War against poverty

We continue to tackle the problem of household poverty affecting our families through our economic empowerment program. We assist family heads to do small scale farming, business and have some domestic animals to keep at home as a form of wealth.

Here we bring you the mother of Gato Jackyline, who has been assisted once again to hire a small piece of land for cultivation for two seasons. its a common practice for families that have no land of their own to hire land and dig to feed their families and get an income.

This particular family, of 8 children, is one of the most needy in our programme. However, gradually we hope to work with them to get a sustainable income generating project for them. Both the man and his wife don't have a particular job and have no land of their own for cultivation. Yet its a big family which includes a 9 month old baby.

This particular programme recquires the support of all peaple who love children and want to contribute to a better future for them. Some of the families have sound small scale business ideas which are beyond our ability to fund as a project.
For instance, there is a guardian to one of our supported children ( Kwikiriza Angel ) who is trying to start a saloon business. She needs $ 350 but from the project budget we shall be able to contribute only about $ 60. Any contribution to that family will be highly appreciated.

Here is Gato's mum called Apophia...

Healthy living

Our Centre day this month focussed on healthy living to prevent disease and infection. Physical development and health is a key component of our holistic development goal for these children. We had the usual activities which included prayer, sports and games, a snack and then the health talks.

We hosted a medical worker ( A trained nurse) who has worked in a child care NGO for a long time and has experience in children's health issues. One of our volunteers spoke to the young ones aged 6-10 while the nurse spoke separately with the 11-16 age group. She later separated the older children and spoke to the girls alone on issues of sexual and reproductive health.

One of the upcoming issues is that the problem of water scarcity is greatly affecting our children in their quest to exercise good hygiene. Almost all the households we support dont have running water in their homes. They go to fetch from one source which serves about 4 villages! Some children have to walk 3 km and, in the dry season, older ones walk up to 10 kilometres to fetch water! When its scarce, its sold expensively which makes it hard for the families to afford what is enough for the whole family. This results in absenteeism as children miss school because they have no water to wash their uniforms or cook on some days.

We are looking for a funder to partner with so that we buy water tanks for the most affected villages. This is the most feasible intervention. These tanks store a lot of water in the rainy season which can be used for several months.

Here are some images of our day...

Health habits lesson

As the older children met with the health worker, the younger children were taught good behavior and lifestyle issues that affect their health, common diseases, their causes and how to prevent them. It was discovered that many drink unsafe water and this exposes them to diseases. This and other behaviors were addressed and children given tips on how to live healthy.

Sports time

Games and sports are an enjoyable and fun part of our times with the children...

Snack time

After the games, the learning and all the other activities, we gather the children in one of the classes for a refreshment...

CHILDRENS CENTRE DAY

It was a day of learning, refreshment and interaction. That was the centre day that took place a few weeks ago. Centre days are days when we meet with the children to do a number of activities depending on what has been scheduled. Its a time we get for children to interact with our volunteers and counselor where necessary. We engage them in games, sports, academic revision, spiritual development sessions etc.

Right now we don't do a large variety of games because our play items are few. We also realise we need more educational materials like text books, story books etc to enrich our time with them. We shall be buying these little by little but any contribution to this would be greatly appreciated.

In this particular centre day, we distributed educational materials to the children which included books, pens, pencils and mathematical sets for those in higher classes. Our other focus was on spiritual formation. We shared with them key values that they need to succeed in life. Oh, how they enjoy singing church songs and nursery rymes. It was a fun time!

Our family empowerment move goes on. Here is one of the families that have benefitted from the economic empowerment programme. the child is Kadiya and in the picture, her mother is taking care of the pig that was donated to the family. Piggery is one of the best income generating projects in rural areas because pigs produce up to ten piglets at once.
The animals continue to rotate among the families.
As the families have their incomes increase, they will be able to give better care to the children. This will ensure greater impact.