Ekkula

Ekkula is a home built in Kiwangala for girl orphans whose parents have died from AIDS. The house was constructed by the Dutch organization Livingstone last summer for students at Children’s Sure House who had no homes of their own. Wilma Schinkelshoek, a social worker, and her husband Sander were sent by Livingstone to oversee the transition of the girls into their new dwellings.

Ekkula means “something good; something beautiful”. The Schinkelshoek’s had the intention to call the house “Pearl of Africa” after the famous Winston Churchhill quote about Uganda, but in Luganda, the local language, there is no word for Pearl. If Baganda people speak about something good or beautiful they say it is Ekkula.

At this moment there live three girls live in Ekkula. They are: Vicencia, age 13, Mariam, age 12, and Sarah, age 10. All of the girls prefer staying in the house to their previous living situations.
“I like living at Ekkula,” said Sarah, because it’s close to school and it’s got electricity.”

The Schinkelshoek’s have returned to Holland, but the girls are now being looked after by Hope, a Ugandan social worker. A short distance a way, CSH has undergone construction on a home for orphan boys.

Meet James

This is a picture of James. He is one of the students in Primary 1 at Children’s Sure House. On an average day, he wakes up, takes care of his chickens, washes himself, eats breakfast, walks 1 km to school, attends classes, then comes home, eats lunch, fetches water from the well, washes again, eats some supper, and goes to bed. He has lots of friends and enjoys playing volleyball.

James currently lives with his Aunt. Both of his parents recently died of AIDS. He is just one of the 850 orphans and vulnerable children that Children’s Sure House provides with free education and other social services. Social workers from the Dutch FBO, Livingstone, and Uganda Christian University have been working with CSH to assess the needs of the James and other children in Kiwangala who have been infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.

Older Persons Program

AIDS has devastated Kiwangala and its surrounding parishes. In some families an entire generation has been wiped out. The elderly are traditionally cared for by their families if they become too frail. However, in many families only the grandparents and grandchildren are still alive. However, they are unable to care for themselves or their homes. Children’s Sure House has reached out with donations of food and household items like sugar and soap to individuals within the surrounding villages. They have even built new houses for families whose homes have crumbled from neglect. Now CSH plans to alleviate the long term suffering of the population by introducing programs that promote self-empowerment.

CSH’s Older Person’s Program will work together with its Home Sustainability Program to assist the older persons so that they continue to be productive in their homes and community.
This collaboration will develop the following activities to aid the elderly:

1. Provision of psychosocial counseling services.

2. Free education for the family’s grandchildren from Children’s Sure House and promotion of the Ugandan government’s Universal Primary Education policy.

3. HIV/AIDS sensitization through outreach.

4. Income generating activities through small-scale industries and
the use of locally available materials.

5. Persuasion of elderly property owners to lease out dormant land.

In addition, Makerere University’s Faculty of Social Sciences has partnered with Children’s Sure House to conduct field work on the livelihood of vulnerable members of the elderly population in the Kiwangala area.

This is a typical home in Kiwangala village. However, this woman cannot maintain the upkeep on the structure. The mud walls are caving in and rain leaks through the grass roof that has gone unthatched.

These are the participants of the CSH Older Person's program. They are caregivers to their orphaned grandchildren who are pictured below.

For most of his life, this boy lived with his grandmother in the house in the background. Recently, CSH was successful in mobilizing the community to build the family a more secure home.