The Need
In Uganda, particularly the Rwenzori region, children with disabilities are among the most
neglected groups and they and their families face enormous economic, political and social
barriers that have an adverse impact on their physical, social and intellectual development and wellbeing.
With very little access to education, suitable housing or employment, roughly 80% percent of
disabled young people in Uganda live in conditions of long term poverty. The situation is even
worse for young people with disabilities. As one of the most disadvantaged and marginalized
groups in the country, disabled people in Uganda not only struggle to survive financially but
their communities often ostracize them, their families do not always support them and they
often endure frequent abuse and discrimination from strangers and neighbours.
In the 2009/10 household survey of Uganda 12% of the population reported having a child aged 6-17 living with a disability. Many of these children do not have access to the most basic needs such as health services and education. In the same survey 60% of people with disabilities had not received any form of rehabilitation and 46% of people living with a disability over the age of 14 had difficulty finding employment due to their disability.
There is also a cultural and social stigma attached to families who have a child with a disability; they can be shunned by their own family and the community as people believe that a disability is contagious, a curse, witchcraft or a punishment from God for the sins of the parents. This isolation often causes increased family stress, financial burdens and a reluctance to seek help, often resulting in a disability becoming more debilitating, as it remains untreated.
The Idea
Ms Dorothy Muir, a special needs teacher in New Zealand, helped establish our foundation during a trip to Uganda in 2010 with the aid organization Tear Fund. An aid worker on the trip Daniel Baguma suggested the idea when Ms Muir described the work she did in New Zealand with disabled children, and she soon found herself agreeing to apply her skills in the African context. Ms Muir is listed as one of the founders of the Rwenzori Special Needs Foundation (RSNF). Ms Muir gave a personal input of $NZD 500 per month to help get the ball rolling, and to enable Daniel Baguma to begin the process of registering RSNF.
Rwenzori Special Needs Foundation is a registered as a Community based organisation in
Kabarole district in Uganda and it started in 2010. It is now led by Daniel Baguma as Project
Manager, and its main objective is to empower families who have children with disabilities to
enable them to live purposeful lives to their full potential.
The Start
In 2010-2014 there were no other NGO’s providing support to children with disabilities and
their families through family strengthening programs and vocational skilling in Kabarole district. In 2014 with the help from Fiona Beckerlegge (Founder of Kyaninga Child Development Centre), RSNF entered into a partnership with Accomplish Children’s Trust CIO.
We started looking for suitable premises for RSNF Offices, linking with churches, community
leaders and more families throughout the district. With the help of Accomplish Children’s Trust CIO, we provided seeds, goats and piglets to 20 families. By actively engaging in livelihood and self-employment activities, families were able to generate an income to sustain themselves.
In 2015, Accomplish Children’s Trust CIO established a vocational centre for RSNF, purchased
learning equipment and also recruited staff. It started as a drop in centre with 5 students which quickly grew to 10 by the end of the first year.
RSNF gives hope to hopeless disabled children. RSNF has supported hundreds of children with physical and/or mental disabilities, providing nutrition programme, village savings group association programme, vocational education and home-based support and also partnered with Smile Train to ensure children received cleft lip and palate surgeries.
RSNF has continued to grow to serve thousands of children with disabilities in multiple
locations including Kabarole, Kasese, Kamwenge, Kyenjonjo, Bundibugyo districts. Presently,
the team now works with over 1,300 families in various programme.
Our Vision
We want inclusive societies with equal rights and opportunities for children and young people
with a disability
Objectives and results
Improve the livelihood of young people with disabilities;
Increase self-employment rates amongst young people with disabilities;
Encourage an enabling environment for young people with disabilities;
Generate an income in the area for young people with disabilities.
Our Dream
‘’We’re motivated by putting the love of God into action to help people who need it the most’’
Equal rights and opportunities for children with a disability
We dream of communities in which children and young people with a disability are equal and can participate in society to the best of their abilities.
Achievements with Support from Accomplish Children’s Trust CIO.
RSNF works towards these goals by teaching skills and providing individualised support to these youngsters in the Vocational Training and the Community Centre.
The support empowers these youngsters. The project also works with the families and
community environment especially the young people to provide them with the help they need. We work with the local business environment to improve the accessibility of infrastructure and the acceptance of disabled entrepreneurs.
The percentage of economically independent young girls and boys with disabilities in our
community who now have basic business management skills and are informed about their
sexual reproductive health and rights has risen to 75%. They have ably demanded and utilized the information and services we offer, attaining healthy and dignified lives with gender
equality.
Vocational skilling: This programme is tailored to youth and young adults with disabilities to
gain knowledge and skills to enable them to live more economically independent lives and /or
contribute to their family income.
From 2015 to 2023, 204 young students with disabilities graduated in tailoring, hairdressing and knitting courses. Of these, 68 are boys and 136 are girls. All were able to get start up kits and certificates of completion from the Directorate of Industrial Training. This is a recognized
Government entity that awards certificates to vocational institutes. These certificates can be
used by our beneficiaries to further their education.
Currently, in 2024, we have 50 students who are learning self-care life and a vocational skills at our centre.
Apprenticeships/ on the job work experience: We also offer opportunities for youth and young
people with disabilities to gain skills and experience in work places that understand them and
are able to provide an environment with the necessary accommodation for them to thrive.
