Empower 40 rural women to support a household.

Background

Hope for Children Health Foundation(HCHF) believes that Women play important roles in the rural economy as farmers, wage earners and entrepreneur and they also take responsibility for the well-being of the members of their families, including food provision and care for children and the elderly. Rural women’s unpaid work, particularly in poor households, often includes collecting wood and water. Women from indigenous and grassroots communities are often also custodians of traditional knowledge, which is key for their communities’ livelihoods, resilience and culture.

It’s on upon this background that HCHF came up with this program to economically strengthen the care takers and parents of our beneficiaries to be able to take care of their families so as to have sustainable development. We believe that when you change Women’s lives you change a nation.

Achievements

We were able to provide seeds and farm inputs to 10 rural women to boost their agriculture and believing that they will have an increase in income.

Challenges

We believe that, women in rural areas face constraints in engaging in economic activities because of gender-based discrimination and social norms, disproportionate involvement in unpaid work, and unequal access to education, healthcare, property, and financial and other services. We wish to organize empowerment sessions on gender equality and proper agricultural practices and we are limited by trainers to do so and funds to get seeds and farm inputs for our 45 beneficiaries

I would like to extend our thanks to the donors, well-wishers and friends for their support to make this project reach this far and we believe we can create a difference in the lives of rural women economically.

• Progress report (PDF)
  

Hope for children’s Health Foundation in Uganda is focused on providing orphans and vulnerable children with access to equitable education through providing them with scholastic materials as they join school. So far we have reached 26 beneficiaries out of 126 identified for support.

A report by UNIADS (2018) on the impact of HIV on the world of work Global estimates, showed that workers’ deaths attributed to HIV and AIDS are projected to fall to 425,000 worldwide in 2020, from 1.3 million in 2005; with people in their late-30s the most affected.

Poverty fuels the HIV and AIDS epidemic, and HIV and AIDS has led to increased poverty at both local and national level and economic impact of HIV/AIDS has made orphans and vulnerable children majorly affected and severely strains community safety networks and community coping mechanisms to the epidemic. Poverty is a common experience with families who live rural, peri-urban and slum communities, leaving these vulnerable children at risk of being abandoned, neglected and abused in these areas.

It’s on this background that Hope for Children’s Health Foundation started up an Economic strengthening program for Households (ESH) for our vulnerable children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in rural village of Kyangwali by supporting their caregivers, parents and guardians with farm inputs which comprises a collection of interventions to reduce the economic vulnerability of families and empower them to provide for the essential needs of the children they care for, rather than relying on external assistance.

We believe that economic strengthening activities generate funds that help families care for their children by increasing food security, access to school and access to essential health services.

Family and household- Households affected by HIV and AIDS may have increased expenses for health care, caring for the sick, and caring for additional orphaned and vulnerable children. Increased expenses and reduced time for economic activities, such as farming and trading, may deplete the family’s income and assets and Our organization does emphasize a family-centered economic strengthening approach that supports the family to progress through the vulnerability cycle through implementation of income generation ventures by empowering families to provide for the essential needs of children and have family income security.

Economic strengthening program has supported 10 households and we hope to achieve our target of supporting 40 households in a year.

Challenges

• Limited funds to reach our target of 40 households supported with farm inputs and purchasing pesticides for our beneficiaries.
• Pests which destroy crops of beneficiaries.

Appreciation

We would like to thank Almighty God, our friends, donors, and well-wishers for their support to this cause and we are indeed grateful and we shall continue working as a team and with your support more services will be extended to more households as we create impact in the lives of people.

• Report (PDF)