Child Protection Uganda Project #26217

Supporting vulnerable children in Uganda's slums

by Kids Club Kampala

Supporting vulnerable children in Uganda's slums

Project Report | Feb 15, 2023
Projects Update: 2022 highlights

By Andy Brown | Individual Giving and Supporter Care Manager

I hope that the following update, reflecting on our key highlights from 2022, is able to inspire you and provide further encouragement that your kind support continues to make such a life changing difference.

Feeding - 231,975 Meals!

At the beginning of 2022 we planned to scale back our food bank support; however, the cost of living crisis which hit Uganda in March saw demand for our food banks hugely increase. We listened to our communities and continued to run our food banks to ensure families were supported during this difficult time.

Throughout 2022, we were able to distribute 3,093 emergency food parcels to vulnerable children and their families. This is equivalent to 231,975 meals!

In addition to this, our daily children’s meals programme based in our three slum community classrooms resumed, with 89 children receiving nutritious fresh meals every weekday after their education classes. Due to the cost of living crisis, we also extended our hot meal provision to other children in the community who do not attend school.

Educating - Back to School

This year we have been able to provide free education to 257 children!

In January 2022, the Department of Education officially reopened schools and the 89 children enrolled on our Encouraging Education Project returned to the classroom. Classes resumed every Monday - Friday and out of school children aged 3-6 years old began learning in a classroom environment once again. We have seen great improvements in the abilities of the children, not only academically, but socially and physically as they enjoy each other’s company in a safe environment and are provided with a hot, nutritious meal every day.

The 168 children on our School Sponsorship Programme were also able to return to school in January 2022. They received all the materials they needed to fully participate and make the most of this opportunity throughout the year.

Protecting - Kids Clubs, Football & Teens Projects

Protecting children from harm has been a priority as our staff and volunteers supported communities to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and to cope with the cost of living crisis. Throughout 2022, children in Uganda’s slum communities have continued to meet together to enjoy play and fellowship in a safe environment.

1,000 children regularly attended our Saturday Kids Clubs
33 teenage boys have been part of our football teams
2,988 period products were given out to teenage girls

These activities are run by our community safeguarding officers who identify any child protection issues and offer children and their families further support where necessary. In 2022 we responded to 24 safeguarding concerns and 3,500 vulnerable children and teenagers received counselling.

Skilling - 200 Graduates with Skills and Hope

In 2022, 190 students graduated from our tailoring and knitting course and 10 students graduated from our carpentry course. The skilling projects continue to be a vital part of helping families to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic, and to help break the cycle of poverty for the long term. We were also delighted to be able to fully renovate our carpentry workshop this year meaning that more young people can be trained in this vital skill in 2023 and in the years to come.

In the words of one of our skilling graduates: “I came to know about the tailoring project through the community radio in our area. My parents couldn’t afford for me to finish school so I decided to join the skilling project to give me something useful to do. I can’t wait to start running my own business. My favourite part of my tailoring journey is that now I can sew something beautiful on my own like this dress that I am putting on. A huge thank you to Kids Club Kampala for this opportunity.”

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Oct 31, 2022
The devaluing pound & the impact on our programmes

By Olivia Barker White | CEO & Co-Founder

You may have heard about the drop in the value of the pound in the news recently.

This is extremely concerning news for everyone, especially for our communities living in Kampala’s slums.

Unfortunately, the devaluation of the pound now means that we are getting far less Ugandan Shillings for our pounds. Overnight our programme costs have hugely increased, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. At this current moment, our communities are still recovering from the devastating impact of Covid-19 lockdowns, and facing a cost of living crisis. To put it simply, our money won’t be able to go as far to help them when they need it most.

I have done a quick calculation and found that, worryingly, if the current exchange rate continues as it is (or indeed gets worse), this will cost us an additional £87,500 per year to run our programmes in Uganda. This will have a devastating impact on the future of the children and families we support as demand for our programmes continues to increase.

At this worrying time, I would like to personally thank all of our donors and supporters for standing with us. Your support is valued and means a lot to us here at Kids Club Kampala. If you are able to make a donation of any size to help us get through yet another crisis, that would be hugely appreciated.

