Nearly 20 percent of people in Uganda live in chronic poverty. Armed fighting among ethnic groups, a high infant mortality rate, poor access to medical care, and pervasive HIV/AIDS have all placed additional stress on families — especially in families where one or both parent dies, leaving elderly grandparents or the eldest child to care for the large family. To care for vulnerable children and families in Uganda, Holt partners with Action for Children. Together with our generous donors, we work to make families self-reliant, healthy, educated and stable — all for the primary goal of keeping children safe and families together.
Provinces with Holt family strengthening programs
Families in Uganda are characterized by many children, and oftentimes the death of one or both parents. Holt's family strengthening work in Uganda combines education, parent trainings, economic empowerment, nutrition and more to stabilize and empower families to overcome poverty. We work individually with each child and family, and especially tailor our services to larger families in which children are being raised by a single parent or grandparent.
The women and families in our program are doing a really great job. You can see their hope for the future. They feel empowered to determine their own future. Families feel like they're making a difference in their own lives, and they are making a change for themselves. This infuses a lot of hope and self confidence in all of those women and their families. A dollar doesn't go anywhere [in the U.S.], but it goes a long way in Uganda. The greatest impact of our programs in Uganda is the infusion of confidence and self-determination and the hope that it brings. The sense of being in charge and in control of their own life makes a big difference to the psychology of the population. These are people who are in abject poverty, and them being able to say, 'I've invested so much, I've gained so much' – it makes them think, 'wow, I'm making a difference in my life.' That's a big factor right there, and the reason why Holt donors can make such a lasting difference in the lives of children and families in Uganda.