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Uganda: Education and Job Creation

In Northern Uganda, a small nursery school is a haven of peace and fun for little children who would otherwise be simply playing in the dirt. The villages in this war-torn area have suffered immeasurably over the years, and the people still battle with problems of HIV/AIDS and huge unemployment, but they are now trying to rebuild lives and livelihoods. Parents have hopes for their children beyond the subsistence farming they themselves have experienced. This nursery school received a shipment from Crossroads in 2008, receiving goods which transformed the lives of many children. They currently have 72 children attending.

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As the children have grown, the school is now ready to open a primary school, and have asked Crossroads for books, computers, school furniture and uniforms, plus the equipment necessary for a first aid room. They are also looking to start vocational skills training for older pupils, and have asked for tools, sewing machines and other items to help with this.

We hope that with an injection of further goods from Crossroads, these children happily playing with toys provided in the last container will have a more secure future education and the route to a better life.

Shipment includes:

Stationery, Computers, books, uniforms, school & office furniture to equip the new primary school
Medical equipment for first aid, and items for vocational skills training.

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

Northern Uganda: Investing for Life

Investing for Life

Northern Uganda: a place where a nightmare was played out, largely unnoticed by the rest of humanity for twenty years.

Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, led by the infamous Joseph Kony, would enter villages, often at night, to abduct children as child soldiers or rebel ‘brides’. Some were as young as 7. Children were often forced to kill siblings or parents: a strategy designed to make them feel too guilty to escape the rebels and sneak back home. Those who resisted the LRA were usually shot. The abducted children often spent years in the bush. There they were taught to pillage, torture, cannabilise and kill. It was normal for ears and lips to be cut off, as a threat to any who would ‘talk’. Children wee traded with neighbouring countries for ammunition. Others became cannon fodder, some as young as 4, since young children, in these skirmishes, are not necessarily issued weapons.

Crossroads shipped, year after year, to this location supporting work among these young lives. When our team visited, they were told “Take a good look round. Everything you see came from Crossroads.” They saw tables, chairs, beds, sheets, shoes, clothes, educational supplies, cupboards, cabinets, computers for the educational system and equipment for vocational training.

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Former child soldier David Livingstone speaks to participants at Crossroads’ Refugee Run simulation in Davos, Switzerland at the World Economic Forum

The children’s favourite was a surprise to us all. One of the key leaders in the area, David Livingstone, asked us if we had any playground equipment “because counsellors advise us that the children of war need to ‘learn how to be kids’ again.” The very week he asked, we received an offer from an international school in Hong Kong offering, amazingly, a brand new set of swings, slides and climbing equipment, worth US$20,000. Once in Uganda, it was used from sun up to sun down.

David himself has broadened his work to include agriculture, small businesses to help families and communities re-start. He has also opened up medical work to battle a new illness, the infamous Nodding’s Disease, which is claiming the lives of their children in the post war era. He joins us at the World Economic Forum when we take the Refugee Run there as we seek to keep this desperate part of the world before world leaders who can help.

The children’s favourite was a surprise to us all. One of the key leaders in the area, David Livingstone, asked us if we had any playground equipment “because counsellors advise us that the children of war need to ‘learn how to be kids’ again.” The very week he asked, we received an offer from an international school in Hong Kong offering, amazingly, a brand new set of swings, slides and climbing equipment, worth US$20,000. Once in Uganda, it was used from sun up to sun down.

It is our goal, at Crossroads, to invest for life. Our partnership in Northern Uganda is one example of many we celebrate in this our anniversary year.

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

Uganda: Building a Supportive Community

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.

This shipment will help our partners build homes for vulnerable elderly and disabled people by including administrative goods like office equipment.

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

Uganda: Building Hope in the Slums

Building Hope in the Slums

In the slums of the Uganda capital Kampala, for many there is no bright outlook on their future. Our partner NGO is working hard to change this by offering a wide range of community building programs. According to them the economy in Uganda is growing, but only a small number of people are benefitting from this, increasing the gap between poor and rich. To give more people the change to find a more sustainable way of living, the NGO is offering free education to children and adults, is offering vocational training, is providing free health care and even is involved in housing programs which will survive the next storm.

The work is vast and fruitful, but to increase it even further the NGO is relying on help from outside. Our shipment will impact their work heavily, allowing them to move to a next level of offering help to the poor.

By giving them a small loan at the end the NGO also provides the means needed to fulfil their dream.

Nambalirwa Ruth is one of the women who benefitted from the business program of our partner NGO. During this program people will be offered a vocational training to start their own small business. The NGO offers a variety of skills from hair cutting to opening a small vegetable stall, like Ruth did.
The aim is to motivate and build on the skills people are already having. By giving them a small loan at the end the NGO also provides the means needed to fulfil their dream. Having an own business does not only provides in a basic living for Ruth and her family. It also gives her a feeling of self-confidence. Knowing she holds the future in her own hands.

