Life At The Foundation
Life in Uganda can be pretty challenging, with 41% of the population living in poverty and many of them children under the age of 15, life is challenging for tens of thousands. Children end up on the streets due to war and conflict, parents dying of HIV (still one of the leading causes of orphanhood in Africa, or dying of malaria, and of course, poverty, so many of the children have come to the orphanage due to their parents not being able to provide for their basic needs,
Mukasa, himself an orphan, is committed to ensuring the children have a better future, and ensures the children are supported, guided, loved and kept safe - he is also very passionate about getting the children an education so that they can go on to flourish way beyond their time at the orphanage.
Meal Times
Kwagala is definitely the head chef! she plans all the meals, goes to the market with Mukasa or Kalange and basically runs a very tight ship to ensure no food is wasted and the kids get as much of a balanced diet as they can. If donations are coming in, the children get some protein a couple of times a week - she knows everything about her kitchen and whilst we help, we know she has it covered! All donations go on food and water first. When you sponsor a child for 29 a month, that covers meals and contributes to their study fees.
Daily Life
Its not easy with 50 children (and particularly when it rains) but we try and keep the orphanage tidy and we all get involved in chores, whether its meal prep, tidying, fetching water, making beds and washing. Of course we have to do everything by hand, some of the children love helping, others would rather play games :)
We visit church regularly but not every week as its 6km each way and the kids already walk 10k a day to go to school. Each morning the kids wake up and have a wash with water from a bucket and then we start are day.
Fun
The children are a spirited bunch and they don't usually take much encouragement to have fun - sometimes they would rather watch a movie on Mukasa's phone (not always easy with 50 children), but we get them active every day and ensure they understand the value of team work and community and lifting each others spirits when things are difficult.
We recently tried to teach them to dance to see if we could go viral on tiktok - they had a great time and had so much fun, but we haven't yet made it to viral status :)
Education
The children walk 5k to school and another 5k back each day but they LOVE school, possibly more grateful because they have had to miss some terms as we haven't always had funding for a term. Its also a luxury that not every child has here in Africa so they are very grateful for the opportunity. They never grumble about the walk to school, even though they mostly do the 5k barefoot, they are so excited to learn and see their other friends. Education here really can make a difference to their futures and can break the cycle of poverty; so many jobs require an education before the children can apply so we are very grateful when people donate to their schooling.
The Village
Coming Soon
Naluwerere is a parish in the Bugiri district. Its a small village with about 4000 residents. There is no running water in the village and we hope that one day that we have enough funds to build a community water well. Its about £8000 but would be great for the children, the community and the planet, we waste so many plastic bottles as that is the only way the children access clean water. There is a market where we get provisions and that is 9km away. We get most of the provisions for the children from there.
Bedtime
Bedtime for the children is never a calm affair! with 50 children and not enough mattresses for the children to sleep on their is usually some words about who sleeps where.
We are in need of additional beds and mattresses, a mattress is £28, we have 3 or 4 children to a mattress but some sleep on the concrete floor so we would love some extra funding to be able to buy the children a mattress and even buy some bunk beds!
We are also in need of mosquito nets, at £4 each these can prevent both malaria and yellow fever, both can be fatal.