Living on the street to having a future
In the afternoon after visiting the slums we were able to travel about 2-3 hours away to a piece of land that has been donated to Raising up hope Uganda orphanage.
The land is in a rural area and far from where the children are living on the streets. Patrick describes this as being an important environment and that being far from where they are living now is vital. He explains that sometimes the children living on the streets will run back to where they are living on the street due to having their friends there, and knowing where they are. This project aims to help the children’s recovery in a different way.
Patrick and William, directors for the orphanage who support the street children living in the slums, are planning to use this piece of 
land to become a small sanctuary for 5-10 children from the streets, to enable them to gain new skills looking after animals, taking care of them and being around nature etc. The land also would like to be used for growing vegetables so the children are also learning about sustaining their livelihood. The overall project aims to give the children a chance to take responsibility for themselves and animals. The local community are also able and welcome the care and support that the children will need from them, by teaching them social skills and other behaviours that the children have not had the opportunity to be taught.
The community also provides a therapist who is able to help the children with the traumas that they have faced. This may work well in conjunction with the animal section.
Our volunteers had a great time meeting the community and also helping to dig up some vegetables that they are growing on the land to take back to the orphanage.
We hope to support this project in the future.