Shipment includes:

School uniforms
200 school desks- and chairs.
50 boxes of school and office stationary
Sport items and games for the children
A projector and television
10 beds
And much more…

This shipment will include goods to help train many more women like Ruth, providing them a future and a way out of poverty.

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

Uganda: Community Development

Community Development

In this town in Central Uganda, people struggle for the basic necessities of daily life: clean water, good sanitation, shelter and even food. Access to basic health is limited and poor health services have resulted in preventable illnesses becoming severe.

37.7% of Uganda’s population lives below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day. Orphans and vulnerable children may find it impossible to break free from the poverty cycle without the kind of intervention that our partners are giving.

Many of the townsfolk engage in subsistence farming, others are market vendors, some are motorcyclist drivers. Everyone finds it difficult to make ends meet. Crossroads is shipping to an NGO that is deeply engaged in community development programmes in this town and broader region, including a primary and secondary school, programmes to reduce HIV/AIDS, poultry farming assistance, financial assistance for complex health care, water projects and supporting the reduction in child abuse.

Shipment includes:

Medical equipment to support the local health clinic
Books, stationery and basic school supplies
School furniture and toys
Office furniture for local administration

Potential Impact:

Improved facilities to support 800 families in reducing HIV/AIDS
130 vulnerable women and youth to be assisted with the poultry farming project
School fees for 450 students to attend primary, secondary and vocational education

Unlike most 18 year old boys, Samuel was unable to enjoy the freedom of being young, fit and able. Samuel could do very little on his own. Daily life was a struggle, let alone making his way to school for study. A complicated heart problem caused Samuel to live a very limited and dependent lifestyle. In his town, near Kampala, Samuel did not have access to health care to treat his heart correctly.

Thankfully, staff from our partner NGO met him. They were able to raise enough support to send Samuel to India for a life-saving heart operation. Today, Samuel attends secondary school without any trouble. Both teachers and staff at our partner organisation are impressed to see Samuel not just get by but excel in all areas.

This shipment will provide medical equipment and goods to improve the life of children like Samuel.

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

Uganda: Education, training and health

Education, training and health

“Education is a major problem here, since most of the children do not go to school,” wrote our partners in Uganda when requesting a shipment. “There are very few schools in the area and those which are there are in a worrying state. Many young girls end up being forced into marriage at an early age because they are not going to school.” They asked Crossroads to help them with supplies and equipment that would help not just young school students, but young adults who need job training, and also community health centres that are seriously under-resourced.

“The donation of hospital beds has led to improved health at our institute and also within the community at large.”

The goods in this shipment, which included furniture, hospital beds, medical goods and school equipment, were an injection of hope into this community, where our partners are battling against poverty with few resources themselves. They told us of thousands of dollars saved by schools and health clinics, who now don’t need to purchase or upgrade equipment. “This donation saved us around US$10,285,” they said, of the medical supplies and hospital beds.

Most of the goods from the shipment simply can’t be purchased in this part of Uganda, making them all the more valuable to our partners’ work. The toys and educational aids, which are already enriching the lives of local children, will also be used to set up a child training centre where the NGO will loan out the equipment to families that can’t afford them. A vocational centre received beds, bedding and kitchenware which will allow them to support young people who stay in the residential centre while studying.

Thank you for your part in transforming the lives of so many in rural Uganda through this shipment!

Give now!

Donate to a shipment like this one.

Donate Goods!

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

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Uganda: HIV Care and prevention

HIV care and prevention

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Uganda has caused untold misery for children there, with large numbers orphaned and left to be cared for by aging grandparents or in orphanages. While public awareness campaigns and health initiatives have made excellent progress in Uganda, 7.2 percent of the population still lives with HIV (2012).This amounts to an estimated 1.4 million people, which includes 190,000 children and overall an estimated 1.1 million children have been orphaned by the epidemic.

“This shipment has changed us for the better. You have helped us move forward so fast because the things which we would have done in five to ten years, we are now going to achieve within two years.”

Crossroads’ partners who received this shipment have an orphanage and school for children affected by HIV/Aids, educating and preparing them for fulfilled adult lives. They arrange seminars and workshops to spread information about HIV/AIDS and promote safe practices to reduce the chance of infection. It’s important work in this rural area where infrastructure is limited and access to antiretrovirals is difficult.

The feedback we received from this shipment expressed overwhelming gratitude for how the goods have invested in this community. Educational goods were distributed to the NGO’s school, and other schools in the area, beds to the local hospital, and clothing and shoes to impoverished members of the community, especially those affected by HIV/Aids.

“We received pens, pencils, exercise books, paint and art brushes as well as writing papers. These items have made all our education very easy. All students have been able to receive his or her own items unlike before when they were sharing and their work has greatly improved.” Photos show furniture, play equipment and educational aids from Crossroads.

