To live in a loving, warm, and stable home is every child’s dream. Housing stability for children allows them the opportunity to concentrate on their general growth activities including receiving an all round education in which they can purposefully take the time needed to study and envision a bright future.
But for many children in Lyantonde, this may well not be the case. Mr. Timothy, the Probation Social Welfare Officer Lyantonde District(PSWO) says that the homelessness of children and the fact that they are often abandoned in poor conditions early on by their mothers, is deep rooted in Lyantonde’s high rate of gross child rights violations with Incest, Teenage pregnancies and alot more vices causing mothers to abandon their children and more, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For children like Hamida, mothers leave due to stress and their fathers cannot do the bare minimum to help them survive. Let’s take a look at Hamida’s story;
Rukundo Hamida is 13 years old, and was born in Karubanda, Masha sub county, Isingiro District. At the age of 7, her mother left her with her two young siblings. Hamida’s father was a casual worker but an alcoholic. The alcoholism prevented him from adequately caring for his family. As a result, Hamida was forced to become the primary caregiver for her siblings and father .
In 2019, Hamida approached the director of God’s care primary school seeking educational assistance. Following their conversation she was admitted into school. In 2020, the school director visited Hamida’s home only to find that the house was too old, about to fall down and with holes. He realized that the children’s lives were greatly at risk from animals, intruders and bad weather.
The Director approached Pastor Herbert Amanya and narrated Hamida’s ordeal. He was touched and paid a visit to Hamida and her siblings. He could not hold back the tears in his eyes and the pain in his heart.
In Jan 2020, the construction of the children’s house began. It’s a 4 bed-roomed house with a kitchen, bathroom and toilet. The house has a commercial room so that the father is able to start up a business to enable him to provide for his family’s daily needs.
And like Hamida, many more children can have a fair chance at life and a promise of education if we put our hearts and minds together to make it happen. Herbert Amanya Ministries is committed to continuing this work and with your help, we can support children in Lyantonde and hopefully even implore the policy makers to turn focus into economic development for the men and women in this community to forge a better and stable lifestyle for their families moving forward.