Uganda has a population of about 30,000,000. A population racked with AIDS. Tens of thousands die each year. For years it has been the worldwide epicentre of the AIDS epidemic.

The people recognise their future has to be through self-determination. They recognise the children of the country are its future. But their needs far outstrip what they can currently achieve alone. Their government is bringing in brave new initiatives but lacks so much of the infrastructure and resources to achieve its aims.

The orphans live with relatives in the community which is the preferred way for orphan children to have a home life. Often it is an aged grandmother who has no resources to care for the child or maintain their home. Thanks to the generosity of many of the orphan sponsors we are able to improve the basic living conditions of the orphans and their guardians.

Many provide beds and blankets, cooking utensils, pit latrines or even rebuild derelict homes. Many are seeking to help themselves but lack the initial resources to make the first step in self-determination.

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ADOPT-A-GRANNY (OR A GRANDAD)


This programme is to help those so often left with their orphaned grandchildren.

Old age in Kabubbu has none of the State benefits that we receive in the UK. There is no State Pension, Housing Benefit or any other form of support. In fact your ‘pension’ is your children because they are supposed to look after you in your old age. However, if your children have died of the HIV virus, AIDS, malaria or other tropical disease they cannot help you and, moreover, you end up looking after your children’s children, your grandchildren.

Often you become too old or infirm to tend your vegetables to provide your food. You cannot get to the well to collect water and even if you could you don’t have the strength to carry 20 litres of water all the way back home. And you have no income to provide for essentials like salt, cooking and lighting oil, healthcare and so on.

For just £10 per month (€15 / US$20) through ‘Adopt-a-Granny’ you can support them with basic foods, healthcare, lamp and cooking oil, someone to collect their water and the occasional treat of a piece of meat.

I WOULD LIKE TO ADOPT-A-GRANNY – click here

COLLECTING FREE WATER

A clean water supply is a constant problem. In many of the major towns water is provided to a stand-pipe. Even so, an English person would not be advised to drink it!

In Kabubbu the water supply was from a local stream. Children collected water in 20 litre containers and carried them home. You definitely wouldn’t want to drink from here! But this was all the local people had until the British Airways ‘Change for Good’ programme installed a fresh water borehole for the Kabubbu Community Primary School. The local community could use this before and after school hours. This was quickly followed by a programme of four more boreholes and more recently Samaritan’s Purse International (SPI) has provided a grant as part of an integrated missions programme through the Kabubbu Community Church for a further four boreholes. There are now nine in total.

We are currently undertaking a Bio Sand Filter programme to 400 households in the community, a further project supported by SPI as part of an integrated missions programme through the Kabubbu Community Church. This project provides safe drinking water ‘on tap’ for each household from even the foulest of water.

There is a continuing need for collecting and storing rainwater. We already harvest and store over 100,000 litres of rainwater. Every house in Kabubbu which has a corrugated tin roof needs gutters and a 1,000 litre storage tank to provide a truly local water source. Gutters and a 1,000 litre tank on a concrete base costs £250

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ADULT LITERACY

The Kabubbu community is eager for education – whether for the children or for the adults.

Uniquely, within a rural environment, a Library and Adult Literacy Centre has been provided where many skills are being taught. English, along with reading and writing are the most popular.

Teams from the UK visit Kabubbu from time to time to carry out certain building tasks and train the local people. Skills taught so far include bricklaying, building, carpentry, erecting chain-link fencing, sewing and dental hygiene. Representatives of the UK based Community Learning Resource have also visited to assist in adult literacy training.

Kabubbu Community Library Service was established in 2003 to empower this rural community to move themselves beyond poverty. The Library contains resources vital for community development, many supplied by British Airways, which is the major supporter.

Literacy and numeracy classes have made a huge impact on the self-esteem and skills on many illiterates who now feel able to seek meaningful employment through a wide range of skills training groups including crafts, sewing, batik, building and farming.

Children not attending Quicken Trust sponsored schools are offered basic education and enrichment activities through the Library Service on Saturday mornings. Regular events and competitions organised by the Library stimulate creativity, promote cultural expression and celebrate new skills obtained.

The Library received a donation of Ug Shs 10 million in April 2006. This came under a pan-African campaign launched in November 2005 by Stanbic Bank to celebrate and acknowledge community successes in the various African countries where the bank operates under a campaign ‘Inspiration Lives in Africa’ which encouraged citizens in five countries including Uganda to nominate local community-based projects that inspire them because of the way they bring about positive change within their communities.The Library was a winner among the five nation-builder projects rewarded with the prize.

The community continues to need books and resources for both the Library and Adult Literacy Centre to encourage even greater endeavours in learning new skills.

I WOULD LIKE TO HELP ADULTS LEARN TO READ & WRITE – click here