Eight programme areas

Goals

• check_circleAntenatal scans and maternal screening for every mother in Kasanje, with no ferry crossing
• check_circleWeekly trauma counselling and group psychosocial support for OVCs, widows and HIV-positive mothers
• check_circleCommunity health outreaches on Bussi landing sites and home visits to supported families

What we do

We could not wait for the hospital while our mothers were dying. In Kasanje, a mother with a complicated pregnancy is told to cross the ferry to Entebbe Referral Hospital. She has no money, the ferry has left, and she has no scan. In Bussi Islands 29.8% of children are stunted, 22.5% of households drink untreated water and 26.7% of fisherfolk live with HIV — yet the only facility is a Health Centre III with no theatre, no ambulance and, until November 2025, not even an ultrasound. The District Health Officer said it himself: few doctors, inadequate medicine, insufficient equipment. So we started small, but we started now. Ssenvuma Memorial Care Foundation opened a Community Health Clinic right here in Kasanje. It is not yet the big hospital with a theatre. It is the heartbeat before the hospital. 1. Scans that save two lives at once. Antenatal ultrasound, fetal doppler, blood pressure, anaemia and HIV testing — for mothers who would otherwise walk 11km to Mpigi HC IV or risk the ferry. Studies show 34.2% of island mothers are anaemic and 12.5% hypertensive and never knew. 2. Medical services for sustainable life. Malaria, diarrhoea, respiratory and skin infections from lake water, wounds from fishing boats — treated daily, alongside health education, deworming, safe water education and follow-up at home. 3. Psychological and community healing — the part no clinic offers. One-on-one trauma counselling for OVCs, widows and survivors of gender-based violence; group psychosocial support for HIV-positive mothers; community health outreaches on Bussi landing sites; and home visits to the seven original families and beyond. The clinic is run by a counsellor, midwives, nurses, a clinician and a social worker — the same team we dream of for the community hospital. This clinic is our bridge, not our destination. Support it today with scan consumables, essential medicines and counselling sessions, and you lay a brick for Ssenvuma Memorial Community Hospital tomorrow.

Goals

• check_circleSponsor 200 children through school
• check_circleKeep the community library and research room open daily
• check_circleVocational placements for school leavers

What we do

We sponsor orphans and vulnerable children through primary, secondary and vocational education, provide scholastic materials and uniforms, run a community library and research room, and mentor learners towards employable skills.

Goals

• check_circleProtected water point within reach of every supported village
• check_circleHousehold sanitation for all enrolled families
• check_circleShelter repair for child-headed households

What we do

Clean water, a dry roof and a safe latrine are the foundation of health. We rehabilitate boreholes, construct household latrines and hand-washing facilities, and repair the homes of child-headed and grandmother-headed families.

Goals

• check_circle100% treatment adherence among enrolled youth
• check_circleCommunity HIV awareness in every parish
• check_circleNutrition support for children on treatment

What we do

We identify children and youth living with HIV, link them to treatment, support adherence and nutrition, and run community awareness so stigma no longer keeps families from care. 89 HIV-positive children and youth have been identified and supported to date.

Goals

• check_circlePiglet multiplication to 100 households
• check_circleKitchen garden in every supported home
• check_circlePermaculture training each planting season

What we do

Our demonstration piggery multiplies stock into vulnerable households, while kitchen gardening and permaculture training give families year-round nutrition and a surplus to sell.

Goals

• check_circleVocational skills and starter kits for teenage mothers in Kasanje and Bussi landing sites
• check_circleAn active VSLA savings group in each supported village, led by teenage mothers
• check_circleBusiness mentorship, childcare and a route back to school for every young mother enrolled

What we do

In Kasanje and Bussi, a girl becomes a mother before she becomes a woman. UBOS lists Kasanje Town Council with 71.4% of parishes reporting child marriages and 71.4% reporting child battering and neglect. When a fisherman offers UGX 5,000 for fish, a schoolgirl with no fees, no sanitary pads and a grandmother who cannot afford food sees no choice. She becomes pregnant, drops out, and her child becomes the next orphan we rescue. A teenage mother in Byangiri or at a Bussi landing site has three enemies: no education (rural Wakiso girls drop out at 46.4% before P7), no skills and no capital. HIV among fisherfolk is 26.7% against 7.3% nationally, youth HIV is 10.8% against 3.7%, and 90% of fishermen are under 40 with irregular income. When the man leaves, the girl is left with a baby, no food and stigma. We do not just give cash. We respond with: 1. Village savings and vocational skills — tailoring, hairdressing, liquid soap making, fish drying and marketing; skills that work on islands where one trip to the health centre costs UGX 5,000. 2. Starter kits, not handouts — a sewing machine, not money that will be taken by a man. A drying rack, not promises. 3. Psychosocial and business mentorship — our counsellor and teacher help her save, say no and return to school, while our matron cares for her baby. Alongside this, Village Savings and Loan Associations give caregivers, especially grandmothers, a safe place to save and borrow, with seed grants for small businesses. When a teenage mother earns UGX 10,000 a day from her own business, she does not trade sex for fish. She buys food, buys pads, returns to school, and her child is not stunted like 29.8% of Bussi's children.

Goals

• check_circleAnnual community evidence report
• check_circleResearch room open to students and partners
• check_circleRepresentation on district OVC platforms

What we do

We collect and publish evidence on the lives of orphans and vulnerable children, run the community research room, and take findings to district and national platforms so policy reflects what families actually face.

Goals

• check_circleRights sensitisation in every supported parish
• check_circleCommunity accountability meetings each quarter
• check_circlePublished annual accounts

What we do

We sensitise communities on their rights, train local committees in transparent leadership, and hold our own work to the same standard through published accounts and beneficiary feedback.