Family Empowerment
We provide social and economic empowerment for the entire family including parents, siblings and other care givers to enable them to create the best environment possible for their children with disabilities to thrive.
We provide seeds, goats, cows, piglets and farm tools to families. By actively engaging in livelihood and self-employment activities, families are able to generate an income to sustain themselves. So far 561 families have benefited. Of these, 204 families have benefited from the garden package, 235 from piglets, 12 families from cows, 50 from farm tools and 60 from goats.
Socially, we also conduct creation awareness trainings on different aspects of disabilities to
enable the parents / care givers to understand their child’s condition and how to best care for
them and take any preventative measures.
The parents are encouraged to form support groups and build networks of other parents in
similar situations and also learn other social topics such as positive parenting, child protection,
advocacy, among others. There are special days and celebrations such as mothers’ days,
fathers’ days and siblings’ days designed to empower and equip the family members with all
they need to support their children with disabilities.
Advocacy and Awareness
We work with policy makers, law enforcement officers, government, local councils, community
leaders and family members on issues concerning persons with disabilities and inclusion. We
also participate in an annual awareness day that is aimed at bringing together children with
disabilities and actors in the disability space to create a unified voice, improve visibility, and
highlight issues concerning persons with disability.
Village Savings and Loan Associations
Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) empower families of children with disability to
increase access and control over resources and use collective power to overcome social and
financial barriers. This programme is supported by Anglican Missions NZ.
RSNF identified ability-centric income opportunities for people with disabilities and those who
are caretakers of young people living with disabilities. We believe that the VSLA approach is the best way for people living in poverty to achieve sustainability of income.
Group members were trained in how to save together as a group, give each other loans
intended to start or grow their businesses, hold each other accountable for payback with a 2%
interest. That interest helps the savings pot grow larger, bigger loans become available,
incomes grow and families are transformed. Each was accorded a startup capital of one million Uganda shillings. Currently, there are 4 groups that include 120 people.
Postnatal feeding and Maternal Nutrition
RSNF’s Nutrition and Feeding Programme also supported by Anglican Missions NZ addresses
this issue in multiple ways including but not limited to:
Education on healthy eating for pregnant and perinatal mothers
Training families in sustainable agriculture and kitchen gardening practices
Providing farm tools and nutritional seeds
Supplying food relief to the most vulnerable
In addition to poor maternal diets, another contributing factor to childhood malnutrition and
potential disability is the lack of awareness and training among mothers regarding
breastfeeding. This project addresses this concern by raising awareness and providing essential training to mothers on effective breastfeeding practices and strategies. By addressing both poor maternal nutrition and breastfeeding challenges, RSNF aims to improve the overall health and well-being of mothers and their children, laying a stronger foundation for their future.
RSNF- New Home/Building Update
First priority is to send our immense gratitude to Accomplish Children’s Trust CIO for their
support.
We strongly believe that every child needs a safe place to live in with access to spiritual
mentorship, health care services, good nutrition, quality education and a safe environment for
that child to grow well into a responsible godly adult.
Here is a brief update on the progress at new site, with support from Accomplish Children’s
Trust-CIO. On 23 rd May 2024 RSNF was blessed with funds to acquire land and we are looking forward to constructing our RSNF home next year. This will be a major achievement.
Our next project will be looking to buy another plot of land with some houses adjacent to the
land that RSNF recently purchased. We are hoping to get this as soon as possible and start
working on refurbishments so that our students can be able to continue with their studies in
January 2025.
God is moving RSNF so fast that we can hardly keep up. Now as we look back over the last 10
years we marvel at what God has accomplished for children and youth with disabilities.
We thank God for using Accomplish Children’s Trust CIO to help relieve suffering for many
vulnerable children with disability in Kabarole District
What RSNF want to achieve
We want inclusive societies with equal rights and opportunities for children and young
people with a disability.
Providing them with the best possible customised care.
Supporting them in their development.
Making their environment more accessible.
Children with disabilities in emergencies
Children with disabilities are among the most marginalized in communities affected by
humanitarian emergencies, compounding the barriers they face even in the best of times.
RSNF seeks to ensure that people with disabilities are represented in humanitarian decision-
making, and that all crisis-affected children with disabilities have safe access to humanitarian
assistance, along with opportunities to participate in emergency response, recovery and
rebuilding efforts.
Inclusive social protection
Children with disabilities and their families are disproportionately likely to live in poverty, owing to the costs of having a disability, lack of access to education and other essential services, and inadequate social protection.
RSNF seeks guidance and support in making social protection systems responsive to disability, so that children and their families receive services and support to break the link between disability and poverty.
Climate change and environment
Virtually every child on the planet is already affected by climate change. Natural disasters,
environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss can devastate agriculture, cutting children off from nutritious food and safe water. They can lead to dangerous environments and disease outbreaks, and destroy the safe shelter, quality health care and education systems children need to survive and thrive.
Such loss is clearly unsustainable, and if we do not take action, we are condemning ourselves
and our children to a pretty bleak future.
RSNF seeks support to train families/farmers to make biochar, a charcoal-like material made by burning agricultural and forestry waste. It produces little in the way of contamination and can be used to store carbon. Unlike regular charcoal, biochar can be used as a fertiliser that
enhances soil quality by reducing acidity.
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