-
Make a real difference...
-
to communities across Africa.
-
Share skills and knowledge...
-
and sponsor children...
-
to develop a better future
-
...and change lives forever!
Since 1986 Uganda has made progress from the shackles of harsh
dictatorial rule that marred the country for the previous decades
and brought Uganda to economic ruin, however those decades of
conflict have left Uganda as one of the world's poorest country
hampering its ability to catch up on the social progress and
infrastructure that is required to provide a reasonable standard
of living for all its people. The situation in the
north of the country was particularly dire where over 1.8 million
people were displaced and 60,000 children abducted, many then forced to become
child soldiers and were psychologically traumatised by the Lord's Resistance Army
that ran rampant across the north destroying families and communities. Whilst
the situation has now improved with the LRA in abeyance, the fear of the recent past remains.
In the more secure south of the country, children
in Uganda still face many difficulties. Just under 50% of the
population is aged 14yrs or younger and life expectancy is 63.37 years (2019). Uganda continues to be one of the poorest
countries in the world with sub-standard health care, high rates of
malnutrition and diseases such as malaria rampant, assisted by less
than half of those living in Uganda having access to safe drinking
water. Around 41% of population live in poverty. There are an estimated 800,000 children
orphaned through AIDS/HIV, out of an overall orphan population of some 1.2 million. Literacy rates are relatively high for
males at 77% however this falls to just 57% for females. 18% of
children never enrol at school and a further 66%, who have enrolled,
drop out during their primary and secondary school years. Attendance
at school is also affected by the high rates of malaria with 40% of
all students being affected at any given time.
Children in Uganda are expected to attend seven years of primary school which is supposedly free, but in reality, the government provides the teachers' salaries and the building, but children's families are expected to pay for their own books, pencils, food and even for the teacher's food and accommodation when provided. This often means in larger families only one child can attend at any given time. Children progress each year if they pass their end of year exams or remain behind. As such, a child starting primary education at the age of thirteen, will leave when they are twenty or older if they have failed any of the final year exams. Even so-called children in their twenties when still at school can be brutalised as punishment by teaching staff in a country where corporal punishment is supposed to be illegal.
Health issues are a major concern for children in
Uganda; 26,000 children under the age of five die every year die
from diarrhoeal diseases and about a quarter of all children in
Uganda do not have adequate food supplies for all or part of the
year. As with other
countries across Africa, and indeed the world, Uganda has a rising
number of street children and its estimated that around 5000
children beg, scavenge, wash cars, steal or sell their bodies for
daily survival. Unlike their counterparts in neighbouring Kenya,
these children do not tend to sniff glue, rather bhang which is brought in from Somalia, via Moroto.
It is this drug taking that the authorities account for the increase
in violence in cities like Kampala where aiding street children is now illegal. Many children who escape end up as child labourers, effectively little more than modern day slaves.
Although Uganda prides itself on being a very Christian society and a conservative one, in reality it is somewhat brutal with authority figures intimidating the population, not least because part of their income is expected to be met by fining wrongdoers whether they have done wrong or not. The general population have little faith in the police, who have to be paid by the victim to investigate crimes then pay again should they expect any stolen goods to be returned. If the perpetrator can pay more, the police simply won't bother carrying out their duties. As such, thieves often end up stabbed or speared and the local Christian community will consider that proper justice.
There are few prospects for children in Uganda outside larger urban communities. Even those who pay to attend college for a vocational qualification such as teaching, rarely recoup their outlay, often ending up back as subsistence farmers like their parents before them or join the already over-filled ranks of the boda boda (motorcycle) drivers desperate for fares for food to eat later that day and pay for tomorrow's petrol as well as the fee for using the bike. Widespread use of the internet is now opening young people's eyes to how others live as many of their communities have only enjoyed electricity in recent years and world news (and lifestyles) were simply an unknown phenomena until now. The video (below) provides further
glimpses into daily life for children in Uganda togrether with details of projects and programs to support children in Uganda.
Children in Uganda: The Lighthouse Project
|
Children in Uganda: Children of Uganda
|
Children in Uganda: Kids Club Kampala
|
Children in Uganda: Kiddies Support Scheme
|
Children in Uganda: Mikwano Children's Trust
|
Children in Uganda: Shines Children's Foundation
|
Children in Uganda: Street Children in Uganda
|
Children in Uganda: Sponsor Children in Uganda
|
Children in Uganda: Volunteer in Uganda
|
Children in Uganda: Uganda Country Profile
|
|
Details of current volunteer work
opportunities in each of the
countries of Africa.
Find how to sponsor a child in Africa
with our list of organisations,
charities, programs and projects.
Discover all about Africa, its tourist
attractions, history, people, culture
and daily life there.
