Welcome to the Rakai District of Southern Uganda:
While visiting Rakai recently, I had an opportunity to walk in the hills just north of the Tanzania border. This is a beautiful area which reminded me of the Okanagan near my home in British Columbia Canada. My doctor friend was visiting some families to help with health issues and I went along to see the work they do.
Meet some very needy children!
This is the most amazing beautiful place … but in the midst of the beauty were children who were neglected, infested with parasites, shivering, and almost naked. These children were living in the worst home situation I have ever seen. Even worse than the refugee camps I have been in.
Our friend Dan Douglas (a doctor), cleaned the kids up and treated their Jiggers. Jiggers are painful to have as they burrow into the children like ticks and then live off the flesh and lay eggs.
Jiggers have to be cut out. The kids get them from the mud because they have no shoes. In bad cases, the Jiggers get into their feet, back, bottom, and other places. As these homes have outdoor open pit toilets, the wet soil around the toilet is often a perfect place for the Jiggers to infest and find hosts.
This community of about 20 families is very poor and these specific kids were also in a bad home situation which complicated things even more. These kids dad was dead and the mother was not around. There were older siblings but they were not caring for the little ones.
This specific house had about 16 people living in two rooms. All ages were represented here, from a few years old to teens which leads me to suspect these little ones actually face many issues. A lack of care and clothing is an immediate issue for them.
This family is not an isolated situation in this community. Many of the children here are in need of care and clothing.
What can we do about this?
Terry and I, Patrick (a Ugandan) two Courtney & Miki (from the US), and Rod (from Australia) are heading back to Rakai as soon as possible and will try to provide shoes and clothes for each child there. Hopefully they will each get a pair of sandals, a pair of pants, a shirt, and a pair of underwear.
We have arranged to have a medical team come with us who will address any medical issues while we clean up the kids and dress them in clothes.
We expect that local church leaders will provide follow up support to this community.
What will it cost to help these children?
We have a budget of $10 US for each child for the entire outfit. These won't be fancy threads, but they will address the basic need. To outfit each of the estimated 80 children here, we will need to raise $800 US.
Our actual fund raising target is $1100 US so that we can also cover the cost of a few meds. Children recovering from Jiggers will need some ointments and antibiotics to protect them against infection.
Please partner with us!
As we don't have an income at this time, Terry and I don't actually have $1100 US to do this work. We can't just leave these kids to try and survive however, so we invite you to contribute something to help them. Donations small and large will add up quickly to change circumstances for these children.
Perhaps you have a friend who would find the story compelling and might contribute as well. This could be a great relationship builder in your workplace, school, or nieghborhood.
You are able to donate immediately using PayPal or your Credit Card right here on this page.
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Canadian supporters can also donate through Children Arise and recieve a tax reciept. To donate through Children Arise ONLINE HERE or by sending your cheque to the following address:
Rakai Community Children Project
Children Arise
6021 West Saanich Road
Victoria, BC, Canada
V9E-2G4
