Empower 40 rural women to support a household.

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)