As all over the world, children in Uganda need care and support. Children are among the first group of victims from various social and economic problems. They suffer from Family conflict, War, Poverty, Cultural barriers and natural disasters. In Uganda, Children between 0-18 years of age are 48% of the 49.25 million of the total population. The Holy Orthodox Church of Uganda is fully involved in the implementation of several humanitarian activities. It implements various social educational programs in the country where it has its presence. Most of the social educational projects implemented by the Church in Uganda have received wider recognition and appreciation by its partners, the Government and the community at large. The Orthodox Church in its social development and humanitarian works considers children as its Priority target groups. The Holy Orthodox Church of Uganda gives special care and attention to vulnerable children, physically and mentally challenged children and also HIV/AIDS victims. It is estimated that 230,000 (13.56%) of Ugandans died of HIV/AIDS in 2023 and it has been the most common form of death of young adults since the late 1980s. It is important to understand that these deaths resonate beyond their own profound significance due to the socio-economic effects of HIV/AIDS and therefore, all these require a large amount of Care and tension.

His Eminence, Vladyka Nektarios giving scholarstic materials to some of the orphans and vulnerable children at St. Gregory Palamas Orthodox Schools

The provision of Scholastic materials to these vulnerable children is meant to give education that can help them attain knowledge of writing, reading, complete high school level and then train for a course for self-reliance. By the end of January 2024, the Church had successfully helped 832 orphans. They were given scholastic materials, uniforms and some tuition and we were able to place them back to schools. With the increasing number of people being affected by HIV/AIDS in our Orthodox church in Uganda is increasing, very many families have been affected leading to an increased number of orphans and vulnerable children. There is an anxiety amongst our faithful about what will happen to their children and what will make it higher for them to live positively with HIV/AIDS. Basing on the above complex issues, and basing on the fact that 41.3% of the total population of Uganda lives below the poverty line, The Orthodox Church of Uganda has embarked on the campaigns of soliciting for funding from external sources to address the above challenges in order to eradicate illiteracy and instilling good moral values of school going age in order to turn them into acceptable members of society.

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