Please support these VULNERABLE children by joining our ORPHAN AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN Programme.
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Yasin is an orphan and lives with his grandparents. His grandfather is too sick to work so they rely on his grandmother to provide their only source of income by digging in fields. They have little food - his school lunch is often the only meal he may eat that day. And although he has poor health and bad eyesight - caused by convulsions when he was younger and which still causes him pain today - the responsibility of making a 1-hour journey to the borehole to fetch clean water falls to Yasin. He does this every evening after school, carrying 10 litres back home.
Can you imagine your son, nephew or grandchild surviving like this?
Isaac’s father was murdered when he was collecting bamboo in the forest. He is 10 years old but only started school in February 2016 as his mother couldn’t afford to send him before. Isaac is the youngest of 4 siblings and the only one to attend MCS, so he walks the 10km journey to school on his own every day. He is still traumatised by an experience in the forest when he went to collect firewood, but unfortunately came across people smoking Opium who tried to kill him.
Juliette and Justin rarely eat an evening meal; lunch at school is often their only meal of the day. Juliette is 9 years old and her brother Justin, a twin, is 11 years old. They were left orphaned when both parents died from HIV and their tragic situation made even worse as no one in their family could afford to look after all 3 children; so Justin’s twin brother lives with an uncle in North Uganda whilst Justin and Juliette live with separate family in Musoto. Justin last saw his twin brother 2 years ago!
Irene is 7 years old and walks 2km to school on her own every day. She was abandoned by her parents and now lives with her grandmother who is very sick, but who is her sole carer since her grandfather died. They can’t afford clean water to cook with and instead have to use contaminated water taken from a hole in the ground.
Winnie’s story is sadly a common one. Her father was in an accident that caused a deep cut to his leg, but because they couldn’t afford the necessary medicine to treat the wound when it became infected, he died. She is just 10 years old but often misses school when her asthmatic mother is too sick to work - she takes over her job of frying cassava chips, which provide the family’s only source of income.
Despite their dire circumstances, these children have aspirations just like ours in the UK; Yasin wants to be a pilot, Isaac wants to be a professor, Juliette wants to open a boutique, Justin wants to breed chickens, Winnie and Irene want to be teachers. And these dreams could become a reality with your help.
JUST £15 A MONTH REALLY WILL TRANSFORM THESE CHILDREN’S LIVES
Your money is not wasted. We are run entirely by volunteers so donations are not spent on UK salaries and overheads, and all travel costs to monitor our projects are covered by our volunteers. Over 95p of every £1 donated goes directly to our development work in Uganda - and for those that Gift Aid, this amount increases to £1.21!
Although we have transformed many lives, there are a great number that still need help. We know of over 60 children like Yasin, Isaac and Irene that have been identified as ‘vulnerable’ according to World Bank general guidelines for orphan and vulnerable children. And we want to help them through our new Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programme that will provide:
Access to clean water to avoid deadly waterborne diseases from contaminated water sources.
Mosquito nets to prevent them dying from Malaria.
Medicines and medical treatment for both the child and their guardian so that they are not left orphaned or without a carer.
School fees to provide an education and includes uniform, exercise books and pencils.
Food. The lunch they receive at school is often their only meal of the day!
Basic necessities such as clothes, shoes and a mattress to sleep on at night.
But without additional funding we cannot finance this new scheme. And that is why we are asking for your help today.
Just £15 a month will help give children like Juliette, Justin and Winnie a better life
£5 will be spent entirely on the Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programme and the remaining £10 will go towards our core projects: Clean Water, Health, Education and Economic Development - because without these 4 areas, poverty stricken children cannot thrive.
The Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programme will support these vulnerable children as a group rather than through individual sponsorship, as often more than one sibling in a family is suffering and this will enable us to help all of the siblings at the same time and avoid any resentment amongst family members.
THE WRITING CLUB
The children will take part in an afterschool writing club which will be open to everyone at the school. It will help develop their written English skills and encourage them to be creative and produce work that provides information about their lives and their communities in whatever form they choose - stories, letters or pictures. This will empower them as they will act as ‘Child Reporters’ for their communities. We will not ask you to write Birthday and Christmas cards for specific children and we will not ask the children to write individual letters to you. Instead you will receive a selection of work produced in the writing club and any letters you write to the children will be read out to all the children so that everyone can benefit from your correspondence.
ON JOINING
You will receive a welcome letter on joining the Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programme and be added to our monthly e-newsletter group which updates you on our projects in Uganda. Once a year you will receive a brochure displaying a collection of the work produced in the writing club. You will also be sent an annual report on the Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programme showing how your donations are making a difference to these children’s lives.
DOWNLOAD THE Orphan and Vulnerable Children
PROGRAMME SIGN UP FORM
See more about the Orphan and Vulnerable Children Programme and how we make a difference in this short video.