Child Protection Uganda Project #14034

Stopping child abandonment in Uganda

by Kids Club Kampala

Project Report | Aug 2, 2021
Ewafe Project: Summer Update 2021

By Andy Brown | Senior Supporter Care Officer

Welcome to your Summer update. As you may be aware, a strict lockdown was imposed in Uganda on the 18th of June to combat the rise of COVID-19 cases. Families in Kampala's slum communities have been left without an income, with some unable to afford food and care for their children.

We launched our Serving Communities in Crisis emergency appeal to be there for our communities during lockdown. So far we have supported 4,243 people with COVID-19 relief including food packages, education materials and family support.

On Wednesday the 21st of June our Founder and Executive Director, Sam Wambayo, joined us for a Lunch n Learn. You can watch the event here and listen as Sam explains how Kids Club Kampala are there for the community and how the Ewafe home is playing a vital role in helping children in crisis.

Ewafe Project Update

Unfortunately, as a direct result of the lockdown, the number of children being abandoned, abused and neglected has risen drastically. This, combined with school closures, has meant the Ewafe home has been very busy!

Despite the uncertainty of lockdown in Uganda, we have lots of good news to share from the Ewafe home. With thanks to your regular donation, this quarter we have:

Rescued and admitted 9 children into the home.
Reintegrated 5 children back with their families.
Cared for the 47 children currently staying at the home.

Home schooling at the Ewafe Project.

*Nancy's Story

Nancy* was referred to the Ewafe home in March. She was living with her mother, stepfather and two stepbrothers when she went missing. Nancy was taken to the local police station after a stranger found her wandering the streets.

We were able to find Nancy’s mother and they were reunited on the 6th of April.

‘I had to harvest and sell maize to get the money needed to continue searching for my child. But, she was nowhere to be found and I had given up hope until the Ewafe project brought her back to me. May God grant the Ewafe home more blessings.’

- Nancy's mother

The Ewafe Project has New Wheels!

We are so excited to have a new car at the Ewafe home. The home is located in Busika, an hour from Kampala. The dirt roads that have to be taken to reach neighboring towns, villages and districts are dangerous and are often at risk of flooding.

With the new sturdy 4x4 car the Kids Club Kampala team will be able to quickly and safely reach children in need. It will also speed up the travel time taken to search for and reunite families.

The Ewafe Project is Expanding!

We have been expanding the Ewafe home including building a new therapy room to support children's rehabilitation, a new kitchen to account for growing numbers and purchasing land so we can grow our own crops.

Would you like a little tour of the progress so far?

First up we have our new therapy room. Building work started on the 22nd of June and we are happy to report that it is almost complete!

The therapy room will be vital when supporting and rehabilitating the kids that come to the Ewafe home.

Here's the therapy room now. It's almost ready to go!

Now we're in the kitchen. An increase in children being admitted to the Ewafe home means there's more mouths to feed. Our new kitchen is bigger and solar powered!

We also had the opportunity to acquire some land around the Ewafe home. With this new land we will be able to grow our own crops and move towards a more sustainable future.

*Sabre's story

It is an unfortunate reality that incidences of child abuse and neglect increase during lockdown. Many people become vulnerable to violence in their own homes.

Sabre* was abused by his father and ran to the police for help. He was referred to the Ewafe home along with his two siblings, *Hamma and *Isla, on the 24th of June. The three children are now safe, living at the Ewafe home whilst the police search for their father in order to reprimand him.

Sabre was rescued on the 24th of June

During lockdown, we have seen cases of violence increase. Although Sabre and his siblings were lucky enough to reach the police, for many children in Kampala emergency support is inaccessible.

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