Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Uganda has a population of over 46 million people, of which roughly 48% are children 14 and under. Upwards of two and a half million of these children are orphaned – some having lost both parents and some with just one parent still living. A child with one parent faces a lack resources (nearly as severely as a total orphan), is very unlikely to go to school, has a very low prospect of realizing opportunities and of receiving any form of support
Orphaned children might be placed with extended family, but so often these already poor families become desperately poor with more children to care for.
Some countries and organizations determine children to be economic orphans when the family’s income is so low that the family must choose between, say, buying food and sending their child(ren) to school.
Parents in Uganda have died of AIDS and other diseases - like Ebola or malaria, violence, drug abuse, and other situations. Their children face many difficulties: poverty, homelessness, gang activity, exposure to the elements, disease (like AIDS, typhoid fever, malaria), stunted growth, malnutrition, lack of access to education, lack of access to healthcare, exposure to drug and child trafficking, and more.
Children in rural areas, even those with both parents still living find it hard to make education a reality. And yet, school is the place where orphaned children can receive food, medical care, safety from childhood marriage.
We want kids to get back to school. We want children to grow up in the safety of a family in a nurturing environment with “Dad and Mom.” All children need an education, physical and emotional support, three meals a day, a place to call home.
How great it would be if all kids could grow up in their birth family with dad and mom having sufficient resources to provide for their family’s needs, nurturing and training their children to be capable, responsible, wise, caring members of their communities. But all too often, reality is quite different from God’s desire for children and ours. But the organizations we partner with in Uganda recognize the statistics. They also believe that each statistic represents a child uniquely created by God to fulfill their destiny in relationship with Him.