Building a Supportive Community
…but it is a world away from the facilities available there.
In this town in Central Uganda, people face daily struggles to feed their families, send their children to school and access health care. It may be only 50 km from the capital, Kampala, but it is a world away from the facilities available there. The people engage in subsistence farming, petty trading and some go fishing. Everyone finds it difficult to make ends meet. Crossroads is shipping to a project engaged in community development programmes, including a nursery and primary school, construction of homes for the elderly and disabled, supporting children with HIV/AIDS, skills training for young people including small scale income-generating plans, and renovation of community wells and springs.
Potential impact:
- Improved facilities and equipment for 1400 school children
- Equipping two new village schools for 500 children
- Computers for skills training for 600 young people
We are told that Justine (right) was one of the most beautiful teenagers in her village; she married early and had 3 children. But tragically, they all died, her husband abandoned her and she fell victim to a wasting disease. Justine now lives with her elderly mother, and our partners have built them a 3 roomed house. She is a remarkable woman, with a welcoming spirit, who keeps smiling and showing love and gratitude to those around her.
Shipment includes:
- Books, stationery and basic school supplies
- School furniture and toys
- Computers for vocational training & administration
- Clothing and household goods for local communities.
Brian (right) benefitted greatly from the computers which arrived in a container from Crossroads – he learnt up-to-date skills at the project’s computer school and was able to find work in a business centre. Then he was able to take part in a government election registration exercise, and with the money he was paid he started ‘B and D business centre’, employing four people!
Women in Cameroon from impoverished families often live in precarious situations. If they lose their husbands, they may be driven from the family home, and left to care for children with no income. If they weren’t taught skills or learnt to read and write, they can be forced into poorly paid work in vulnerable conditions, and even prostitution. Crossroads is sending a shipment to a project which has a number of programmes reaching out to vulnerable women and children. They offer care and support to widows, orphans, elderly people and children in difficult family situations. They have a micro-finance project, a library for youth and social and financial support for HIV-positive pregnant women and children.
us to see that investment into homes like these, over a couple of decades, can help thousands start life over.
