The Observer (Kampala)
Simon Musasizi
3 December 2008
As people retreated home on a quiet Sunday evening to prepare for the new week, needy Children of Uganda were at Kampala Serena Hotel asking for support.
Parading their needs through music, testimonies and a documentary, the children attracted sympathy from a small audience, which comprised people who responded well to the auctioning of the art pieces prepared by the children.
Saxophonist, Isaiah Katumwa who entertained guests, bought the first piece at Shs 500,000 before businessman, Hajji Habib Kagimu signed off the last piece at Shs 5 million.
The piece painted by the children portrayed two children carrying the Uganda flag - with one of the children miserable and the other putting on a plastic smile to cover her grief.
According to the Programme Director, Children of Uganda (CoU), Ms. Margaret Kasekende, the money will be used to buy food and medical supplies.
The organization seeks Shs 173m to be able to meet medical supplies, scholastic materials, tuition, and school uniforms for the children.
"Most of our funding has been coming from USA. However, with the current credit crunch, donations are dwindling and we are having lots of gaps in funding," she said.
"Fuel and food prices have gone up considerably - affecting our budgets. The children lack scholastic materials, medicine, basic requirements. The homes and the school need to be repaired and the clinic in the Rakai home needs to be equipped." This clinic provides treatment to the children, some of whom are HIV-positive.
CoU was founded in 1995 in response to the increasing number of HIV/AIDS affected children.
"Our belief is that a nurturing place to live and access to adequate education should be a basic right available to all, regardless of financial, family or other situations," Kasekende said.
Among the situations that CoU considers top priorities are aiding "child-headed" households, children who have lost both parents to AIDS, single-parent households where the parent has AIDS and is too sick to work.
In partnership with Daughters of Charity, CoU has been supporting orphaned children and their families to access social welfare and education. According to Kasekende, currently, the organization supports 600 children in two homes in Ssanje, Rakai District, and Kiwanga in Mukono District.
Aisha Alibhai who was emcee noted: "Some of the children were adopted at the age of 1 year, some were only months old. If the organization closes, they will have no home."
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