Stories from CORE Initiative Small Grantees Funded through the Hope for African Children Initiative in Uganda | (May 18, 2006) |
HELPING FAMILIES EARN A LIVING
Orphaned by HIV/AIDS at two years, Tikol Patricia is now a seven-year-old girl attending school. Together with her siblings, Tikol was left in the care of her grandmother who was weighed down by the enormous responsibility of caring for fifteen children with no source of income. As a result, Tikol and her siblings often lacked basic necessities such as food, clothing, and water. HACI Uganda, through the Katakwi Engakinos People Living with HIV/AIDS (KEPLWA) project, restored hope to Tikol and the family by a small grant and two goats. The grant was geared towards increasing the household income and improving the nutrition of the family. They were also given psychosocial support in form of counseling.
According to the project co-coordinator at KEPLWA, Tikol’s story is not an isolated incident in the district. KEPLWA operates in Katakwi district where reports show that many children are orphaned due to AIDS. For many of the orphaned children, the death of their parents means loss of property, no education and basically marks the beginning of poverty. For the oldest siblings, taking care of the other children becomes inevitable.
In addition, Katakwi district is one of the districts hit by rebel attacks from the Lord’s Resistance Army and cattle rustling by the Karamajong warriors. This has had devastating effects on the survival, protection, and development of children. The situation is worsened by the fact that people are forced to live in camps with no source of income. As a way of life young girls and women often resort to commercial sex so as to meet basic needs such as food. The worsening economic situation in the IDP camps contributes to the increased HIV/AIDS infection and transmission rates in the district.
Due to the terrible situation in the district, interventions like KEPLWA’s are necessary to bring some sort of normalcy to these war-affected regions. With the grant and goats received from KEPLWA, Tikol’s grandmother is almost sure of a meal for each of her grandchildren tomorrow and is also able to provide other basic needs.
ENSURING A CHILD'S FUTURE AGAINST ALL ODDS
 In many societies, people with disabilities are undervalued and seen only as recipients of handouts. Anok Samwiri was crippled at the age of two and orphaned at the age of sixteen when his father was killed. Anok and his five siblings could not afford to meet their educational needs. Anok's mother who, like majority of the women in northern Uganda, had no source of income and struggled to support them and was loosing hope in the future. HACI Uganda though Abar Ler Youth Association in Uganda's northern district of Lira restored hope for Anok when he was accepted as a tailoring trainee. Ogwal Yonasan a project co-coordinator at the association explains that the organization “was founded to address ‘problems’ in the community that had been created due to the civil war in northern Uganda.” According to Yonasan, Abar Ler Youth Association, “runs programmes aimed at sensitizing the community on prevention and spread of HIV/AIDS and Child rights. Vocational training is given to beneficiaries such as Anok to encourage self-sustainability”.
With hope and hard work, four months of training down the line, Anok made his first shirt, sold it and has not looked back since. Today he makes an average of five to seven shirts a day from which he earns five thousand to eight thousand shillings per day. With the money he received from his earnings, Anok can afford his basic needs and is in the process of constructing his own grass-thatched house.
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"With the training I received from the HACI funded project, I was able to specialize in beads using local materials like paper, glue and colorings. My business is good since I have quality products, which are beautiful and attractive to the eyes. I also offer training to other members of the group"
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BEADING FOR THE FUTURE WITH HACI
When Ketty Oyat lost three of her children to HIV/AIDS, she was left with the enormous responsibility of taking care of eleven grandchildren. Ketty is a seventy-nine year old grandmother who lives in a small village in northern Uganda called Konypaco. Owing to the insurgence in the region, Ketty found herself displaced from her home, unable to cultivate food and with eleven mouths to feed.
With the help of Laroo Child and Family Programme, Ketty’s life has had an overhaul. Laroo Child and Family Programme is a community-based organization started by the community to help orphans and vulnerable children. Currently the organization supports nine hundred children along with their siblings in areas such as education sponsorship, early childhood development and livelihood development. With assistance from local leaders Ketty was identified as a beneficiary of the Laroo Child and Family Programme, which received funding from HACI. She was given training in business skills and a loan.
The future appears bright for this grandmother of eleven. Plans for the future include joining Juakali, a women’s group, in order to promote and market her products, penetrate the urban market and finish the semi-permanent structure she is currently constructing in her village.
The CORE Initiative provides support to small grantees through the Hope for African Children Initiative (HACI). CORE Initiative support helps to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS and improve the quality of life of orphans and other vulnerable children in Uganda. The HACI program provides small grants and capacity-building support to community- and faith-based organizations whose activities include income generation, care and support, education, and child protection.
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