From 2010 to 2013, we’ve been supporting the Another Hope orphanage, and when our currently running fund-raisers have completed, we’ll consider helping them extend their programs further. So far we’ve supported them with a new building so that their rent budget can directly benefit the children instead, and with a guest house that now generates additional income for the orphanage, income they can spend to cover such expenses as medical bills and school fees for the children.

Another Hope has sent us the latest figures on the current extend of their service to their region of Uganda. In total, they are regularly serving 142 children with 35 children living in the orphanage.

The services they provide to those children that do not permanently live in the orphanage are many-fold. Most children are in need of bed sheets and blankets, which they provide for them; for some children they pay the school fees or provide learning materials; and often their service is one that targets the parents instead by teaching them entrepreneurship skills and management of money when they have a chance to start a small business of their own. Finally they also often protect children who are in danger from their own parents or guardians. In cases where children’s rights were violated, they get the police or probation officers involved and, if necessary, protect them until they are old enough to lead independent lives.

The number of children who live in the orphanage fluctuates since they also take care of children the police has freed from kidnappers, and they always try to return these children to their families as quickly as possible.

In Uganda, abducted children often have to serve as forced laborers or even as sacrificial offerings. The BBC has produced a documentary on the topic of how so-called traditional healers exploit widespread superstitions to promise affluence or recovery from AIDS to those who pay them to conduct a child sacrifice. A special task force of the Ugandan police is constantly investigating new leads in their fight against this nation-wide network of witch doctors, and whenever they are successful in rescuing children, they rely on orphanages like Another Hope to care for them until they can be reunited with their families. Unfortunately, it is Another Hope’s experience that this task force is greatly underfunded, so the responsibility for finding the families and returning the child to them usually delegated to Another Hope. Especially in cases where the children can’t remember or describe their home (due to their young age or a mental disability) this search can be a long and ardurous one.

We don’t currently have an active project to support Another Hope, but please turn to their own website if you would like to support them monitarily. They are also gladly accepting volunteers who would like to help out at the orphanage. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact them directly.