Their administration offices were also given a facelift withgood quality furniture and accessories that they could not have afforded to purchase themselves, allowing them to better operate their programmes educating the community on HIV issues and caring for those suffering through the epidemic.

We are delighted to play a part in such valuable work stemming the tide of HIV, and are hugely grateful to those who made it possible to help so many.

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Donate to a shipment like this one.

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

Hospital and health:

“Our patients will be able to be treated on beds rather than before when they were being treated on the floor.” (Hospital beds)

“Sick patients who have been carried when brought to hospital will be able to be put in these wheelchairs.”

“The eye glasses have been distributed to many old people with sight problems and they have been given a new chance to see again. These will last them for years and new hope for them.”

Clothing for vulnerable people:

“Most of the people in our community or village have dressed in second hand clothes and some have been putting on clothes which are worn out with holes but this time, the shipment Crossroads sent us had new clothes which were given to all the community members from babies to the old people.”

“Some of our members have even dropped tears of joy when receiving these goods as they cannot believe that the goods were given to us free of charge by people who don’t know us but care so much about the needy.”

Recreational goods for youth:

“Without this donation from Crossroads, I as a coach would never have got this chance to dress my teams in sports uniform and I would never have got this chance to train my sports students with this sports equipment we have received. Thank you Crossroads.”

“From all the people here, please allow me to say a BIG THANK YOU.”

Uganda: Care for young children at risk

Care for young children at risk

When Florence, of Uganda, used to travel to school as a young girl, her heart would break to see tiny children left alone on the streets, or carried around with their mother while she worked. “It kept me wondering if it was a kind of imprisonment,” Florence reflects, “robbing children of their right to play.”

Now many years later, Florence has realised her dream of opening a day care for children like the ones she saw on the streets. Instead of wandering on their own or being locked up at home while their mothers worked long, difficult hours, these little ones now have the chance to play and learn in a safe and stimulating environment.

Sadly, though, she realized that once children were graduating day care at 3, she would too often see them back on the streets idle during the day while parents were at work. It was only once her NGO received Crossroads’ shipment, filled with school materials, toys, furniture and other things, that Florence could successfully open the next stage of their work, a preschool for 3-5 year olds.

Crossroads’ goods are now benefitting the day care, preschool, nearby youth centres, a health centre and the impoverished families of school children.

“Now we have expanded to a Kindergarten section to help 3-5 year olds because we have all the materials to run school classes. All this was prompted by your generous donations.”

Florence commented that the quality of the furniture in the shipment, such as the beds, chairs and table, was superior to anything she could source locally, and that many of the toys and school materials aren’t available in Uganda at all. She estimates that the furniture, school supplies and uniforms alone saved the organisation US$17,000 out of their budget.

There is no doubt that this shipment has made an impact on the lives of young children in this part of Uganda. We are so grateful to all involved in making it possible.

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Uganda: New hope for the fatherless

Kato doesn’t know why his parents abandoned him. They left their home in rural Uganda one day in 2009, bound for the capital, and simply never came back. Overnight, the little boy was left completely alone, seemingly forgotten by the world and by those who should have cared for him most.

When local aid workers discovered Kato, he was homeless and 12 years old. “He had no food, no clothing, or shelter,” they told us. They brought Kato to their orphanage where he started school, and today, he’s one of their success
stories. “He’s very happy and so bright,” wrote the staff. “He’s the school football team’s goalkeeper and he wants to be a professional footballer! We treat him like our son.”

Kato’s journey from abandoned, frightened little boy, to an educated teenager with such mighty dreams, is repeated over and over with the children at this home. To date they have reached 680 children with shelter, education and love, helping them grow to thriving, contributing adults.

Crossroads shipped to Kato’s orphanage, including goods like a huge amount of school equipment, play equipment and supplies, even uniforms and sports goods for Kato’s soccer team, but also goods for their offices, the local medical clinics and the secondary school. “This shipment has changed us for the better,” they said. “The things we would have done in five to ten years, we are now going to achieve within two years.

We are going to save over US $27,000. This money will help us build more classrooms, pay our staff, treat the sick children as well as buy more land for our future projects. Some of our members shed tears of joy when receiving these goods as they could not believe that the goods were given to us free of charge by people who don’t know us but care so much.”

Sponsor a shipment

You can be part of changing the lives of children like Kato. Email partnerships@crossroads.org.hk for a selection of shipments currently awaiting sponsorship.

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Donate to a shipment like this one.

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Uganda Snapshot

Population: 37.58 million
Capital: Kampala

Uganda is a fertile, land-locked country in East Africa, in the Africa Great Lakes region, with a tropical climate.

Great progress has been made in fighting HIV in Uganda, but 1.5 million people still live with the disease, and there are 1 million children orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

39% of girls are married by the age of 18. 37.7% of people in Uganda live below the international poverty line of US$1.25/day.

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