Akanyijuka - Uganda
Akanyijuka (“He Remembered Me”) commenced in 2007 as a partnership venture between Victory Community Care Services in Uganda and Oasis Christian Centre. Akanyijuka is located in the south-western pocket of Uganda, in a township called Kabale. Orphans in the Kabale district are numerous due to the high mortality rate from AIDS/HIV, malaria and other diseases. Generally, extended family members cannot provide for these children due to poverty and the large number of children they already have in their families.
Akanyijuka is the new home, nursery and primary school for forty destitute children, children who are double and single orphans or who are at risk of serious neglect or harm. At present our children are under the age of 10 years, made up of families of 8 children with an experienced mother who is a widow, to care for each family.
Akanyijuka operates from rented premises and there are plans to build purpose built facilities on land which has recently been purchased. Construction of a purpose-built facility has commenced in July 2009. There are also plans to make the running of the orphanage self-sustainable. Currently, however, each child has a sponsor to assist with their living and educational expenses.
Timeline
2007
January: A formal partnership was set up between Oasis Christian Centre (formally Taigum Community Church), Brisbane, Australia and Victory Community Care Services, Kabale, Uganda to start a children’s home aimed at helping orphaned and endangered children in the Kabale district.
May: A team was sent from Australia to assist in the work (David & Kathryn Guinea, Quinton & Erica Siddans, with daughter Amelia, and Phillip Hollands)
July: July saw Akanyijuka Children’s Home started, opening on July 2nd with six children, two matrons and a nursery teacher/administrator. The way it was set up was to have matrons live on site and become a mother to the children, living in separate houses, each with eight children. We saw this as a better option for the children rather than a dormitory style home. We started with two matrons having three children each and having informal nursery classes for the remainder of the year.
December: By the end of the year we had 4 matrons and 32 children
2008
January: Akanyijuka Nursery & Primary School was officially opened along with a Head Master and two other teachers.
June: During May there was an opening for us to take on another matron and therefore in June to take in another 6 children, by October we had 5 matrons, 3 full time teaching staff and 40 children!!
September: By this time we had taken in our final two children, purchased our first piece of land for the building of a purpose built facility, a little bit outside of town. There are plans to build two storied buildings for the school, teachers’ quarters, and houses for the children and matrons.
October: We started our first major farming project - chickens. Both layers and broilers were purchased. The layers are still going well to this day. The broilers went well, but there is need for a deep freezer to be purchased before they can be reared, to gain maximum benefits.
December: Two blocks of the land were cleared and leveled, ready for building.
2009
The end of 2008 was a break in progress while David & Kathryn Guinea were overseas visiting family. Great things are planned for the year ahead.
February – July 2009: This time was spent waiting for funds to advance the project, but the waiting proved to be a benefit as it gave time to refine the running of Akanyijuka.
LOOKING AHEAD
August – December 2009: Plans are in place to start building purpose built facilities for homes and a school on the land owned by Akanyijuka.
Faces of Akanyijuka
