Produce children you can care for- Ugandans told

Ugandans have been urged to only produce children they can adequately care for, rather than burdening other people including government and NGOs.

“Nobody gave you contract to produce many children.  Produce only those you can look after . Don’t say because this government or such and such an NGO is here, I can give birth to all children I want. When you give birth to a child, it is your responsibility to look after that child. Therefore, the children you are siring now you don’t know where they will end up a few years to come. So produce a few you can ably look after,” Mondo Kyateeka, the commissioner-in-charge of children affairs at the Gender ministry urged.

He was on Friday speaking during the opening of the office of Kiteezi Samaritan, affiliated to International Samaritan, a non-government organization that helps uplifts the standards of people working in dumping sites.

Kyateeka said whereas there is no harm in producing as many children as possible, it makes no sense when these children are not adequately cared for.

He also applauded NGOs like Kiteezi Samaritan for stepping in to complement government efforts of giving a proper life to vulnerable groups of people like children and women.

Kyateeka however noted that the root cause of all problems is poverty, that he said needs to be fought by everyone.

“We need to know that poverty anywhere is a threat to prosperity everywhere. It must interest us to check poverty levels. It is important to ensure we do everything possible to work towards a society of equity. The gap between poor and rich is very wide and as long as this continues happening, we have a problem. We need to close the gap between the rich and the poor.”

“When we get such NGOs to help us, it doesn’t mean we should leave everything to them. We should know that the biggest burden should go to us to solve our own problems,”Kyateeka said.

The Community Development Officer for Wakiso district, John Kyejusa hailed NGOs for always complementing government in provision of services to the populations.

“We thank government for opening up for organisations like Kiteezi Samaritan to complement provision of services to people. Government programs can’t reach every individual but with such organisations, they can help extend the services,” Kyejusa said.

“We now see the future of the vulnerable families as being bright. Apart from supporting the vulnerable families, we shall link them to government services for continuity. We look forward to working with Kiteezi Samaritan to introduce other government programs not only benefitting children but also other members of the public.”

David Kafambe , the  Executive Director of Kiteezi Samaritan said  the NGO that started six months ago aims at working and supporting women working in dumpsites like Kiteezi.

“Someone working in a garbage dumpsite is the lowest level someone can have with so many health hazards but we come to walk hand in hand with them and support them to break the barrier of poverty.  We invest in education of their children so they can come back to develop their communities,” Kafambe said.

He explained that in the past six months, they have been able to give scholarships to 200 children of women working in the dumpsites.

“We also support women with livelihood programs but also provide medical needs to ensure they have a good health to work. In terms of livelihood programs, we bring them together in groups like dance troupes that can be hired to earn money. Those with good business ideas, we help them developed.”

According to Kafambe, the new office is also a training centre for women to acquire different skills in entrepreneurship, digital literacy, craft making, and jewelry making among others.

He said this year they are investing over shs1.5 billion in the program and so far they have helped 75 families in Kiteezi.

Pawuk Andrew, the Vice President of Operations for International Samaritan, a US based NGO said having started 30 years ago, sought to extend services to Ugandans working in dumping sites.

“We want to bring hope to the people of Kiteezi, including mothers, fathers and children who work in the dumping site. We want to bring education and holistic scholarships to children . Local authorities in Uganda are very eager to work with organisations like International Samaritan to support people  and therefore this encouraged us to extend services here,”Pawuk said.