Charity Helping South Sudanese Women & Children Rebuilt Their Lives
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“Now I am a human,” said Beatrice, when I asked her about her life now compared to before she received her first loan of Sh150,000 (about $55) from Hope Ofriha in 2008. Beatrice is a refugee from South Sudan who escaped during the country’s civil war in 1997 – first to Kenya, then eventually settling in Kampala, Uganda. At first she sold vegetables in the local market, making very little money. She couldn’t afford to pay rent or to cover the school fees for her… Read More
Impoverished South Sudanese children in Uganda often become slaves to their new “families.” Some, especially the girls, are sexually or physically abused, and all of them are expected to work hard. Polly’s story is unique. In fact, it is common for South Sudanese refugees to live as squatters in slums in the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, often homeless. More than 1,000 children, most of them girls, have become “impoverished children” or “independent orphan children.” Their parents, too poor to feed, and educate their children, send them to live with… Read More
Lee Ben, the child of South Sudanese refugees, lives in Uganda with his grandmother. When his father disappeared in 2008, his mother began working three jobs to support her two children—as a night watchman at an industrial area, boda-boda (bicycle taxi driver), and gardener. She is currently attending a training program away from home to become a tailor. When she is done, she plans to open a tailor shop, so she can better support her children… Read More
Brian Lobene is the fifth in a family of five children. His refugee parents are too poor to pay for nutritious food for their five children, let alone school fees. Brian’s hungry stomach is bloated, the telltale sign of malnutrition in children. His parents move from place to place around Kampala begging for employment, but it is nearly impossible for uneducated refugees to find a good one. Please sponsor him, so he can go to boarding school, have regular nutritious meals, and escape a lifetime of poverty… Read More
Christine’s parents are South Sudanese refugees who fled to Uganda in 1997 to escape the civil war. The family settled in Nakawa Acholi, a slum in the outskirts of Kampala. Although, Christine, and her six siblings have been living with their parents, it was their aunt who was the family breadwinner until her death in May 2011. As largely uneducated refugees, both of her parents have had a hard time finding descent work. Right now, her elderly and frail father… Read More
When Annet’s father died in a LRA attacked in 2002, her mother supported her 10 children selling local breweries and bananas from land a kind Ugandan let them use. This good Samaritan died last year, however, and the family could no longer harvest and sell bananas. On March 30, they were evicted from the home they had been living in since 1997 because they had not paid rent in several months. Annet and her siblings are no longer attending school because… Read More
After both of her parents died, Polly and her two younger brothers and three younger sisters went to live in the Kakira slum outside of Kampala, Uganda. No family or friends stepped forward to care for the children. The children started a hair salon to generate income for school fees, house rent, and food. They didn’t have enough resources and training, however, to compete with other salons, so their business went under and they ended up homeless and hungry… Read More
After Saterina was orphaned, she moved to Kampala, Uganda, to live with her grandmother. When her grandmother died a few years later, she moved in with a Sudanese family headed by a single mother, mama Martha Ayaa. Mama Martha is barely able to support Saterina and her own seven children selling local breweries. Her hand-to-mouth enterprise doesn’t cover her household’s basic needs, and her own seven children do not go to school… Read More
Today, all eyes and thoughts are on Europe’s third largest Island best known for potatoes, Shamrocks, and the reason for the season: St. Patrick’s Day. It has, however, not always been all bliss for the country that produced the Saint of the day, St. Patrick, as mass starvation, disease, and emigration during the Potato famine coupled with decades of violence between Catholics and Protestants brought much civil unrest. Though St. Patrick’s Day is not that popular in Africa—save for Catholics attending Lent Mass, who take… Read More
Mathew needs your love and support to gain access to basic things, such as shoes, a bed with sheets and blankets, and an education. He lives with his mother and grandmother in the slum of Kajansjji, an outskirt of Kampala, Uganda, and will never attend school without finding a sponsor. Mathew’s father has been unable to find work locally and moved out of the area to work, when he can find it, on construction sites. Mathew’s grandmother and mother… Read More
Khasfa Achan is a partial orphan whose father died when she was a toddler. When her young mother married a second husband, she sent Khasfa to live with her grandparents. Her grandparents cannot afford to pay the school fees for all of their own children still living at home let alone their grandchild. Her grandfather is barely able to put food on the table working on and off as a carpenter. Khasfa is a very good student, loves science, and has so much potential… Read More
Our Uganda Education Project sends South Sudanese refugee children living in slums on the outskirt of Kampala city to school. Not only does the project pay their school fees and buy them school uniforms and books, it ensures the children are fed, clothed, and have access to medical care. The project is similar to our direct child sponsorship program, except it pools donations, allowing donors to give once or now and then without making a commitment. In 2010… Read More
Many South Sudanese women living as squatters in slums in the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda, are single mothers supporting three or more children—their own off-spring, the children of relatives, war orphans, or children separated from their families. Because jobs for unskilled and uneducated refugees are scarce, their best hope for supporting their families is creating and operating their own tiny enterprise. Without assets and referrals, however, these women cannot… Read More
Sudan’s long civil war left Margaret an orphan and a refugee. After both of her parents died, she and her three sisters went to live with her 77-year-old grandmother in a slum outside of Kampala, Uganda. Their grandmother, however, was too old and too poor to care for them. A family friend, Mama Rosa, has temporarily let Margaret and her three sisters move in with her and her own three children. Mama Rosa is a single mother who lost contact with her husband during the war… Read More
Jolly Achol is a South Sudanese refugee living in a slum near Kampala, Uganda. She has found a sponsor to help her go to school and reach her potential. Her sponsor’s monthly support will pay her school fees; provide her with food, clothes, and medical care; and prevent her from having to work petty jobs during school hours to help support her family. Access to malaria treatment is especially important for Jolly because malaria is endemic where she lives. She has come down with the… Read More
Thanks to kind support of our Uganda Microloans Project, Hope Ofiriha is pleased to announce that it has granted loan to ten (10) new additional women to start their income generating business. With their ability to generate income and save profits these women can better protect themselves and their children in areas of poverty, education, and heath. In the six months to come these women will invest in the education of their children by paying school fees through profits earn from their businesses. During the… Read More
Hope Ofiriha has granted a year scholarship to both Jolly Achol and Justine Okello to study at Rubaga Primary School in Uganda. There are 300 South Sudanese children living in slums on outskirt of Kampala on our waiting list. These children want to be at school but can’t afford the fees. Please visit our Keep Impoverished Refugees in School project page to learn more and make a donation.