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WELCOME TO SOUTH SUDAN WIDOWS ASSOCIATION TO SAVE ORPHANS IN UGANDA
We partner with local ministries across East Africa to bring holistic care and hope in Christ to hundreds of the most vulnerable children in their communities. Connecting these special kids with caring sponsors changes lives on all sides.
In these stories of hope, there is a place just for you.
SSIWASOU
Children’s Home Adjumani
WHO WE ARE
ABOUT SOUTH SUDAN WIDOWS ASSOCIATION TO SAVE ORPHAND IN UGANDA (SSIWASOU)
SSIWASOU is a Children’s Home based in Northern part of Uganda in Adjumani District. We care for the Disadvantaged Orphans and widows by Providing Holistic care to a number of Vulnerable children in Uganda and South Sudan.
South Sudan International Widows International Association to Save Orphans in Uganda originally known as International Association for South Sudan Refugees in Uganda (IWASSRU) is a non-profit charitable organization formed in 1994 at Oliji Refugees transit camp in Adjumani District by Mrs. Susan Abiku Tabia. She was told in a dream that Religion that God accept as pure and faultless is to care for widows and orphans in their distress (James 1:27-29) where she later joined by several other widows and well-wishers. The Association operates under the Episcopal Church of South Sudan in Kajo-keji Diocese in the Republic of South Sudan and St. Luke Church Parish of Adjumani District in West Nile Region of north-western Uganda respectively.
Due to the prolonged unstable and endless political situation in South Sudan, the organization mainly operates in the Northern Sub-region of Uganda, providing care and support to orphans, widows, and the disabled people. Unfortunately, some people still struggle to bring desperate orphans like new-born babies who lost their mothers or even both parents due to either war effect or any tragedy event to us from South Sudan and Uganda at large.
The vision gave birth to Amazing Grace Orphanage through which we provide a home and basic necessities of life, like food, education, medical care, and hope through Jesus Christ. We also provide encouragement, counseling, and material support and employment opportunities at the home where possible to widows, refugees and Ugandan nationals as well. After the signing of the CPA in 2005, we established another Orphan home in South Sudan, Kajo-Keji County, called St. Bartholomew Orphanage to provide the same hope and support to the Orphans who have lost their parents to war and diseases. To date SSIWASO-U has rescued and raised 200 children who have grown to be responsible citizens of both Uganda and South Sudan with the support of national and international donors, friends and well-wishers. In 2017, we unfortunately had to relocate all our South Sudan based children to Adjumani District due to the conflict in the country and have temporarily settled them at Amazing Grace Children’s Home.
“To see the vulnerable especially orphans and widows living a full normal life in the society through provision of holistic care”
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Association is to promote and encourage holistic care for a vulnerable people in the society especially the widows and orphans. And with a vision of seeing them living a full normal life in the society.
OUR CORE VALUES
Our aim is to promote and advocate for the social welfare of the vulnerable orphans, widows and disables in the society. The association objectives over the 27 years, have been promoting the social welfare of the vulnerable orphans and widows.
OTHER CORE VALUES & AIMS
We always focus on our Objectives
Without a focus on objectives, efforts become fragmented. In a professional setting, this alignment ensures that every department from marketing to engineering is pulling in the same direction, maximizing the “force multiplier” effect of collective work.
“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”
By Peter Drucker
Specific Objectives
1. To initiate self-help projects which are income generating for sustainability of the Association
2. To restore the cultural pride and confidence among the vulnerable especially the widows and orphans as the Association combines both children from South Sudan and others from different parts of Uganda.
3. Supporting the vulnerable with basic needs such as food, shelter, medication and education.
4. Advocating for the welfare of the vulnerable orphans and widows in the society.
5. Acts as a link between the orphans and the communities in both South Sudan and Uganda through the foster care program.
Other Objectives
6. To provide relevant skilled trainings to widows and orphans to enable them sustain their lives after life in the children’s home.
7. To promote the social welfare of the Sudanese refugees in the various camps.
8. To initiate self-help projects which are income generating so that in the long run the Association becomes self-sustaining.
9. To restore cultural pride and confidence among the refugees in the camps.
10. To establish orphanages within the camps to cater for the growing number of orphans and other institutions of charity including old age homes, nursing homes and rehabilitation centres.
11. To act as mouth piece and a platform from where the orphans and widows can air out their views.
12. To act as a link between the neighboring communities and the camp communities and to advise the camp leadership on how to nurture this relationship.
13. To write projects to be submitted for funding agencies and the various offices as a means of realizing the objects herein contained.
