Currently our organisation supports an orphanage in Namasuba/Kampala in Uganda. The orphanage, which was founded 5 years ago by Lydia Mirembe, a young woman from Uganda, houses children between 1 and 15 years of age. Being an orphan herself, Lydia Mirembe began to take care of orphans from the neighbourhood who otherwise would have ended up in prostitution, turned to crime, or died on the streets. She has now started a charity which, as a partner of our German charity “Child Care Initiative e.V.”, takes care of the children.
The history
Until February 2020 25 orphans lived together with Lydia under difficult circumstances in a derelict house. The construction of a new house for the children was therefore vital. In 2018, with the help of generous donations, the charity was able to buy a piece of land and begin the construction of a new orphanage and a small school.
The new orphanage is located in a wide and healthy environment, outside the city centre of Kampala. Basic food supply is provided by, maniok, sweet potatoes, beans and fruits which all are grown on site. Sanitary facilities as well as dedicated classrooms are now also available.
Easily accessible water supply through pipes is unavailable in the outskirts of Kampala, forcing adults, and often children as well, to walk long distances to get water. Therefore, we built a well to support the orphanage with water.
Eductaion
Without the support of the state, the church or international aid, Lydia Mirembe takes care of these children and is like a mother to them. Giving them access to education is especially important to her, as she knows that this is the only way these children will have a future.
It has been the goal of Childcare Initiative e.V to establish a school of its own in the new orphanage. This became necessary as the orphanage is located far away from other schools resulting in potentially long walks from and to school. School buses are not available. We also aim to give children in the surrounding areas an opportunity to visit our school.
Even small donations help
During the first donation round less than 1000 Euros have sufficed to get all the children bunk beds, made by a metalworker in the local district, thus allowing the children to sleep in beds rather than on the ground. 400 Euros were enough to give all children a pair of shoes from a local shoemaker. Not only did these donations support the children of the orphanage but also the families of the metalworker and the shoemaker. Childcare initiative e.V aims to support orphans in other regions as well and to provide them with education and a place to call home. The initiative also works with German schools through projects in which the students are working on strategies for development aid and to introduce them to the living conditions of orphans in Uganda.
Sponsorships
The children help each other wherever they can. They have learned that this is the only way to survive.
Sponsorships enable children not only to survive, but to live and learn in a child-friendly manner and to have a self-determined future in their own country.
Our visit to Kampala
In Uganda alone about 2 million people have been infected with HIV since 1980 and more than 800.000 of them have died as a result of it. It is assumed that around 20 % of all children in Uganda are either orphans or half-orphans. In a way each family, either directly or indirectly, is affected by this illness.
Until 2004 the Ugandan AIDS policies were considered among the most progressive on the entire continent. The number of HIV infected was stable at 6% of the population for a long time. However, recently the number of HIV infected has begun to increase again, because the availability of medicine suppressing the symptoms of the illness has made the illness less prominent in the minds of the people.
Life expectancy in Uganda is 58 years and over half of the Ugandan population is living below the poverty line having less than a dollar to live each day. Infant mortality is high and the access to medical care is limited. Children who have lost their parents are traditionally taken care of by their relatives. These relatives, however, have usually many children of their own and too little money to spare for food, clothing and school fees and are therefore forced to leave the children on their own. Often children land directly on the streets.
At the moment 30 children have found a new home in our orphanage and a new, intelligent and caring mother in Lydia Mirembe, who’s important goal it is to give these children a good education and by extension, a bright future.
During our visit in the old and run-down facilities in Kampala, we could witness the joy all these children showed despite the poor conditions in which they lived. We could see how caring and social they were with each other and how they played and laughed together. They really are grateful for the support the initiative gives them.
