Munkaga Orphanage appeal

In UK:

8 Woodlands

Huntingdon

PE29 6JQ

In Uganda:

P.O. Box 47

Mbale

Uganda

ugive2uganda1@aol.com

www.ugive2uganda.org

0780 193 0404 (UK)

00256 7731 46983 (Uganda)

I’m not a supporter of orphanages! As a general rule it is far better for a child who loses his or her parents to be brought up by their extended family. It’s obvious that in most cases it is less disturbing for a child to be cared for by an uncle, aunt or grandparents than to be moved from familiar surroundings to a strange home.

But in Uganda, like many other countries in the developing world, the ideal way isn’t always the realistic way. Some children are raised in areas where there are no immediate family members. In some cases the parents have moved many miles from their home village – perhaps for work or other reasons. In these circumstances it’s not easy for a child to suddenly return to their original village where nobody knows them. Quite often relatives have large families of their own and are desperately trying to provide food for their own children. The last thing they need is another mouth to feed.

It’s obvious that if children don’t grow up in a caring and loving environment they often end up going down the wrong path and that this can lead to the sorts of social problems that you might expect - crime, sexual promiscuity, and so on.

I’m the founder of a UK registered charity called ugive2uganda. Our small charity delivers a variety of aid and support in the Mbale area in the east of Uganda but my main focus for 2010 is the construction and development of a childrens orphanage in Munkaga, a village near the town of Mbale in eastern Uganda.

Since the 1^st September 2007 I’ve been living in Uganda and have seen for myself the desperate circumstances that many children live in and the need for an orphanage for those that have no future after they have been abandoned.

Many orphaned children have their own tales of hardship and struggle. My cover photo features Caroline and her brother and grandfather. When I met them earlier this year they had just sold their only blanket for food. Caroline’s parents have died and I worry what will happen to her and her brother when the grandfather dies. He’s 76 years old and not in the best of health. There are no relatives nearby and sometimes, in these circumstances, youngsters without a guardian can easily be left to fend for themselves and become ‘street children’. There are already many such children in Mbale town.

Offering a child a place in an orphanage is not to be taken lightly. Not only do the carers take responsibility for the day to day welfare of the child but also have an obligation to nurture them and teach them morals and values. So it is a challenging project to establish an orphanage but one that is hugely worthwhile. There is great enthusiasm for this project amongst our local communities and I’m very keen to ensure that children without hope have a place that offers them security and love. Through our own efforts we’ve been able to purchase a half-acre plot of land in Munkaga just outside Mbale town. So now I’m appealing for funds to enable us to construct a building and create a place where children can thrive and are cared for. The total cost of the orphanage is likely to be around £8,000.

If you can help in any way please contact me by phone in Uganda on 00256 7731 46983, or by post or email at ugive2uganda1@aol.com. Or see my website at www.ugive2uganda.org, especially the Newsletters.

Thank you for your support.

Philip Monk

Founder - ugive2uganda

Ugive2uganda