Education Uganda Project #40163

Support and Educate Vulnerable children in Uganda

by Uganda Hands for Hope

Project Report | Sep 12, 2021
The latest news from Uganda Hands for Hope

By Tai Kuncio | Project Leader

Happy recipient of a clothing donation

We hope this update finds all of our valued supporters worldwide doing well!

Times are definitely still extremely difficult in Uganda as schools remain closed, a curfew is in place from 7pm to 5:30am, and many other government-enforced restrictions are making it very hard for our Hands for Hope families to make ends meet. Thanks to you, our donors, we have been able to help our beneficiaries in various ways even though our children cannot attend school. Our staff continue to visit the children and their families in the community every week, distributing much-needed food, home learning workbooks, donated clothing and essential medicines. Our staff are all in the process of getting vaccinated so as to be ready when the children are finally permitted to return to their classrooms.

We are also very pleased to report that despite not being in school for almost all of the last year, our P7 students received great results on their PLEs (Primary leaving Examinations), including 6 first grades!

We've also been doing a lot of work at our two school sites while the children have been forced to be away. Our cargo container rooms at the Primary school site have now been painted and are ready to be furnished. One will be used for the new computer laboratory and the other will be primarily used to support girls who need extra guidance and counselling. We're also converting two more containers at our Secondary school site - one will become our new library and the other will be a computer lab for our older students.

Lastly, Hands for Hope has always cared for a number of special needs children from the Namuwongo slum and we're excited to report that thanks to the support of our donors, 3 of these children have been able to go to Kampala's Mulago hospital for medical reviews and there have been improvements in each of their cases.

In particular, we'd love for you to meet Esther* (photo below), a young girl with severe epilepsy and learning difficulties who was left by her mother to be raised by her HIV-positive grandmother. Her grandmother does her best to support Esther by working at a public toilet, earning about $12 a month, but she could not afford any medical care for Esther who was having as many as 9 seizures a day. Thankfully, with the new medication prescribed after her review, Esther has improved dramatically. Hands for Hope has been assisting with transport and medication costs where needed and extra food packages to ensure she has enough food while taking her medication.

As always, we are doing everything we can within the imposed restrictions to help our children. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts as this pandemic continues to cause so much heartache.

We would not be able to help so many without your support! Giving Tuesday is just around the corner (November 30th) so if you are planning on making any contributions in 2021, that will be a great day to do it. More details on that will be coming soon... but please add it to your calendar!

All the best to you from Uganda Hands for Hope!

*Name has been changed to protect the child's privacy.

Please meet Esther*

Newly painted cargo container rooms!

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Jul 6, 2021
Another lockdown impacting Uganda Hands for Hope

By Tai Kuncio | Project Leader

Pre-lockdown workshop on domestic violence

We hope this update finds all of our supporters well around the world.

To say times are tough in Uganda is an understatement.

Back in June, due to a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, the government imposed another full lockdown, banned all transport apart from essential workers and schools were closed once again. These restrictions will stay in place at least until the end of July. Most of the HFH staff are currently forced to be at home, doing whatever they can to support our children. The office is open for a small number of staff, but we are limited to 10% capacity and those that live locally.

Despite these restrictions, we are organising food packages for those children and families deemed to be most vulnerable. This will expand once we can have a larger staff presence at the office, and we will also re-start the distribution of home learning packs which was still ongoing until the lockdown was re-introduced.

Back in May, before COVID cases started to rise again, we held several important programs in support of the families of the children we work with. First, we held a workshop on domestic violence for our parents. Our social workers often hear of cases of domestic abuse so it is imperative for our parents to know what domestic violence is and how to report it.

Second, thanks to the support of Children at Risk Action Network, our social workers were able to attend a refresher training on First Aid. The interactive training was extremely valuable and will allow our staff to be prepared in case of an emergency at the school or in the community.

Lastly, our children had the opportunity to learn about gardening and how to plant common crops in small spaces. This workshop was a great example of a hands-on and practical way of learning during these challenging COVID times.

As always, we are doing everything we can within our imposed restrictions to help the children of the Namuwongo slum. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts during this extremely difficult period. We will get through it with your continued support.

All the best to you from Uganda Hands for Hope!

First Aid training in May

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Apr 19, 2021
The latest from Uganda Hands for Hope

By Tai Kuncio | Project Leader

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