Promoting Dignity: HIV Support for Uganda
The HIV epidemic in Uganda has left more than 1 million children orphaned. In some cases, elderly grandparents take up their care, but, for many, it is older children who are suddenly thrust into responsibility as heads of households.
Crossroads’ shipment to partners in the Bogosa region, Eastern Uganda, was hand-tailored to serve as a ‘bridge’ for support community strategies to bring relief from poverty.
Capital Investment
Crossroads’ goal for this shipment, as for all, was to make a capital investment in the lives of those in need, not with finance, but with a strategic injection of goods to equip initiatives that will multiply themselves in years to come.
“Your support is a huge investment in the future of our nation.”
Just imagine the number of people who are going to be influenced through the items you’ve donated. When you set up an institution, you solidify a movement.” It was, they said, in keeping with their motto: “Promoting Dignity.”
Medical equipment from Crossroads has revolutionised care at this rural health centre. For the first time, they can offer diabetes and blood pressure tests and have totally upgraded their level of care: “We can now offer inpatient services where clients are hospitalised on proper hospital beds,” they wrote.
“We can give better handling of critical patients with these trolleys. People are flocking to the centre for medical services!”
Mbale, who is reaching out to these street children in a unique way: through music! By taking children from the streets into their centre and teaching them how to play music, it gives them something which is beyond price: confidence and a positive self-image. Since starting less than 10 years ago, they have seen hundreds of children pass through their programmes, many going on to reunite with their families, and some even securing jobs as music teachers around the country. The band makes some money from performances, which allows the children to afford a basic living away from the street.
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.
When Gerald was only 10, both his parents died, leaving him in the care of his 16-year-old sister. Gerald, not yet a teenager, started selling cocaine to make enough money to survive and to go to school. Gerald’s sister found her ‘escape’ by leaving home and marrying quickly, and young, which left Gerald completely alone, living in a 2-bedroomed grass hut that was in disrepair and falling down around him.
Life changed for Christine and the 8 little ones when a shipment arrived from Crossroads, filled with goods donated from Hong Kong. Our partners in Uganda came into contact with Christine and her family and were able to give her some of the very things she needed most: mosquito nets, new plates, cups and cooking utensils, toys, clothes and games for the children and, most importantly, uniforms and stationery so that they can return to school.
It wasn’t only impoverished families like Christine’s that benefited from the shipment. Goods from this container were used to invest in community schools and health centres. At one clinic, some patients were sleeping on the floor because the number of beds was insufficient. Now, beds from Crossroads mean that more patients can be treated and served in comfort and safety.
School furniture from Crossroads’ shipment means that now, not only can they sit at desks and chairs each day for more effective learning and concentration, but the school has been upgraded to an exam facility! This means children no longer have to travel to a different village for exams but can sit them at their own school.
