Life in Uganda
The people of Uganda, as a normal course of their lives, bravely face many hardships;
- Poverty
- Sickness and AIDS
- 51% cannot access safe water
- Civil instability (i.e. war, displacement)
- Natural disasters (i.e. floods, draughts, landslides, epidemics, famine, crop pests)
- Non/little education
- Non/little available healthcare (or healthcare education and inoculations)
Most disturbing are the accounts of life from the children. 7.5 million children in Uganda live in abject poverty.
2 million of these children are orphans. This is either from the obvious scenario of both parents dying (AIDS is rife), but some children are abandoned by their families, some are abducted – manage to escape, but then fail to find their way home.
Some children are forced to leave their families due to violence and cruelty occurring in their own homes.
Sadly these orphaned children not only lack the basic necessities such as food, water, clothing and shelter ......... they also lack the parental love, care and protection they so desperately need.
These children are more vulnerable than most and are exposed to many forms of child exploitation, cruelties, psychological traumas, criminal harm and injustices, i.e. being forced into;
- Dangerous child labour
- Living in countryside/on streets
- Becoming beggars and thieves
- Becoming child sex workers
- Becoming child soldiers
- Abduction to sexually "service" soldiers/ other
It is also common to find a household where the eldest child/children are forced to carry on their tender shoulders, the entire weight of caring for and providing for their younger sibling(s) when the parents have died.
Some of these amazing children have managed to find their way to Hands of Love Orphanage and School. Here they are safe, loved and valued.
The children and dedicated, volunteer staff still face great challenges and hardships daily.
Please could you spare a few minutes to look at this site? Maybe you could help?