This has led to a high teenage pregnancy rate in Kayunga with some girls getting pregnant at an age as early as 11 years before they see their first menstrual cycle! Almost 85% of the children are becoming orphans every month, Since the ’80s when HIV/AIDS was realized in Uganda, it has claimed the lives of millions of people and as a result, over 6.5 million children have been left orphaned in Uganda.

The distress and depression upon these children are so great that they are put in a position of rejection and self-pity. They suffer from increasing displacement, marginalization, dissolution of family protection, and segregation from the community making them feel they are an economic burden thus they fall behind educationally and even socially. This has tended to have life long effects on their development leading to a generation of no hope for tomorrow.

The loss of one or both parents to a condition that is so stigmatized and steeped in myths, cultural beliefs, and politics is incredibly isolating for children as they themselves try to cope with grief and loss. In a country plagued by poverty and high vulnerability levels, the situation of surviving children is made even more precarious when they cannot access appropriate education and other basic needs. Oftentimes, extended family members take orphans into their already crowded homes, but this still leaves them vulnerable as they share already stretched resources. Furthermore, when parents die, the basic education and health afforded by a home are lost due to the interrelated issues of disinheritance practices and the inability to afford basic necessities.

The COVID-19 pandemic era and post COVID-19 era, will have far-reaching effects on children. With the high death tolls and unpredictable death rates in the near future where the death rate is high within the adults, many children are being left orphaned and vulnerable. Where the schools have been closed for some time and the exacerbated poverty and domestic violence within the stringent lockdowns, many girl children have been abused and left vulnerable with unwanted early age pregnancies. Some have been sent into early marriages by their parents in exchange for food, while others go into forced labor in search of a safe haven. It is against this backdrop that BUVAD focuses on Orphaned Vulnerable Children’s/youths’ education and rehabilitation under this program.

Education as we know is the fundamental right of a child/youth. When a child is educated, that child becomes socially, mentally, morally, and spiritually sound. Education is the way forward to end the scourging effect of poverty in our communities and in our country as a whole. We believe that education is the key to ending domestic violence that has claimed so many lives and properties in Kayunga District and Uganda as a whole. The role of education cannot be overemphasized, youths and children are key agents to sustainable growth and development in their communities. The only way they can achieve this is if they are given the right to education.

As BUVAD continues to source out individual sponsors to the all identified children/youths, BUVAD is focusing on establishing a self-propelled, charity-driven youth empowerment and training center in Kayunga Uganda, that has an own source of income for future sustainability and expansion, which will be geared towards school dropouts and vulnerable youths (children) acquiring market demand-driven skills in Kayunga district of Uganda.

Our goal is to ensure a sustainable life with market demand-driven skills in the future for 300 youths (above) annually.