Feed 1200 children and 400 women in slums

While the pandemic affected nations and segments of society around the world, the urban poor living in slums (a total of 1.58 million people to 2.1 million people) were particularly hard hit, with over 90 percent of the COVID-19 cases recorded in cities.

The large majority of the slum households are food insecure and suffer from low dietary quality. Rates of undernourishment are considerably suggesting that slum dwellers deserve more explicit attention in initiatives to improve nutrition. Household-level indicators are significantly correlated with individual-level indicators for women and children. In urban Kampala slums, only one household in five is food-secure, and nearly half of all households are categorized as “food-insecure with both adult and child hunger.” evidence indicates that parents often forego food in order to prioritize their children.

With the escalating prices of commodity prices such as cooking oil, sugar, rice and maize flour, many households in the slum communities often live without food as most of them live on hand to mouth.

In Makerere kivulu, one of Kampala’s largest slums, about 20 % of households go a whole day and night without food.

“Now that children are back home for holidays, I do not have what to feed them, I make maize porridge in the morning that we all feed on during the day”. Says Rose (Not real name).

Her story is just a tip of the iceberg of what most households go through on a daily basis, Children and women are most affected.

Please support our campaign to feed the hungry living in the slum communities in Kampala.

2021 has been a tough year for most families living in the urban slums of Kampala, with lock down restrictions on free movement, closure of schools and practicing social distancing most households have been in despair. Declared as a pandemic by W.H.O in March 2020, COVID-19 has hit much on the economies in the sub-Saharan Africa and Uganda in Particular.

Most Kampala slum dwellers rely on wage labor for example women are involved in domestic work and street vending ,they rely on very low levels of income yet they have to sustain their families as most of them are widows single mothers. Women and children are the most vulnerable to the effects of poor nutrition.

This is Grace (not real name), she is a single mother of two children who lives in a small one roomed temporary house, and one of the children has a hearing defect. Before COVID-19, she was working on a nearby by school as the cleaner and she would earn 5000shs($2) per day to help her take care of the children but that is no longer possible since schools are still closed.

“My older son moves in the community every morning to look for work, sometimes he assists market vendors to transport their merchandise and they pay him little money which he brings back home and we buy charcoal and maize flour, “she says.

The pain in her eyes is so evident as she further explains.

“The money he gets, we buy maize flour and make porridge and we only have one meal, am worried that the situation might even worsen. I also do laundry in the neighborhood whenever I get the opportunity to do so “she adds.

Grace is not alone; most households in the urban slums are in a similar position-bearing the high health costs and poor service delivery. Unlike rural communities where household often grow for food for subsistence consumption, food security in urban slums depends on households ‘income and ability to purchase food.

Children have also become rebellious to their parents because of being idle most part of the day.

“We have tried to confine the children in our homes but they always move in search for food. Majority of the Children eat leftover food dumped on garbage heaps which his so unhealthy” Julius the area chairperson explains.

As we come close to Christmas and end of year, let us remember our friends living in the slums with hardly anything to feast on this festive season. Kindly support our cause and donate so that the vulnerable families can enjoy their Christmas.

We wish you a merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.