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Seven Rotary clubs have agreed to work together to serve the vulnerable communities in Uganda. 

The clubs are: Rotary Club Kampala Life Stars, Rotary Club Nakasero Central, Rotary Club of Kira, Rotary Club of Gayaza, Rotary Club Kampala Ssese Islands, Rotary Club Kampala-Mahaba and Rotary Club Kampala North. 

The seven rotary clubs have united to construct walkways, provide more water tanks, market products made by children, provide drugs and construct protective ridges along the verandas.  

The past district governor D9213, Mike Sebalu, welcomed the idea of Rotarians uniting to serve the communities as one big team rather than working in small clubs.    

“This is the wisest move the Rotarians have ever made and we shall see results than working in individual clubs. If you work in big groups you will be able to attract bigger projects including funding that will yield more results” Ssebalu said.   

The role of Rotary includes peacebuilding, conflict prevention, disease prevention, water sanitation, child health, education and community economic development. 

Speaking at Kireka Home of The Children With Special Educational Needs, Sebalu said uniting to work together it is one of the best decisions one makes in his or her life, saying it makes one committed.  

He explained that this is what has been lacking to yield impact since people were working in small groups that attract less funding to reflect feasibility. 

He said Rotarians are special people chosen by God who serve and improve people’s lives. 

“By serving the community in a single group of seven clubs it will bear results mandated by Rotary International. You are extraordinary people who carry out extraordinary service to change the lives of the people,” he explained. 

Sebalu added that “By supporting needy people you may never know what type of impact you are making in building their future. I request you take this partnership to the next level and mechanism to monitor your work.” 

He proposed the sale of the products made by children each time they hold fellowships in their clubs to promote the children’s skills and to get more to buy raw materials. 

Akram Nsubuga, the president of Kampala Life Stars Rotary Club said they would like to see the children’s home increase walkways to allow those using wheelchairs and those who crawl to move easily. 

Rotarians hand over an assortment of drugs to the headteacher Kireka Home of Children with Special Educational Needs Rebecca Nakuwande in (Green dress) in Wakiso district on November 18, 2023. (All Photos by Wilfred Sanya)

“We would like to have lasting solutions for this home of children with special needs to get all the facilities needed in education like any other child who is born no matter what type of disability they may have,” he said. 

He said Rotarians are going to have special outreaches to change the outlook of the home to attract parents still hiding children with special needs in their homes.     

Kireka Home of the Children head teacher, Rebecca Nakuwande, said they face an irregular supply of drugs, especially Sodium Valproate and Carbamazepine. 

Nakuwande revealed they have 86 children, 6 teachers and 16 support staff, urging for more teachers to aid children. 

“Parents hide these children and by the time they are brought, they have developed complications,” she said. 

Nakuwande advised parents not to shy away and bring them out so that they are helped to develop special skills to sustain a future. 

She revealed children make a variety of items like scarves, aprons and dresses, doormats and crafts, but lack the market to sell their products.  

“When these are brought, we train them to have mobility skills and by the time we receive them, their status is not easy. We teach them life skills like making themselves clean and behaviour change as they enter the adolescent age they should report bad touches,” Nakuwande explained. 

She said if they are handled in time, they are capable of making very good vocational items but they lack machines to use when they go back into the community after training, to sustain themselves.   

The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) in 2016 indicated that 12.4% of the Ugandan population lives with some form of disability, translating to approximately 4.5 million Ugandans. 

The head of the national Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) secretariat in the Office of the Prime Minister, Albert Byamugisha, recently said available statistics are not clear. 

Byamugisha said in the last census, the country did not ascertain the actual percentage of people with disabilities (PWDs). 

“As Rotarians, we should not think of ourselves but instead focus on those people you are helping to be to be winners in life. We should not be taking pride in our wealth but instead assist those in need to become winners,” Dan Kibuuka, the president of Gayaza Rotary Club, said. 

Kibuuka warned parents not to shy away from bringing out their children with disabilities because there are opportunities to make them thrive in life. 

The Past District Governor, Stephen Mwanje, introduced the idea of championing cancer by enabling all the Rotary Clubs to restore the needed facility for cancer at Nsambya Hospital.

Mwanje also wants parents keeping children with disability hidden in their homes to be brought out so that they can be trained in skills.