God has called us to meet the needs

of individuals and communities that

are hurting. GCC projects are meant

to present the wholesome love of

Christ without discrimination based on

color, religion or race.

 SPECIAL NEEDS FOR ORPHANS AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN NAMENGO-LUGAZI

MANY OF OUR FAMILIES ARE POOR

We the children are concerned about the many families that are poor. We know that poor

Families cannot take good care of us. Because there is no support at home, children drop out of school. When children get sick, they stay at home and do not get treatment. Poverty has also led to a lot of misunderstandings in the families. Because some of our parents are idle, they take alcohol all day long. At home, our fathers fight with our mothers all the time, leading to separation in the families. Children are neglected; and as a result, they leave home and go to the streets to beg money. Some children are forced to leave school to work in order to support themselves and their families. Girls are also forced into prostitution in order to support themselves and their families. In some families, children must work to help pay for the family debt. All these things lead to poverty, in which many children in Uganda live today.

We the children therefore request:

·         Parents to stop drinking a lot of alcohol, which brings poverty in the family and causes fighting between parents; divorce and child neglect;

·         Parents to avoid behaviors that could lead to their own death; leaving children without anyone to support then;

·         Parents to work hard and plan carefully fore their families in order to avoid having debts all the time;

·         Parents to take their responsibility to provide for their families;

·         Government to provide food to families during periods of famine;

·         Government to punish those people who sacrifice children;

·         Government to pay for children’s fees and for other school requirements to help poor families who cannot afford including secondary school.

MANY PARENTS ARE NOT ABLE TO PAY FOR THEIR CHILDREN’S NEEDS AT SCHOOL

We the children are happy with the introduction of free primary education. We also know that many of us are not able to go to school because parents do not have enough money to pay for things children need at school such as school uniform, books and pens. Children, whose parents or guardians do not have money to pay for the school development fund or fore their children s’ needs at school, are always sent away. Lack of money to go school has also forced many girls to get married at an early age.

To support all children to have an education, we the children request:

·         Government to support very needy children, who cannot afford school requirements, through bursaries;

·         Government and other organizations to continue reminding parents about their responsibilities and the importance of their children’s education;

·         Parents to have fewer children, whom they can look after very well.

MANY CHILDREN STILL DO NOT GET GOOD EDUCATION

We the children have the following concerns. Some teachers are always absent from school, making children to miss lessons and making it hard for children to complete the syllabus. Some schools do not have enough teachers. You find one teacher has to teach more than sixty children in a class. Some of the teachers are not even qualified to teach. Some teachers come to school when they are drunk and instead of teaching, they abuse children. A number of teacher s walk long distances to get to school and therefore arrive in classrooms when they are already tired to teach. Some schools do not have senior female teachers or matrons and girls in those schools cannot discuss female matters concerning them with male teachers. As a result, many girls drop out of school. Some do not have enough classrooms, chairs and tables and children end up learning under trees. During bad weather, children miss their classes. Many other schools do not have textbooks for teachers and children to use. Some children have to walk a long distance to school every day and during rainy season, children miss class because of floods.

To help children get better education, we the children ask:

·         Government to punish teachers who come to school when they are drunk and abuse children.

·         Government to increase teacher’s to make them do their work well;

·         Government to construct more classrooms for primary and secondary schools around the country;

·         Government to provide schools with enough and qualified teachers;

·         Government to provide poor children joining secondary schools with free secondary education.

·         Government should post female teachers in all schools

·         Government should provide houses for teachers near school so that they do not walk and reach school when they are too tired to teach

·         Government should provide schools with required tables, chairs and textbooks

MANY CHILDREN ARE STILL NOT ABLE TO GET GOOD

We thank the government for immunization children against diseases such as TB, measles, polio and tetanus but many children under the age of five still suffer and die from diseases that can be prevented. When there is no medicine in the hospital, doctors tell sick people to go and buy the medicine from somewhere else. But many parents are too poor and do not have money to buy medicine fore their children and because of this, many children do not get treatment. Some families take their children to traditional doctors for cheaper medicine. In other cases, doctors or nurses are not present to treat children. Some of the doctors come late after treating patients in their own clinics. There are also a few health centers that make walk very long distances for treatment.

To make sure that all children get good health services. We request:

·         Government to send well trained doctors and nurses in hospital and health centers in the country;

·         Government to build more health centres so that people do not walk long distances to get treatment;

·         Government to pay good salaries to doctors, nurses and other people working in the hospitals and health centers to make them work in the villages and other places far from town

·         Government to build houses for doctors and nurses so that they can stay near the health centers and attend to patients at any time.

·         Government to send away medical workers, who are use patient’s medicine for their own benefit, and take them to court;

POOR HYGIENE AND LACK OF SAFE DRINKING WATER

In a number of communities in rural areas, there is poor hygiene around water sources. Some schools do not have enough pit latrines for both pupils and teachers. Other schools have no separate latrines or toilets and bathing shelters for girl. Lack of clean water poor sanitation has led to the spread of water related diseases such as tyohoid, cholera and dysentery. As children go out to look for clean water, they are kidnapped; girls are sometimes attacked and raped. For example, seven girls in Apiopri primary school in Chawente Sub-county in APac district were sexually abused in 2009. And this was due to the long distances they had to walk to fetch water.

To improve the conditions children live in, we the children ask:

Government to provide schools and communities with more clean water sources to protect children and others from contracting water borne diseases;