14. Training staff on various skills relevant to the needs of the Association.
15. To canvas donor agencies to fund the various projects Association.
16. To coordinate primary health care programmes with the Uganda Government agencies at the camps.
17. To create sources of clean water and to improve the existing ones.
18. To print and publish any books, newspapers, periodicals, magazines, leaflets and any other publications whatever that the Association may deem fit for the attainment of the above objectives.
19. To promote cooperative societies and group farms and other communal organizations geared towards economic development of the population at the camps.
20. To establish marketing products of entrepreneurs and assist to coordinate export of their products.
Our Achievements
Since the Association was established in 1994, our greatest Achievements have been as follows:
Ten (10) of our children have graduated from university and are well established in different walks of life. We have ten (10) children completed senior six and are working. We have seven (7) children completed vocational training and are working. We also currently have five (5) children in university. We have eight (8) children in secondary school, and a huge number in nursery and primary school.
We were able to purchase six (6) acres of land in Mirieyi in which we have built a new decent home for our children, with support of an English donor and dear friend. Mr. Glenn Winter. We have moved to the new location in Mirieyi sub-county, Ofua Road.
We were generously gifted with (50) acres of land by the First Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda Major General Moses Ali on which we have been able to plant food crops like maize, cassava, soya beans, ground nuts, and sesame, to supplement our limited resources.
We have started Amazing Grace Nursery primary School since 2018. Currently at nursery level, we have 101 children (37 baby class, 27 middle class and 36top class) and at primary we have one hundred and sixty (160) pupils (P1 37, P2 26, P3 36 and P4 29, p5 21, p6 11). Out of the above number of children we have 129 pupils from the local community. And some of our children study’s in private schools in various parts of Uganda, like Adjumani, Arua and Kampala.
Current Number of Orphans
Age/Year
Female
Male
Total
3 – 5
7
5
12
6 – 8
4
5
9
9 – 11
14
12
26
12 – 14
8
8
16
15 – 17
11
8
19
Total
44
38
82
Challenges Facing SSIWASO-Uganda
These are some of the major challenges the organization has been facing since its commencement in 1994 in former Oliji Refugees Settlement, Adjumani District:
Failure to Finance the Programmes: Fund raising is one of the most challenging activities SSIWASO-U is facing especially the Project Team through ascertaining of sustainable donor funding opportunities mobilization concerning competitions among the numerous Civil Society Organizations. The present funding pressures has made it almost impossible to engage volunteers to implement projects targeting unproductive marginalized and vulnerable refugees and host children, older persons, widows, youth, people living with HIV/AIDS, people living with disabilities (PWDS)etc. SSIWASO-U has always been working hard to mobilize funds from local resources to implement its activities but could not support bigger projects and therefore it has also been trying to secure donor support since its commencement in 1994. However, SSIWASO-U does not implement activities on behalf of other donors. It raises its funds by writing proposals that are then supported by interested donor (s). In this case SSIWASO-U will have to always work harder for it to be able to win donors’ interest. This also means that when donors support comes to an end, then the activities also stop, hence the need to always write more proposals and constant search for donors. In this case, some donors may withdraw their funding in future from the region.
Faith-Based Organization: The fact that SSIWASO-Uganda is a Faith-Based Non-Governmental Organization but it has multipurpose programmes meaning that its results/impacts of its activities concerning evangelization programme may not easily be measurable / quantifiable let alone being observable. Where it may be possible for one to count the number of community awareness/ sensitization through evangelization conducted in a particular theme or it may be possible for one to count the number of people attending a particular evangelism, it may not be all that easy to measure how much somebody has understood the word of God and how much the word of God has changed the person’s life for better. Such are the challenges that face an organization that deals with the change of mind set / behaviour/character. Lastly, the way of being understood by both Local and Central Governments as a political organization/entity is yet another challenge and SSIWASO-U is a Faith- Based Non- Governmental Organization that mainly deals with evangelization of communities which also ensures the rights of the marginalized and vulnerable people are being by Government institutions or officials for peaceful living and co-existence although it has other development programmes as indicated in above and in the constitution too which improves the standard of living through sustainable development of marginalized and vulnerable refugees and host
WHAT WE DO
We believe everyone deserves the best chance in life. That’s why we support the most vulnerable children and their families, working with them to reduce poverty and meet their basic needs.
Education
We support the most vulnerable children through education, helping them to get the most from their time at school and providing a foundation for a productive and happy future.
We provide support and advice on health, nutrition and social care to children, their families and the wider community, equipping them with the knowledge and means to lead a safe and healthy life.
We empower young people, parents and guardians with the education, skills and resources needed to take up productive livelihoods and employment opportunities within their own communities.
