By Raziah Athman_
In Kanungu district, western Uganda, where HIV and poverty have left children without parents, a community of grandmothers is reshaping their future one family at a time.
Nyaka Grandmothers Program has empowered over 20,000 grannies to take on the task of raising and nurturing over 80,000 orphaned and vulnerable children.
What started as a small favor 20 years ago, is now a lifechanging community-driven initiative for thousands of families.
The founder, Twesigye Jackson Kaguri “went house to house in the community where the first Nyaka Primary School is located and asked women to help house children while they come to school Monday to Friday.”
The results were good. More children would now easily access school thanks to nearby homes where they resided.
“We got higher participation in school, higher attendance and we saw that it was working for our children. But then we asked ourselves what do we do for the women who are housing these children, who are not paid, who are volunteering? We decided to evolve the program and include benefits for these women who we call Nyaka Grandmothers,” Kaguri explains.
60-year-old Kyarikunda Georgina’s husband died in 2005.
We find her grinding sorghum on a stone while the children are sweeping the backyard.
Her only child went away. She got married and now lives in another town.
Instead of living a lonely life, she decided to care for children who needed a home. Today, eight children are under her custody and she has found meaning in the volunteer work.
“Giving and supporting children is not because you are rich or you have a lot of money, there are those who have a lot of money but have not been helping but coping from my example who are coming up to assist children,” Kyarikunda explains.
