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Uganda - A shelter for pregnant girls
The number of young mothers has increased in the past ten years. This is due to the increase of HIV/AIDS female orphans who are not cared for by their guardians. These young girls look for false love, get pregnant and are abandoned by their sexual partners. There are many factors contributing to the increase of young mothers but this is high on the list. There is also the free distributing of condoms which prompts young boys and girls to have sex even when not knowing how to use them. And of course the condoms are not as 100% safe as most of the young girls think.
The troubles of the North of Uganda have left many girls homeless and they find themselves being used by the soldiers, rebels or "sympathisers" who give money and so expect to sleep with them. These become young mothers and are helpless. This makes me weep inside because there is little or no help for such mothers in this part of our country.
Most of us do not know how to relate to girls who get pregnant out of wedlock, worst of all when they are our daughters and bring shame to our family. Many of us pass harsh judgment on them. We have no mercy, we say, “Didn't they do wrong!” What would Jesus do? Love them. And it is this love that will turn their lives around.
Ten years ago, when I was the Namirembe Diocesan Mothers' Union President, I realised the need to offer counselling services especially for mothers and daughters in the Diocese. Starting in the Mothers' Union office, it soon became apparent that another place would be needed. I am glad to say that now a larger house, which can accommodate 20 girls at any one time with counselling rooms, has been acquired. This centre is under the auspices of Youth for Christ Uganda which is affiliated to Youth for Christ International.
Uganda has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 4000 pregnant girls have come to the centre over the last ten years hoping they can be helped to procure an abortion. This is a Christian organisation that does not support abortion. Many of the girls think abortion is simply getting rid of a pregnancy. They do not know the details and when they discover them they usually keep the pregnancy. They are then given an option of staying at the centre if their parents will not let them stay at home. A few, however, still want an abortion and they go off to get it somewhere else. Unfortunately, there have been a number who come to the centre for post-abortion counselling, who are suffering from the psychological and emotional effects of having an abortion. Abortion is illegal in Uganda.
The centre has a warden who stays at the house with the girls and counsellors who talk to them and try to help them through this difficult time. The pregnant girls are welcome to stay until they have the baby and during this time their parents are contacted and talked to. During their stay, they are trained in skills such as cookery and tailoring. Those who return home and cannot go back to school are welcome to continue this training. The centre has also started a new programme of finding sponsors and raising funds to pay school fees for those who want to go back to school. Our centre is charitable with free counselling and other services, and our support is from churches and individuals, mainly from outside our country.
These girls are shown the love and the gospel of Jesus Christ is shared with them and some of them accept Jesus as their Saviour. Most of the girls have been through hard times and it is not their fault. Some have been raped while others were taken advantage of. The challenge to parents is to love your children unconditionally, for we have found out that love changes lives and it will change them!
HIV/AIDS - Amigos Project
When my wife's cousin Joy was diagnosed with AIDS in 1994, little did we know then that ten years later we would be running a small charity helping to care for the many orphans this pandemic is leaving behind. Joy worked as a missionary nurse/midwife in Zimbabwe for 20 years: her death impacted on us as a family, but the realties of AIDS didn't seem to register until we had the opportunity to visit Africa and experience the devastation first-hand.
Amigos International came about as a result of visiting Tanzania and Uganda and seeing so many children orphaned by one of the biggest human disasters the world has ever experienced. The UN predicts that the number of children orphaned as a result of AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa will plateau at around 40 million by 2030. These children are mainly affected and not infected by the HIV virus: the majority will survive, though around 10% may die of AIDS.
By and large Africa's vast number of children are hungry to learn, knowing full well that their future depends on having an education. Over the past three years, the Amigos Project has been helping Ugandans feed, house and educate around 150 children in the Makindye area of Kampala, Uganda. We fund a junior school/orphanage facility and last year added a secondary school. Working with the Ugandan Government, we have put together a training farm project for 2004 that will cover all aspects of farming and vocational training, teaching new and resourceful skills and techniques for AIDS orphans and poverty-stricken young people from all over Uganda. It will eventually be self-sustaining, mainly from the incubation and sale of around 10,000 chicks per week. We hope to be able to train 50 to 100 students per year and help them start up their own chicken projects as well as giving them opportunities to learn other practical skills. In turn, this will help improve and enrich the local communities in which they live. Our aim is to equip each student with not only a basic education in reading, writing and maths, but also biblical principles, chicks or seeds and/or vocational tools including computers, sewing machines, typewriters, carpentry, metalworking, mechanics, plumbing, building and leatherworking.
We believe that the Church has a vital role to play in bringing hope and a future to these vulnerable children.
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