More health and new perspectives for orphans

Resty Ndagano had made life better for many disadvantaged children with this project since 1992. Resty passed away very suddenly in April 2024, she was not only a reliable project partner, but also a friend, we miss her very much! In her role as head of the HIV program, counseling and home care department at Lubaga Hospital in Kampala, she initiated the AIDS orphans program to support the many children who were left alone in the 1990s due to the death of their parents from HIV. The program to finance the school fees of needy children was embedded in her daily work and was financed by the Canchanabury campaign. In order to take into account the increased workload of Resty's working day, the association subsidized a job in the Counselling and Homecare Section of Lubaga Hospital for many years, most recently with almost three thousand euros per year.

When we met Resty in Uganda in October 2023, she told us about the increasing difficulties she was facing at the hospital. The biggest problem was that the program aroused covetousness within the hospital. Resty had to fight several times against placing children in the program whose parents were perfectly capable of financing their own school attendance. Resty wanted to present us with a concept for reorganizing the project during her visit next year, in June 2024.

Unfortunately, the first meeting took place without her, but with her four closest colleagues: Maria Gorettie and Dirisa Kasalirwe, both head teachers, Mable Kisubi and Henry Matovu worked with Resty at Lubaga Hospital. A person cannot be replaced. What we can do is to take this person and her actions as an example, define new goals and try to continue the work in the best possible way. After many discussions, including with the hospital, it was obvious that we would sign a project contract with the four of them and their new organization "Resty Child Nest Initiative" (ResChild), in memory of Resty Ndagano. The NGO has since been recognized by the state and a new account has been set up. The new contract was signed by both sides at the beginning of 2025. Without the many visits and the good relationship between partners and the representatives of the association, it would have been very difficult or even impossible to continue the project seamlessly. This would have meant that the 300 children would no longer have had the opportunity to attend school from one day to the next.

Orphans and children from poor backgrounds are placed in foster families, given social care and educated. Their medical care is also provided. The aim is for the children to achieve economic and social independence and thus break out of the cycle of poverty. The ResChild team endeavors to place children in familiar surroundings after the death of their parents, e.g. with relatives or foster families. However, the number of orphans is very high and therefore this care is often difficult. In order to avoid placement in an orphanage, self-help groups and volunteers from the community, so-called "guardians", are deployed. These specially trained Guardian Angels look after orphans and their siblings and take responsibility for the children's medical and social care and regular school attendance. They also provide the children with legal assistance, such as clarifying property rights after the death of their parents. The team also offers prevention and education work on the subject of AIDS: Children and young people are educated about the dangers of AIDS through visits to schools or special behavior change programs.

With the help of the Canchanabury campaign, school fees as well as school books and uniforms, a behaviour change workshop and support for particularly gifted children to attend secondary school can be financed for several hundred orphans and disadvantaged children.

These years of support are already bearing fruit today: many of the former kids from the programme are now adults and employed, earning their own money and now looking after other orphans, financing their education and ensuring that they too have a real chance for their future.