The long awaited roof for the Amasiko street children home has arrived which means we should be on schedule for the building construction. The University of Ljubljana team are heading for the finish line and will win without a doubt! No team could deserve this more after all their hard work of the past year, and the last eight weeks in particular.

Once the building work has finished then the hard work for the Alongside Africa Uganda team begins; firstly preparing the centre so it can be open for children, this includes furnishing it, providing bedding, catering equipment and making it a good living space for the street children.

Then the running costs and, critically, ensuring the financial sustainability of the centre, in partnership with Alongside Africa in the UK. It is challenging for a start but we are in awe of our achievement of the centre construction in such a short time. We are grateful to The University of Ljubljana team all the way from Slovenia, our donors and supporters thus far.

If you can help us by donating a small amount each month, then please click here for giving options, no amount is too small.

Halfway through the last week of building the sprint to the finish continues – it’s a three-way race between the amazing team from the University of Ljubljana, the rain and the flight home next Tuesday!

The big factor remains the roof which has still not arrived but has been promised for delivery on Thursday evening. If it arrives on time Team University of Ljubljana are favorites to win, but the three days it will take to install means that any delay increases the odds on the flight home winning by a short head, whilst the dark horse is the rain, which is due and could strike at any time.

It’s nail biting stuff, but our money is still on Team University of Ljubljana

Today the roof trusses went up on the kitchen, the concrete was poured for the front veranda and some of the drainage area and more of the doors were hung. Tomorrow work will begin on installing the perimeter fence, which will help to secure the site.

Keep tuned in for more updates!

The Alongside Africa Uganda team were required to step in to prevent a tragedy yesterday and did so, with the help of a partner organisation, in fine style.

Last week I found three brothers, dirty, disheveled and dressed in rags collecting rubbish on the streets of Kabale.  I led them to the Amasiko Drop-In Centre and handed them over to the care of Peace, the centre manager.  Peace immediately took matters in hand and helped them to get clean, providing them with new clothes and much needed tender loving care.  As they settled into the centre over the next couple of days, supported by Ellese and Judith (volunteer and intern), Peace was able to ascertain some of their history.

The three brothers, aged roughly 12, 10 and 6, lived with their destitute father who was unable to provide for them or send them to school.  It soon became apparent that the situation was more urgent than we had first thought as we found scars on the bodies of the children and they came to the centre with fresh wounds each day after being beaten nightly by the father.

Following a discussion with the local Child Protection Officer we undertook a visit to the home of the brothers on Friday.  We found that the father was mentally unstable, reportedly due to a life of drug abuse, and the neighbours confirmed the daily severe beatings of the children.    Clearly the brothers were at serious risk.  I had a further meeting with the Child Protection Officer in the afternoon, who was as concerned as we were, but who had no available resources to help protect the children.

On Saturday morning, praying and hoping that the children had all survived the night, the AAU team had convened an urgent management meeting with the aim of getting the children to a place of safety.  We knew of a centre in town, the Shepherd’s Centre, that took in young male street children so we phoned the manager, Patrick, and arranged to meet.  Patrick was very willing to help and he had one spare room available, but no beds, but this was a restriction we could overcome.  Splitting forces two of our team went shopping for a bunk bed, mattresses and other supplies whilst I traveled with Peace and Ellese to find the children and buy clothing and shoes.

 

We found the youngest of the brothers at the father’s house but the middle brother had left for town early in the morning and the eldest had not slept at home the night before because of fear of the father.  We spent a couple of hours searching all over town looking for the two brothers, but they eventually arrived of their own accord at the Amasiko centre.  Ellese and Peace took them shopping for clothes, shoes and sandals, then George was eventually able to deliver them to the Shepherds Centre around 5pm.

It was a very long, stressful and tiring day for everyone concerned, but thanks to a dedicated team and the ability of partners to work together the three brothers are now safe.

 

If you are able to help us by supporting the Amasiko Street Children programme please click here – a regular donation of just £2 a week (or more) will help Amasiko become sustainable and help us to bring more children like these to safety.