Abato Foundation, a torch for Kyasanku's children

Sep 26, 2012

Until October 31, New Vision will devote space to highlighting the plight of slum dwellers as well as profiling those offering selfless service to improve conditions in these areas.

Until October 31, New Vision will devote space to highlighting the plight of slum dwellers as well as profiling those offering selfless service to improve conditions in these areas.

Today, ANDREW MASINDE brings you the story of children in Kyasanku in Mpigi town council and how ABATO Foundation has impacted their lives Tracy Nabatanzi’s father leaves home early in the morning and comes back late in the night.

He neither provides food for the family nor school fees for the children – he is always lamenting he has no money. Nabatanzi’s mother too cannot afford to look after the children. The children’s hope for a good education had been left to fate until Abato Foundation came to their rescue.

“They give us all the scholastic materials and clothing, so we can now go to school,” Nabatanzi says. The Abato Foundation Uganda is a local NGO that works to uplift the standards of orphans and other vulnerable children.

The organisation promotes education, talent development and training designed to help children grow up into responsible and self-reliant citizens. The organisation was founded in 2011 to give a platform and provide foster care to the neglected and abandoned children.

It works with some youth who are also extending support to children in form of school supplies. In 2011 during the foundation’s charity work in poor homes in the area, Nabatanzi was identified and considered for help. She was living in squalid conditions at her parents’ home.

Nine-year-old Nabatanzi now goes to school. The foundation, which is based in Kyasanku village in Mpigi town council, takes care of all her basic needs, giving her hope for a brighter future. Sam Semakula, 12, in Primary Two, says he too had no school fees and was just seated at home until Abato Foundation came to his rescue in 2011.

He now gets all the basic needs and scholastic materials. The foundation’s home is also his home. A walk through Mpigi town to Kyasanku reveals one thing – impoverishment, which is made worse by the poor state of the road, poor waste management and poor housing.

The situation has not been made any better by the general lack of skills among the population, unemployment and lack of access to credit because of lack of collateral.

Consequently, the poor standards of living are glaring, with many people living on less than a dollar per day. With just few boreholes, many people here draw water from unprotected sources – shallow wells, springs, rivers, streams and the lake, exposing them to malaria and waterborne diseases such as cholera and diarrhoea.

Kyasanku also has a large number of people living with HIV, majority of whom have no access the to life-prolonging antiretroviral treatment. “I believe every child, irrespective of the circumstances they were bon in, has not only a right to a good upbringing, but also has a God-given ability to progress in life.

It is our passion to help them identify such and make them achieve it,” Moses Kalanzi, the organisation’s founder, explains. The organisation has its roots in Kalanzi’s inspiration to help children from poor families to achieve their full potential.

He drew this inspiration from an experience way back in 2005 when, as early as 5:00am, he met two children carrying 20-litre jerrycans of water on their heads. On inquiry, he found out the children were aged just seven and nine. At that time he was a voluntary worker with Kampala School of Excellence of Orphaned Children in Mpigi.

“I was disturbed. I decided I would one day start up something to help children fight for their rights. Since I
 was working with an NGO as a volunteer during my holiday and I was not earning, this remained just a dream. I am now glad I am realising it,” says Kalanzi.

Kalanzi, who qualified as a teacher, quit teaching because it was blocking his effort to turn this dream into a reality. “I taught for a short while and saved some little money. I then came to Mpigi and set up the foundation,” he narrates. Kalanzi also serves on a number of local boards and sports organisations in Uganda.

He is an executive member of the Uganda Youth Football Association. and is on the Uganda Futsal Association national executive. He is also one of the founding members of Kampala Junior Team. So far, the foundation is paying tuition fees for 11 children and buying scholastic materials for 20 children every term.

Kalanzi says more effort is being directed towards the babies rescue centre for abandoned babies and they are working with four widows in Kalagala village, one of them a retired nurse, who operates from a rented house, to take care of the 15 babies they have so far recieved.

He says because of the rising cases of teenage pregnancy resulting in child abandonment, the babies centre is needed. Statistics show child neglect and abuse in the country is on the rise. This is attributed to, among other things, poverty, HIV, and early pregnancies due to lack of family planning.

Uganda has more than 2.5 million orphans of whom 50% are children below the age of five. The foundation also organises a series of outreaches to help identify the most vulnerable children for support, while also donating scholastic materials to school children.

The first beneficiaries were Mpami Central Nursery and Primary school. The organisation runs a pre-school and an early learning centre for less privileged children. They offer free education for less privileged children while those who can afford to pay.

They also partner with local artistes to identify and develop talent. Edwin Mulasa, an LC3 councillor, says the authorities are ready to use part of the little money available to support programmes designed to help vulnerable children. He says Abato is on the list of beneficiaries because their contribution is visible.

Joyce Babirye, the LC1 vice– councillor says Abato has helped improve the lives of children in the area and called upon the Government to support the organisation.

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