Uganda Elections: the results are in, but what does this mean for children?

After much campaigning, debate and speculation, Yoweri Museveni has won the Ugandan Presidential Elections for the fourth time in a row. But what does this mean for 57% of Uganda’s population – its children...?

NOW in Kampala, Uganda: child-friendly voting!

This news is coming straight from Kampala where, as you read this, projects and churches from our partner network have taken to the streets to encourage voters to consider the rights and needs of Uganda's children.

In the light of the upcoming elections for a new President and government (Friday 18th February) the network are conducting an advocacy campaign encouraging citizens to think about children when they vote. They have been asking questions such as: Do you recognise the importance of today’s children? Will the person you vote for be the best person to lead the next generation into the future?

Daya gets a new home

In a culture that places great importance on family and tradition, bringing a child from the streets into your own home is not something people do lightly. Yet when Udita Kapoor met seven-year-old Daya in one of the poorest parts of Biratnagar, Nepal, she knew that was exactly what she wanted to do. Why? Because what she had learned through Viva Equip People had engaged her heart as well as her head.

The Viva Equip People training is currently running in Biratnagar, Butwal and Kathmandu, and Udita is one of 20 church and project staff taking the course in her area. Learning how to help children in the context of their culture, family and background, and understanding how to value and listen to them, were quite new concepts to Udita, and she found that it transformed the way she interacted with children.

My Viva Equip trip to India

There’s nothing quite like your first experience of India. The combination of muggy heat, exotic spices and petrol fumes hit me almost as soon as I stepped off the plane a few weeks ago. It was my first trip to India, and I didn’t quite know what to expect.

I had travelled out to Delhi to teach the co-ordinators of three of our city-wide networks (in Delhi, Dehradun and Hyderabad) how to run Viva Equip Projects in their respective cities, using Viva’s Quality Improvement System.

I was a little intimidated before we began, as I was training five men, but they were such a lovely group that after about five minutes I felt completely at home with them. Our time flew by, and their enthusiasm was so encouraging - there seems such a hunger and thirst for quality care in India.

Uganda’s children have their say on Viva Equip Projects

We often hear great stories of how Viva Equip Projects is helping organisations become stronger and more competent, and we know that will ultimately be beneficial to the children in that project’s care. But why take our word for it? Let’s make a trip to the classrooms of House of Joy in Kampala, and hear what their children think of the training their project has received…

Charity Nnabayego, aged 8

Over the last year, what have you seen changing here?

Teachers treat me well, and never shout or hurt us. And I go to my studies in a good chair and a good desk, so I am learning much better. I am more clever now than before.

Do you feel safe? If so, why?

Yes, so very safe, as I know now I can talk to my teachers and they will help me.

What are you thankful for?
I am close to safe and clean water now. I am very happy here.

Viva Equip People journeys to Somalia’s frontline

Oketch Mukhwana, a soldier in the Ugandan Army, took part in Viva Equip People when he began working in the children’s department of a military hospital. “We are working with the children of soldiers” Oketch explains, “and there are so many special things about their lives we must understand if we want to help them properly. But before I did not have any experience of working with children, and there was so much I did not know. When I started on this Viva programme it was amazing how my eyes were opened.” Oketch was particularly struck by the module about understanding each child in his or her context, learning what exact risks children face and how to help them thrive despite the problems.

Is Viva Equip making projects too good?

From staff management and financial accountability to child protection and wellbeing, Viva Equip Projects has built a great reputation for addressing issues of effective child care. But in La Paz, Bolivia, it seems a new issue has emerged, for which Viva Equip Projects is not the solution but in fact the cause: the projects are getting too popular!

Local projects which have undergone the training have seen such a noticeable improvement in the quality of care they offer, that they have now reached capacity and are struggling to take in any more children. “Projects here used to have problems where children would run away and go back to the streets, they were so used to their old way of life” says local Viva Equip co-ordinator Henry Pers Lopez. “But now the care in the projects is so good that the children are no longer running away, and it actually means that the organisations are getting so full!”