The care givers were sensitized about children's rights and how to protect their children from abuse. In most rural families, the issue of children's rights is considered a non-issue and totally ignored. The parents committed to give more attention to protecting their children from verbal, sexual, socio-emotional and all forms of abuse.

WHEN A SPONSOR VISITS

One of the greatest highlights in the life of a vulnerable child is when they are visited by their sponsor. That's why the visit of Linnea and her mum was such a joy to the children and to all of us. Though their words may be limited, such visits cause the children to feel honored and loved by peaple they admire.

We took off time with our guests to go visit a Batwa homestead ( the ones pictured singing and dancing). The Batwa are a highly marginalised indigenous group that lived in the forest until 15 years ago when their forest home was turned into a National park and they were forced to leave without any compensation.
The climb to and walk around Sagitwe hill was memorable. Its the green circular hill in the pics. It has a valley (caldera) at the top with great views of the countryside.

Among the homes visited was Miriam Cyimpayes home. She is the girl who lives with her grand mother. Their house was so old and broken down (shown in earlier posts) but now the family has built a new one. We thank her sponsor for the contribution to the building project. They are now staying in it though its not yet fully complete. Works are underway to build a kitchen and finish the doors inside. This family is very needy and still needs our support to fully complete the house.

We also visited POTTERS VILLAGE, a home for orphaned and abandoned babies.
Our other memorable experience was the visit to a platform in MGAHINGA FOREST NATIONAL PARK, a home for the famous mountain gorillas. We had breathtaking views of the volcanic mountains, the forest and so many plants.

Another highlight was the visit to the school where most of the children study. We had interactions with them as they shared their dreams, favorite subjects etc. Off course they didnt forget to sing and dance a little!

Many thanks to Aunt Hope (wearing black in the pics) for hosting our visitors in her home, and to Judith, our volunteer, for moving around with us and helping with interpretation.

We encourage our friends, sponsors and well wishers to consider coming for a visit to our project. We will ensure you get a memorable experience of our beautiful countryside and culture.