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My sponsored child Davis

Reading the article in Cork News about child sponsorship with World Vision this week made me think about my own sponsored child. As a World Vision employee, it may seem strange that I’m a child sponsor, perhaps even self-serving to some. The truth is that sponsoring Davis in North Rukiga ADP in Uganda is one of the most rewarding and cost effective ways I can use my money to make a difference. I know that only a fraction of my donation (22%) is used to cover the Irish office fundraising and programme quality costs and the vast majority goes to benefit Davis’ community. Unlike most charities, with World Vision I get to see exactly how Davis benefits from my donation and I have even visited him and met his family. The school that he goes to was seriously overcrowded with ramshackle buildings, but thanks to World Vision and partly thanks to my contribution, Davis’ school now has three classrooms. We occasionally write and he lets me know how his life is going and how World Vision is assisting him and his family. My relationship with Davis is a great window into life in rural Africa and one of the most transparent and accountable ways my money can be used.

Child Protection Work Gains Ground in Uganda

By Evelyn Despite the 5am start, I was excited to visit Lunyo and Busitema in Eastern Uganda where Irish people are supporting a child protection project. This was my first visit to Uganda and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. First up, was a meeting with the Child Protection Committee, which is working with local communities to raise awareness of child rights. It quickly became apparent that the committee members are extremely dedicated to child protection and have taken it up as a calling. I was particularly impressed with Paul Ouma, the Child Protection Chairperson for the South West Parish, who spoke of his desire that “Busia will change and become a better place to live in.”

With the support of the child protection committee, communities are now watching out for the welfare of the children, reporting cases of child abuse and working with the police to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice. As a result, the cases of child abuse are decreasing in the area. Local Solutions to Local Problems Too often we look to foreigners to give us the ‘magic pill’ which will fix all our problems. Sadly, there is no such pill. Meaningful development can only occur when communities are empowered to recognise and address their own problems - this way they are in control of their own development. This is the case with the Child Protection Committees I met in Uganda. After critically analysing their problems, community members have begun to come up with home-grown solutions. For example, a member of the Child Protection Committee for the Busia area, told me how they have started a mobile school, which offers classes every Saturday to children who cannot access school. Government support I was also really impressed by the community’s ability to engage the local government, through the District Probation Officer, Julius Ogalo, on child protection issues. While his department, like many others, was underfunded, he showed a real commitment to children’s issues. I sometimes feel that many of the government officials and leaders in African countries are unaware and do not care about how their actions impact their citizens. Many of us give up hope in the face of such apathy. However this is not the case with these communities – they seemed full of hope and resolve, with a real belief that lives can be transformed if everyone, including the government leaders and officials work together. It was truly an inspiring trip.

Visiting Uganda: People rebuilding their lives after the war

“This is where the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) used to take all the abducted children” my colleague Santos tells me, pointing at the vast bamboo and grass forests around us. “They would abduct 300 to 500 people and hide them here for a few months before marching them south for an assault.” I’m visiting an Irish Aid funded World Vision Ireland project for Internally Displaced People in Uganda. Between 1987 and 2006 in Northern Uganda, 25 000 children were abducted by the Lords Resistance Army - a brutal guerilla insurgency, led by Joseph Kony. Creeping into villages at night, Kony and his men captured large groups of children and forced them to fight for him. Peace Restored “Four years ago it would have been impossible to drive along this road; even with a fully armed escort, we would have been very much risking our lives.” Since peace has been established, over 10 000 children have returned home, but this has also brought new problems as a lot of the children and their families are traumatized by what they went through. Returning Home When we get back to Pader town, Santos points at the large field in front of our hotel, where there is a large gathering of people celebrating an anti gender-based violence campaign. “You could not even stand where those people are. You would be abducted. It was so dangerous.” Thankfully, those days are over now. The massive camps are emptying and thousands of people have already returned to their homes. But when they got home they found all the infrastructure in ruins: schools, water points and health centres had been destroyed by the LRA’s brutal campaign. Rebuilding Infrastructure While there are still doubts about the sustainability of the peace, particularly with trouble brewing in Southern Sudan with the upcoming elections, people are delighted to be home. With the support of Irish Aid, World Vision Ireland has been able to dig 22 wells and train the community on how to maintain them. This means that the community can access safe water for their homes and schools, preventing the outbreak of diseases and simultaneously encouraging people to move home and begin the journey to sustainable development. Long may it last!