Since 1992, Uganda has been a refuge for Sudanese refugees fleeing the violent regime of Oma Al Bashir. In 2009, Bashir was found guilty by the International Crimes Council for his role in the Darfur genocide even though he was the sitting President of his country. Some thought that the creation of South Sudan in 2011 might bring peace to the nation because it allowed Christians to have a country of their own to practice their religion freely. This hasn’t stopped Bashir from terrorizing these people and has possibly gotten even worse than it was before. At the moment over 3,000 people are fleeing Sudan every day to the overcrowded refugee camps located in Northern Uganda with almost 70% of them being children. This makes the crisis one of the largest in the world and one in which the international community is almost blind to. It’s our role at Kids Around the World to be an advocate for the children caught in the middle of this war and seek to encourage and strengthen them through programs and resources that directly impact their lives.
Kids Around the World partners making a difference
Kids Around the World has been active in Uganda since 2010. Our work started in partnership with Compassion International equipping and resourcing children’s workers leading 223 Saturday programs.
In 2013 OneMeal volunteers packed and shipped the first food container to Uganda to support several feeding centers located in Entebbe. In July 2016 a KIDStory Workshop was held for South Sudanese pastors living in the refugee camps. The KIDStory program returned the following year to train more pastors and now there are StoryClubs where thousands of kids are encountering Jesus. Over the years, we’ve worked with several different partners to build 25 playgrounds where children can freely play and enjoy being a kid. Our most recent and integrated work is through our partnership with World Vision. With their help, two child friendly spaces now exist in the middle of two strategic communities where children gather and hear the Gospel and get involved in other programs during the week. Additional projects have supported orphanages, schools, and communities with the power of play that are still going strong to this day.
Help send 1,000,001 meals for refugees
One of our current partners, Missions 1040, directed by Denise Carlsen, works in the Bidibidi refugee camp in Northern Uganda caring for South Sudanese refugees. With over 200 South Sudanese pastors living in the refugee camps, Missions 1040 started planting churches in the camp – which clearly was becoming a long term situation for the families entering it. So far 42 churches have been planted along with a training center to equip pastors and their new churches. The 1M1 packing event will ship meals directly to refugees in Uganda where the new church plants can meet the critical need of hunger for those at risk of starvation in the camp. By allowing the church to distribute this resource, we hope the love of God is shown to the people in a tangible way.
South Sudanese refugees have the right to eat
We need your help to send 1,000,001 meals to South Sudanese refugee children and families who are going days without food and are dying from starvation. Every gift helps with the ongoing refugee crisis. Let’s end hunger together OneMeal at a time.
