Clocktower trip to Kamuzinda Children’s Village 2023

Report by Liz Tonge

As I write, It was just over two weeks ago that we were stepping off the plane that had brought us back to a cold, grey Manchester, a world away from Kamuzinda Children’s Village in Uganda, which had been home to our group of Ormskirk Clocktower Rotarians and friends for over two weeks. A world away indeed, in temperature, scenery, culture, but most of all, in the everyday life of the children and staff who live there.

This was our fourth visit to Uganda, travelling with a group of 13 volunteers, all eager to support Kamuzinda Village, home to over 400 orphaned and destitute children rescued from the streets of Kampala and the surrounding areas by the Molly and Paul Childcare Foundation - a non government charity set up in the 80’s to provide free homes, education and medical care to those in their care. Kamuzinda is a small village near the shores of Lake Victoria, a four hour drive west from Kampala along dusty roads and small communities. The children’s village has eleven homes for the children, a high school, a primary school, a kindergarten and a clinic – which also serves the local community as well as staff and children.

Unable to travel through the covid years, or last visit to Kamuzinda was in February 2020. We knew of the hardships that had faced the village and were unsure of what impact this would have had, but despite the huge challenges that faced the staff and children daily we were greeted with dazzling smiles, warm hugs and an outburst of singing and dancing – the perfect tonic after a 24 hour hour journey!

Our mission for this trip was to build five new outdoor pit latrines – one for each of the schools, one for the staff quarters and two for the homes. The existing latrines were dilapidated and in awful condition, with crumbling walls, rotting doors and leaking tin roofs. This project was funded by kind and generous donations from Rotary clubs in District 1180, as well as the family of Clocktower Rotarian Mark Cowing, who sadly passed away in 2022, (Mark was a keen supporter of the charity and came with us on all our trips). There was also fundraising efforts by all in our party which together raised a total in the region of £16,000!

The building work for the latrines had been started before our arrival, which meant that our task of painting them could be started almost immediately. With paint and brushes purchased, we managed to paint two entire blocks whilst there, leaving materials to complete the remainder after we left.

It soon became evident that there were other jobs to do. Unfortunately there had been a small fire in one of the homes (no injuries thank goodness) which had left the walls black and charred. A young family were living in a tiny room within the building.  With the help of some older children we washed the walls and repainted the home, inside and out. It looked brilliant! 

A requirement from the Ugandan government that schools should have a perimeter fence for safeguarding purposes provided another opportunity to work off Mama Milly’s fabulous meals - not only did we fund the fence and wire, but members of the group spent days helping to dig holes, mix concrete and erect over 100 fence posts!

Thankfully not all the work was physically challenging. The group had carried 26 suitcases filled with donated items from friends, family, schools, the local community, as well as District 1180 Rotary clubs! We carried with us laptops, stationary & school resources, school shoes, toiletries, clothes, glasses and medical supplies, all of which were distributed in the homes, schools and clinic around the village. The smiles on the faces of the children as they were each given a new pencil and biro, and a bag containing a new toothbrush, toothpaste and a bar of soap warmed my heart – so much gratitude for something we take for granted in the UK.

Our time was not confined to the village itself, we used money donated to put together food bowls for most vulnerable members of the community. Uncle George, the village elder, selected the most needy & impoverished, many of them grandparents trying to bring up children whose parents had died of AIDS. We filled 24 bowls with bags of rice, flour, laundry soap, salt, sugar & visited homes on the backs of bodabodas, the local motorbike taxis, often riding along narrow footpaths & dusty roads. We also took with us pairs of glasses & left a few villages able to read for the first time in many months.

Our time was also spent in the classrooms. English is the official language in Uganda, so teachers made the most of members of our group who volunteered to help with our? Others sat under the mango tree sewing buttons on uniforms & mending ripped pockets! Later in the day we all enjoyed playing rounders with children, all of whom could hit the ball better than us! A highlight of our time was inviting all the Mamas, the ladies who care for the children in the homes, to a thank you party where food, fizzy pop & gifts were provided, but a ? they particularly enjoyed learning ‘musical chairs’ in return for them singing some beautiful Uganda songs & teaching us some African moves!

Our 2 weeks at Kamuzinda came to an end far too quickly. Although we looked forward to all the home comforts of the UK (mostly hot water) we were all sad to leave. The children & staff of Kamuzinda Childrens Village face many hardships daily but their happiness and acceptance of their life is a valuable lesson to many in the world? Yes, we helped them, but they helped us more , we learned a lot from our Uganda friends.

To end, I’d just like to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped in any way to make this trip successful. I think Mama Moses summed it up perfectly that night of the party….

I’m already dreaming of my next visit to my Uganda home.