Stories

1. Nalongo Cecilia Mukabayinda

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Grandma support

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Nalongo Cecilia Mukabayinda aged 83 years is a poor old widow who had lost all her children mostly to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the responsibility of taking care of her 9 grandchildren rests entirely upon her. She is weak and less productive leaving her hopeless and worried about the future of her grandchildren. They were staying in a wooden one-roomed leaking house which exposed their lives to a lot of health and safety risks.
We identified her and through the support from our donors, we built her a two-bedroomed self-contained house with a fully installed solar system for lighting.
This changed her life and that of her Grandchildren. Her story still echoes across many villages and has given others in her situation hope that one day, they too shall have a better life.
The house has empowered her, improved on her level of self-esteem and confidence as well as that of her Grandchildren.
The beautiful smile on her face summarises it all; Hope has been restored in her life and her family’s.

2. 80-year-old diabetic Grandma Nalukumbi Janefrances

She is an 80-year-old diabetic Granny who is sickly and most times unwell. This situation even makes it harder for her to take care of her 4 little Grandchildren who must attend School, feed, get clothing and get medication when sick. This is overwhelming for her. She was staying in a very poor wooden shelter that worsened her health condition. She was identified and assessed and she qualified for our GrandMa Shelter Project. She now has a two-bedroomed house with a solar system for lighting and since then, her life and health has greatly improved beyond she can express with mere words. Seeing her live a life she never expected; it was beyond her dream to ever live in a permanent house with a solar system fully installed. We are happy to see that her Hope has been Restored.

3. 9 year old Ssebagala Eric

Ssebagala Eric is 9 years old, physically disabled but so sweet and charming. He is a very smart and intelligent child who’s dream is to be a Doctor and treat children on the Ssese Islands; born and neglected by his mother (a commercial sex worker). His father rejected him and he was abandoned at his maternal Grandmother’s place. Seen as a curse, he was always kept indoors for 4 years not until a Whistle-blower informed us and we responded immediately. He now attends school at Mulabana Primary School (Boarding section) and has so much physically and mentally improved with the help of the school administration and support from individual sponsors. He is in primary two now. We can’t wait to see Dr Eric Ssebagala in the future living his dream. Together, we can make it happen.

4. Walimbwa James

He’s aged 11 years and has been battling with the challenge of child neglect. He comes from a very poor polygamous family of 15 children in Mulabana, Kalangala District; things got even far worse when he lost his mother.

His father is a peasant fisherman who is alcoholic and doesn’t care whether his children attain education or not. Most of his elder siblings have dropped out of school due to pregnancies and eventually under-age marriages. For the past three years, James had not put on a school uniform because his father couldn’t buy one for him.

We enrolled him into the OVC (Reach the Chid) Program because of his vulnerability. Early this year, we got James a school uniform and it has had tremendous improvement on his self-esteem, confidence and academic performance. He aspires to be a Teacher. James has the potential to achieve his dream; he needs caring and loving people to support him

5. Granny Nantalo Pulkeria

She is a 81 year old granny taking care of 5 orphaned grandchildren. Granny Pulkeria had emotionally and spiritually broken down when she lost her very supportive daughter to HIV/AIDS in 2013. She was left with a huge responsibility of taking care of her grandchildren with no source of income. She is asthmatic and the Island being a very cold place, it makes her sickly most of the time. She was staying in a wooden poor shelter which made her health worse and that of her grandchildren. We assessed her situation and she qualified for the GrandMa Shelter Project. She can’t believe she and her grandchildren have a decent and safe house. The two-bedroomed house with a fully installed solar system for lighting has made her health better too. The soot from the local kerosene lamp was badly affecting her lungs. She and her family are in a new world with their Hope Finally Restored.