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Our food banks started during COVID-19, but have continued throughout this recent cost of living crisis. With your support, they will continue to be there as long as our communities need them.

Please do help us spread the word about the impact of the devaluing pound and its impact of this on our programmes in Uganda. Just sharing this email with your friends and family will help raise awareness of this current crisis.

If you pray, we ask you to stand with us in praying for the financial markets to recover, the exchange rate to dramatically improve and for miraculous provision for those that need it the most.

Whatever the future holds, we want to make sure that we continue to help vulnerable children and their families survive and thrive. At a time when they need us most.

Thank you.

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Oct 31, 2022
Projects Update: Autumn 2022

By Andy Brown | Supporter Care Manager

Feeding - World Food Day 2022

Last Sunday 16th October we commemorated World Food Day, the day in which the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was founded. Its purpose is to increase awareness of world hunger and poverty and inspire solutions for world change.

This year, World Food Day is being marked in a year with multiple global challenges including the ongoing pandemic, climate change, rising prices and international tensions, all of which are impacting our communities in Uganda. Unfortunately with these challenges, the problem of food insecurity in Kampala’s slums is going to get worse before it gets better.

This is why we are so proud of how many people we are continuing to support with vital food.

This quarter our foodbanks continued to respond to the current cost of living crisis. We distributed 947 food parcels to vulnerable families in Kampala’s slum communities. Thank you for your continued support and allowing us to be there for families during this incredibly difficult time.

A family receiving a food parcel

Educating - Back to School at our Encouraging Education project

In September we ran our Back to School campaign, sharing stories from parents and children who are part of our Encouraging Education project. We aimed to highlight the realities that prevent children in Uganda from gaining an education.

This quarter we have provided education to 88 students through our Encouraging Education project.

Lunch time at our Encouraging Education Project

Protecting - Ewafe Project Update

This quarter has been a very busy time for our Ewafe home. The rising cost of living has a large impact on household income, and is pushing families in Kampala’s slum communities further into poverty. Because of this more children are becoming homeless and vulnerable to abuse and neglect. Our Ewafe home is needed now more than ever to protect children in the slums.

This quarter we have ...

Admitted 20 more children to the Ewafe home
Currently caring for 88 children at the Ewafe home
Reintegrated 10 children with family

Activities at our Ewafe home

Paul's* Story

In June 2021, we welcomed Paul* to the Ewafe home. Just over a year later, Paul was the first child to be reintegrated by our Ewafe team to another country.

Paul was 12 years old when he left Rwanda, a neighbouring country to Uganda, with a family friend in hopes of finding his father in Uganda. Unfortunately he couldn’t find him and eventually Paul ended up on the streets. He was picked up by a Good Samaritan and taken to the local police station who admitted him to our Ewafe home.

After much searching for Paul’s father and no result, our Ewafe team instead decided to start looking for his mother back in Rwanda. After a lot of hard work, we managed to locate her and this August, 1 year and 3 months after Paul first came to the Ewafe home, he was granted permission to travel back to Rwanda.

Paul was officially handed over to the Rwanda High Commission who will be resettling him with his mum very soon. (* Name Changed)

Skilling - Carpentry Renovation

Our Carpentry classroom has been completely renovated this quarter. With these renovations complete, we'll be able to increase the intake on our Carpentry project and provide more people in Kampala's slums with independent and sustainable income opportunities.

Before After

We are now in the process of enrolling 25 more students onto our Carpentry Project, who will benefit from the recent renovations and gain skills to earn an income and provide for themselves.

Since the renovations our capacity within the project has doubled, allowing us to help train and skill more individuals.

Let's hear from a student who has benefitted from our Carpentry Project.

“My name is Wesley*. I can’t wait to start and run my own business since gaining the skills I would need to do so. At first I thought starting up a business would be too difficult and I would need a lot of money but I now know that it is possible with commitment and flexibility. Thank you Kids Club Kampala for the great package of carpentry skills and business training you have offered us.” - Wesley (* Name changed)

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