Dwelling Places Karamoja Education Project

The Dwelling Places/FAMMI Karamoja Education Project

Feed a Million Mouths International (FAMMI) and Dwelling Places (DP) have formed a strategic partnership to stop at source the migration of Karamojong children to the streets of Kampala.

UNICEF estimates that there are approximately 10,000 street children in Kampala. About 85% of these children come from the Karamojong region in north eastern Uganda. This region has been decimated by drought, political violence and virtually no economic activity. Poverty, desperation and the attraction of supposed instant riches on the streets of the capital entice droves of children and families to Kampala. Reality takes root rapidly. The street children are subject to violence, hunger, malnutrition and untreated illness.

In 2006 the Ugandan government and the Kampala Capital City Authority decided to deal with the problem of several thousand street children, which in their opinion, blighted the city and caused a security problem. Their solution was not to remedy the problem but rather to displace the problem in a blatant “out of sight out of mind” strategy. The homeless were rounded up in truck loads and were taken to the Karampingisa Rehabilitation Centre.

In 2008 it was decided that it was no longer tenable to keep the children and families in what is essentially a prison. The entire population was relocated to Lomaratoit Village in the Napak region on Karamoja. However the persistent issues of poverty and lack of food security have not been adequately addressed.

DP has taken 200 children off the streets and has resettled them with their families in Lomaratoit. DP is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education and the local government to support the school and the teachers in Lomaratoit. To this end, DP will pay the school fees for 200 pupils. The organisation will also work with the families of these children to help them develop and grow income generating activities.

FAMMI and DP have entered into a strategic partnership. FAMMI has made a commitment to provide the 200 children with one serving of Meal-in1 every day for one year. This is a commitment of 7,300 kg of food that will make a significant difference to their futures.

The unique advantage in this initiative is that the FAMMI/DP partnership is addressing the Street Child issue at source. We are addressing the very issues that drive them onto the streets of Kampala. Together, we are providing food and education to 300 children.

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