Uganda has been described as the Pearl of Africa. However, in this beautiful land, there are a number of harmful cultural practices that make it a place no child would want to live in. As the third series of the Tumaini Awards is launched, ANDREW MASINDE visited Kyenjojo district, where HIV/AIDS prevalence is high and taking a toll on the children.Bring Hope to the Family (BHTF) is an organisation, which is trying to help the children out of the situation.
Kyenjojo is one of the districts with a high HIV/AIDS prevalence. Some people did not know where to go for treatment and they gave up hope for life, resulting to many deaths.
Consequently a number of children were orphaned, resulting in more child-headed families. Many girls ended up in early marriages because they did not have parents to support them.
Faith Kunihira, who was born in Kaihura county in Kyenjojo, was touched after seeing what the orphans were going through.
Having grown up in a very poor home, Kunihira empathised with these children and felt the need to support them. She started by looking for aid from well wishers, to support the children, but failed.
Kunihira decided to take every child who was living on their own to her mud-and-wattle house.
Bringing hope to the families:
Eventually, in 2000, she set up Bring Hope to the Family (BHTF), a faith-based organisation at Kaihura trading centre in Kyenjojo. It serves orphans and vulnerable children in the communities of Kyenjojo, Kabarole, Kibale and Kamwenge districts.
Like its name, the organisation has transformed the lives of orphans, widows, people living with HIV and the destitute.
BHTF advocates child safety and protection of children from harmful practices such as child labour, child sacrifice, early marriages and domestic violence
This has been through sensitisation of parents and community members through radio talk shows and community visits All children have the right to be protected from any form of discrimination and unfair treatment or punishment, regardless of the child's race, religion, family status, culture, sex and whether the child has physical disability.
Updated at E-society Kyenjojo
