An average population age of just 16 years means that Uganda is disproportionately young. 30.1% of people live below the poverty lineCitation.
Civil war decimated one generation and AIDS decimated the next. Life expectancy has now risen to 63 years. However, poverty and limited access to health services mean that malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB and vaccine-preventable diseases are still key causes of illness and death in Uganda.
*Elora has 6 siblings. Her parents died from HIV/AIDS when she was aged just four. Elora’s elderly grandmother was too poor to care for the family – but thanks to sponsorship, she completed primary education and began a tailoring course at a local business. She is now employed as a tailor and earning enough to not only support herself, but also pay her younger sister’s school fees.
*Elora has 6 siblings. Her parents died from HIV/AIDS when she was aged just four. Elora’s elderly grandmother was too poor to care for the family – but thanks to sponsorship, she completed primary education and began a tailoring course at a local business. She is now employed as a tailor and earning enough to not only support herself, but also pay her younger sister’s school fees.What are the challenges?
Civil conflict and the AIDS pandemic left many children growing up without parental care. Violence and corruption exacerbated existing poverty, and the fragile economy struggles with high inflation. The debilitating effects of malaria and HIV/AIDS have a huge impact on many families. There has been woefully inadequate government investment in schools, medical care and social welfare.
How is Global Care helping children in poverty in Uganda?
Global Care has been helping children in poverty in Uganda through its child sponsorship programme since the early 1980s. We support almost 500 children in and around Kampala, in Soroti, in the rural north-east and in Rukungiri, in the mountainous south-west. We are also helping an additional 400+ families through a variety of disability initiatives: Disability Action and Disability Outreach
Many of our children are orphans, or from AIDS-affected families, or are living in families barely able to cope.
Education is such a key factor in helping vulnerable children, but education, especially in rural parts of Uganda, is hopelessly underfunded.
Through child sponsorship we are:
- helping individual children access education, social support and welfare care
- enabling vocational skills training, where an academic schooling is unsuitable
- helping children with disabilities make progress and access learning and healthcare
- improving life opportunities for people ‘living positively’ with HIV/AIDS – counselling, testing and education, and, where appropriate, extra nutrition
Become a child sponsor today: sign up below.
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