Live For a Child Initiative

ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND

LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE (LIFCHILD) is a community based organization registered in Uganda, working with the most marginalized, ostracized and vulnerable groups of children i.e. [orphans, the needy, children with disabilities and those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.LIFCHILD came into existence as a result of various concerned professionals with big hearts for children discerning a need for a discreet organization that would help provide a holistic solution to the problems faced by children in various communities of Uganda

VISION

LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE’s vision is to provide material and educational support to orphans, the needy and the abandoned children, together with enhancing awareness of needs, limitations, potentials and rights of children with disabilities so as to improve or change the society’s attitude towards them

MISSION STATEMENT

LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE’s mission statement is equipping communities with educated and morally/spiritually upright children for a bright future

The organization “staffing” including community representatives and project communities are made-up a few paid workers and volunteers. Our desire is to serve our own neighbours, community, and country. We do not want to simply create a means of employment and a source of income for community staff as “development workers” .  LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE staff and EXECUTIVE Members comprises  of professionals from the Information technology, medical, academic , caring of children with special needs and, business fields. They too are partners with LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE, bringing their expertise in their relevant fields to the organisation. This ensures viability, sustainability, and a code of excellence

SITUATION ANALYSIS

Children are the most vulnerable group in our society. A significant number of them are conceived and given birth to under circumstances of defilement, rape, domestic violence, abject poverty and the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS.

Such circumstances present them [children] to their bearers who in most cases happen to be young teenagers with no parenting skills as heavy weights of parental burden and psychological stress owing to a fact that these children are taken to be living testimonies of defilement, incest & rape experiences and constant reminders of the faces of the attackers who in most cases happen to be HIV positive. Parents oppressed by these kinds of circumstances  resort to providing food if there is any as they sole responsibility, neglecting the children’s social ,educational ,emotional and spiritual needs.

Our society today is full of young teenagers who are circumstantially introduces to the world of parenthood. This owes to a fact that many lack foundational and biblical counseling and guidance which would have helped incorporate them [children] into a God oriented belief system at an early stage of development to avoid satanic lures that may encounter them later in life. If guidance and support is not provided, teenagers are circumstantially forced to indulge in sexual activities which result into pregnancies hence giving birth to children who are prone and vulnerable to the same circumstances as there were conceived in, thus creating a continuous cycle of vulnerable and needy children generations.

Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and those considered to be products of socially immorality hence abandonment often lack people who care enough to provide basic needs and adult guidance, as most guardians to whom these children are left happen to be old people who are illiterate to value their grand children’s education needs and could not assist them even if they wanted to. They are also impoverished and physically weak to engage in serious agriculture activities.

This leaves these vulnerable children at a risk of poorer health and nutritional status together with low enrollment in schools than other children. Children too posses a collective conscience which drives them into welcoming and believing to be true any behavior portrayed by the people they live near and associate with. It’s heart breaking to know that if children are to imitate what they see their fathers do, they [children] too would become adulterers, alcoholics, hot-tempered and thieves as most fathers are. Imitating their mothers would lead to them becoming prostitutes or child abuser which is very rampant in child to aunt or child to step mother relationships.

All LIFCHILD programs and services are geared towards providing a holistic solution to the problems that affect children and factors that work in correlation with the social and economic status of parents to affect children.

ACTIVITIES AND SERVICES OFFERED TOGETHER WITH THE NUMBER OF BENEFICIARIES

SPONSORSHIP AND MATERIAL SUPPORT

This program focuses on provision of solutions to the educational needs of orphans, needy and vulnerable children. It involves availing OVC’S with scholastic materials i.e. mathematical sets, pens, pencils, bags, books and uniforms together with providing sponsorship in form of school fees to the orphans and vulnerable children. Under this program LIFCHILD carries out background research and check up on every identified orphan or vulnerable child to avoid impersonation and double sponsorship which would duplicate the program, leaving out the main targeted beneficiaries. There is also provision of house utensils for orphan headed families and clothing for orphans, needy and vulnerable children to improve on their livelihoods

