Stopping child abandonment in Uganda

At our Ewafe Project for abandoned and at risk children our aim is for children to live in families. The Ewafe Home is a transitional home and we have been reintegrating children with their own families for the past 3-4 years. In total we have reintegrated 38 children. Sometimes children can go back to live with their mother and father, sometimes a grandparent or an aunty or uncle. It is so important for children to be connected to their families. However, there are of course situations where children are not able to live with their own relatives. For example in cases of abuse, violence or in cases where there are no family members that we can find for them to be reintegrated with. In these cases we have wanted to launch a foster care program so that these children can live in families and feel like they belong. Formally becoming a foster carer is a new enough concept in Uganda and therefore we want to make sure that families are fully vetted, trained and prepared to take on the responsibility of a precious Ewafe child. With the support of local social services we have been able to bring one family through this process and make our first ever foster care family placement. Read Gemma's Story to find out more.
 

Gemma's* Story
(*name changed)

Gemma was 8 when her mother became very unwell and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Gemma was referred to the Ewafe Project and we took her in and gave her a safe place to stay back in 2018. The hope was that Gemma's mum would recover but sadly as time went on her mother was still not showing signs of recovery to the point where she would be able to take care of Gemma again. With no other family options we found a loving family who have been going through the process of being approved foster carers. This month the final approval and placement took place and Gemma went to live with her new family. This Ugandan family have the means to take care of Gemma, provide her with an education and all she needs to thrive. Not only that, but they also have the space in their hearts and lives to give Gemma the love she so desperately needs along with the one to one attention and sense of belonging that is not easy to find when living in a group home. 

We are delighted for Gemma and will be following up on her journey and how she settles in to her new family. We hope to be able to find suitable foster families for more children but we also lack the funding to roll this out on a large scale so please do share the word about our fostering programme to those who might want to donate. 

Photo: Gemma* with her new Foster siblings, settling into her new home.