To Ease Their Worried Minds

All of the students in our program come from vulnerable backgrounds. Many of them have also experienced trauma. Counseling and psychosocial support have always been a vital part of our program, but this past year (with so many children forced outside the safety net of their schools) mental health has become a major concern and priority.  

In Uganda, mental health problems are still not widely recognized nor properly understood in rural areas. An individual suffering from an emotional or psychological disturbance may in fact be led to a traditional healer – potentially exposing them to coercive or dangerous “treatments”.

For many others, they may simply lack the financial means to seek professional help.

Early on in the lockdown, we heard our sponsored children worrying about their guardians. Those with parents who could no longer work were fearful that they would go hungry – or even starve. Many of our older students also felt torn between keeping up with their studies or helping their guardians put food on the table:

So, in addition to one-on-one counseling with our students, we also began counseling guardians and extended family members. Our staff soon learned that some parents had feared opening up about issues affecting their families – preventing possible help or solutions to their challenges. Guardians were counseled on child protection, as well as given various parenting strategies to better support their children academically and emotionally. Students and their guardians also received talks on sexual reproductive health and hygiene.

To help ease the worried minds of students like Olivia, we also found it necessary to support families with economic empowerment during the lockdown via new Income Generating Activity (IGA) trainings.

We’ve encouraged our students to engage in these projects to learn new skills, but above all to focus on their studies because education is vital to their future. We encouraged them not to lose hope.

After several counseling sessions with some of the students, we noted that there was a tremendous change. One child in particular had become increasingly disrespectful to her mother. Meeting with and opening up to our social worker changed everything. Now, without even being asked, she helps her mother and younger siblings with their chores. She is also no longer misbehaving or hanging out with bad groups around the village. Her mother reports:

“She has changed drastically. It seems unreal, but I am so happy.”

Although we have seen some progress, so many of our students are struggling and still feeling hopeless with the uncertainty of their situation. Only candidate and certain pre-candidate students have been allowed to return to school – leaving too many stranded at home.  And sadly, home is not always a safe haven.

Social Worker, Winnie Nakalembe, along with the Ugandan Sponsorship team (Angela Kyolaba Munii, Rose Nalwoga and Resty Nalwadda) have dedicated countless hours on the phone counseling youth and their families; however, home visits still remain our greatest means of monitoring the health and safety of our students. This has been an incredibly challenging exercise with COVID-19 restrictions, families relocating due to the pandemic, as well as increased transport costs to remote locations.

We remain dedicated to doing all that we can to support our children and their guardians. If you are able to contribute towards the increased cost of home visits and counseling services for our students, please do so today. Any amount will make a difference to help us reach more families in need.

If you sponsor a child, please also consider writing them a letter of encouragement.  A reminder that you are here for them would truly mean the world.