SHELTER PROJECT

This program focuses on improving the living standards of orphans and vulnerable children. it involves construction of shelters for OVCs with dilapidated household structures and  targets widows and the elderly that cater for orphans and vulnerable children in remote areas. Research is always first carried out in collaboration with the local council authority to prove the ownership of the piece of plot on which we intend to raise the structure. On proving the authenticity of the claimed ownership ( LIFCHILD ) signs a memorandum of understanding between it’s self and head of the benefiting household. A two roomed structure together with a latrine and a simple cooking shelter are put in place

EMPOWERMENT OF CWD’s

This component aims at enhancing awareness of the needs, limitations, potentials and rights of children with disabilities [CWD’s] so as to improve and /or change society’s attitude towards them. Interventions under this program involve economic empowerment of families with children who are disabled, sensitization of community members on issues concerning CWD’s, provision of aid equipments i.e. wheel chairs, hearing aids and other prosthetic appliances, together with deaf awareness campaigns and training of sign language interpretation to parents with deaf children and other community members. LIFCHILD involves CWD’s in it’s child sponsorship, scholastic material support and respite services offered to other children with no discrimination.

EMPOWERMENT OF CLWHA

Keeping in mind that children living with HIV/AIDS [CLWHA] often have poorer health and nutritional status than other children, and that children with HIV/AIDS are more at risk of respiratory illness and malnutrition which often persist lading to absenteeism and low enrollment in schools. This program focuses on provision of nutritional support, psycho-social support, counseling & guidance together with providing ARV’s which is done in collaboration with other partner organizations and the government

CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOOLS

This program is still in its early stages due to lack of substantial funds. The schools are meant to provide free quality education to orphans and vulnerable children in our society irrespective of their physical or religious status. Under this program it’s anticipated that LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE will lobby and solicit for funds to facilitate teachers and administrative costs of each school. This will ease on the load of individual sponsorship in that large number of orphans and vulnerable children will benefit at a low cost of only meeting meals and administrative costs. this is intended to solve the problem of low enrollment due to lack of sponsorship and low motivation among teachers due to lack of payment. We believe that in an environment where school structures are present, administration costs met, teachers motivated and paid in time, children will be able to acquire quality education for the betterment of their future

INCOME GENERATING ACTIVITIES

This program focuses on economic empowerment of community members mainly the widows and the elderly through income generation (IGA). Economic empowerment is the last element of our work because IGA projects stand such a high probability of complication, disappointment and failure. IGA programs often fail because an IGA opportunity’s profitability or demand was exaggerated, the priorities of the family or individual were not in line with efforts or commitments of the specific IGA opportunity, while it also possible the income generated from the project is consumed to quickly and not reinvested, saved, and used to maintain the business in the long-run. Despite these challenges LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE as a well integrated local NGO and as a NGO working very closely with it targets is in a prime position to identify families and individuals that show high potential for successfully implementing IGA opportunities.

EVANGELISM AND COUNSELING

This program focuses on promotion of spiritual and moral standards of children in our society. Activities involved are carried out in collaboration with Christian children counselors and Sunday school teachers who help provide selective evangelism to the various groups of children together with providing constructive counseling and guidance on how to leave a violence free Christian life. Interventions involve carrying out fellowships in churches & schools, outreaches in other child institutions and holiday evangelical seminars

PROVISION OF MEDICAL SERVICES

This program goes hand in hand with our evangelism and counseling ministry outreach. it involves providing medical services .i.e. immunizations, dentistry, de-worming, nutritional supplements, eye  and skin check ups to children and the community at large. this is always done in partnership with medical volunteers

SOURCES OF FUNDING

LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE funding so far as been coming from well wishers, personal contribution from members from the board, compassionate individual partner’s contributions and profits from the various commercial ventures i.e. piggery, poultry and crop farming. We are also currently lobbying for support from various organizations to further promote our enterprising for non-profit programs

LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE STAFF

The number of individual staff who over see children’s programs (ages 3-17 years) annually full time more than 35 hours per week is (6)

The number of individual staff (excluding volunteers) who work directly with children programs (ages 3-17 years) part time are (12)

The number of volunteers that work directly with children and are involved in other programs and activities of LIVE FOR A CHILD INITIATIVE is (25)

The number of facilities/program locations where we offer our children’s programs is (7)