HOHO OVERVIEW

Since 2013, a young newly qualified teacher Jessica Holland, who had spent time teaching in the area, began supporting educational projects in Kanungu District, South West Uganda in partnership with the Anglican Diocese of Kinkiizi. School programmes were started in four local primary and secondary schools in the area, including subsidizing the fees of the neediest children in schools, individual sponsorship of children in vocational training or further education, infrastructure projects including the building and refurbishment of classroom blocks and the purchase of school equipment for science, maths and PE.

In 2017, a new project was identified as being essential to the area, as the number of destitute children was increasing due to HIV infection, poverty an

PROJECT OUTLINE

Hope House will be built in the larger village of Kambuga, on land given by the Diocese of Kinkiizi to enable the building of a foster home for children; to provide a stable and secure place for orphaned, needy and special needs children to live and be cared for.

The land has now been donated by the Diocese and gifted to the Charity trustees. The process for the construction of the Girls’ dormitory block commenced in September 2018. The home will house 30+ children until they have reached maturity and are trained in skills that will enable them to have a successful adulthood.

Their educational and health needs will be funded by the project and key workers will be employed to live with and care for these children to enable them a good childhood and future. The home will consist of 2 spacious dormitories (male and female) with internal bathroom and toilet facilities and separate staff sleeping quarters, a large living and dining space, kitchen, play area, gardens, animal house, administration block, class room/nursery, storage block, latrine, wash house, staff accommodation and guest houses.

In addition, it will have solar electricity and be connected to the local grid powered by hydro power and have connected water as well as having access to the local water supply that will need to be renovated and improved. The local supply is located on the donated land and will be fenced off for security. There is also enough land to plant and grow crops and house chickens, goats and cows in order to help feed the children and staff and grow “cash crops” i.e. tea/coffee/bananas that are sold to local markets and factories to help the project become self-sustaining.

Phase one of the projects, being the house and essential buildings will ideally be completed by the end of 2019/early 2020 with Phase Two, guest houses, admin block and classroom being completed by 2022 or as funding allows.

There are three groups of children that have been identified as most needy in the local area:

Orphans and Double Orphans are children who have lost one or two parents and there are no other family relatives or neighbours that are willing to accept them to live with them. This category of children are often left homeless, sleeping in the bush and begging for food, or forced into labour for very little or no wages. They are also at risk from being trafficked or invited, in the case of young girls, to live with a man where they are likely to be sexually abused in return for shelter. These groups of children would receive no education or protection and would likely not reach adulthood. Those that did, would be illiterate and not able to escape poverty. Hope House would provide a safe place for them to live and be educated, reducing their risk and making sure they have a future.

Special Needs Children are the hidden children in Uganda, being abused and neglected because of their additional needs or disabilities. They never attend school or nursery and are very rarely seen in public, where if they are, are shunned and despised – often being treated very badly. Babies born disabled are often abandoned at birth. There are no schools that are adapted to cope with additional needs and only 2 facilities in the whole of Uganda that care for the most seriously disabled. Hope House would endeavour to care for the needs of these children, provide education and care and educate the local community that special children are just that – especially cared for and valued and worthy of their place in their community. We would work with the local primary school, who we already have good relations with, to ensure that these children could be accepted at school and helped to learn to the best of their ability, or be educated and cared for at the home if the school were not able to meet their needs.

Child Mums are young girls, some as young as 9 or 10, that become pregnant either through sexual abuse (often by a family member), experimentation by an older teenage boy or as a result of some men being told by local village healers that having sexual intercourse with a child will cure them from HIV or AIDS. This results in these girls being abandoned by their families, sent away and/or giving birth to a child alone. Hope House would look to provide a safe refuge for these girls and their babies, provide the girls with education and teach them how to care for their babies. Provide health and maternity care for them, reducing the risks of childbirth through correct medical attention and stabilising any ongoing medical needs that they may have contracted (HIV/STI’s). The girls and their babies would live at Hope House, provided with schooling and training until they were able to find employment as adults and learn to care for their children.

EDUCATION & LEARNING

The resident children will attend Kambuga Primary School which is situated next to the proposed home and Kambuga Secondary school which is approximately half a mile from the home location from the age of 3-16 and then offered vocational training in nursing, technology or other learned skills at local colleges within the district. They will also be taught the skills needed to be independent adults and receive training in a trade of their choice before they are judged able to leave the home for work or further education.

Younger children will be encouraged to learn in a “nursery” style environment at HOHO. The project will also look to offer community educational classes in numeracy, literacy, life skills and health education from the HOHO site. Their health and other needs will all be met by the project as far as possible and they will be encouraged to join in local community projects, groups and faith gatherings. Volunteer local and overseas professionals will be invited to share their skills with the community.

The children who will live at HOHO will be included in the local community schools, churches or other places of worship and take part in appropriate community activities. Children from any ethnicity or faith group can be selected to live at HOHO.

PROJECT DELIVERY

YEAR ONE: Phase 1 will see the clearing, levelling, and construction of the main house – consisting of 2 dormitories with staff quarters and indoor bathroom and toilet facilities, and a living area. An outdoor kitchen and store room will be built and crops will be planted to help with the sustainability of the project.

Phase 2 of the project will commence with guest accommodation, staff accommodation, offices, meeting room, animal houses and a play area will be implemented.

YEARS TWO will see Phase 2 of the building continued and children being selected to come and live at Hope House. They will attend school if old enough and other needs addressed. The project will be run by local key workers and overseen by the Trustees of HOHO and the local Diocese of Kinkiizi. Up to 15 children will be allocated to the home in Year 2.

YEAR THREE will see the completion of all building work and up to another 30 children being allocated to the home. Small-scale social projects will also be implemented i.e. mums’ meet up, literacy and numeracy projects for children and adults, after-school programmes, community meals etc. The trustees would also like to look at setting up a “food bank” scheme, which are common in the UK to see if a similar style project can be implemented in the local area – supporting families with the help of donations by other members of the community.

FINANCING/FUNDRAISING

The trustees have currently raised approx. £15,000 for the commencement of Phase One and are looking at other fundraising opportunities. Much funding and donations are being sought from other charities, trusts, business and individuals. The total cost of the project will be approximately £60,000 for the building work and then running costs of approximately £5,000 for the first 5 years, reducing each year after that as the project becomes self-financing through local sustaining projects in agriculture, animal rearing and income generation. It is estimated that the project will be self-reliant after 10 years of running.

NATIONAL POLICIES & PRIORITIES

Hope House will be registered with the Ugandan Government as an NGO and comply to all national and regional policies regarding the running of the project.

UK child protection policy will be strictly adhered to.

UK trustees and the committee will adhere to national policies.

All overseas visitors will be DBS checked by Hope House before travelling to volunteer at the house.