Daily Life in Owengai:

An example of the struggles that the people of Owangai face on a daily basis is Helen below. Helen is a widow and is taking care of nine children. Helen suffers from HIV/ Aids and has taken over the care of four children of her neighbour who died of the same disease last year. When we arrived at her house there was no granary, which is always an alarming sign in villages such as Owangai. No granary means that there is no food and looking around we could see no signs of a toilet or any other bathing facilities. When we spoke to Helen she told us that she receives treatment for her illness when she can with anti retroviral drugs, but with the nearest hospital 80km away, it is rare that she has a chance to go and get treatment. She also does not know if her deceased neighbour's child who she is carrying in her arms has HIV/ Aids, as she has not been able to test him. As a one parent family in one of the worst poverty stricken areas of Uganda, life for Helen is a constant struggle, getting food for the nine children is her biggest task on a daily basis. Children's Sure House does what it can by providing food to families such as Helen's but knows that it is not enough as our resources are stretched. Helen's story is one that is unfortunately all too common in Owangai.

Building a better future:

Our project in Owangai is still very much in it's infancy. We have started building our School and as at July 2008 we have the foundations on the School established. What we need are volunteers who would like to help build a community in which hope is given a chance. The people of Owangai have little of nothing materially but have a very noble spirit, and are very welcoming to all volunteers as they see them as a sign of hope. Volunteers will not fail to be touched by the experience of being in Owangai much like this writer was.

Empowerment through Teaching:

We at Children's Sure House believe that education is the key to giving the children the chances that their parents were denied. We want to build a School and through community development foster a culture of empowerment and hope to make the lives of the people in Owangai, less of a struggle.

The objectives of the project:

• To provide free basic education to the underprivileged children, children infected or affected by HIV / AIDS and other diseases, and provide free adult literacy education to the communities in Uganda.
• To provide a forum for young people to build and develop experience in their academic fields and social economic development areas of interest.
• To identify and expose potential resources in the communities, country and international arena through research and information dissemination that have relevancy to promote social and economic development.
• To establish an HIV /AIDS advisory/ counselling and Information Centre that promotes the use of information and address all HIV /AIDS issues, coordinate training programs and organizing sensitisation seminars/ workshops for the community.
• To encourage, sensitise and counsel both children and adults living with HIV/AIDS and its prevention through sensitisation workshops, counselling services and help carry out tests to the members who might be willing to have this service.
• To establish an Orphan and other vulnerable groups assistance scheme.