Please Excuse the Mess, We are in the process of renovating the site.
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| Uganda's Stone Quarry Children |  |
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Please Excuse the Mess, We are in the process of renovating the site. | |||||||
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Back Dear friends, I would like to introduce to you my partner’s mama Linda, Mama Joe and Mama Jose, as our partners in the campaign to stop child labour as one form of child abuse and Stone quarrying is considered as one of the worst forms of Child Labour Condemned internationally. The child labour campaign is spear headed by Anne Tinka, who founded the project in 2008. I was touched by the plight of four girls one evening, while i stood on the roadside waiting for the bus,when I saw those carrying stones from the quarry to the roadside. What struck me most was that the weight of the 7 years old girl was heavier than her actual weight and I could lift it with strain. It really disturbed me and more especially, the girls would pass my home going down the road to deliver the stones and each trip they passed broke my heart. I discussed the issue with Rotarian James who introduced me to these ladies and we started communicating, With help from connections of Mama Linda and her colleagues we have managed to have some girls in good boarding schools. While taking these children to good boarding schools is a good idea but the idea of constructing a school for them is an opportunity that would help them to learn and at the same time keep the ties with their families. It’s important to know why these people engage in stone mining, in Kabale, because of overpopulation, land is very limited and considering the landscape where the ¾ of the land is either hilly or swampy, leaving survival for the fittest. We have launched a campaign to stop child labour but the effort of few individuals will not end child labour, it needs a collective responsibility. Our source of income to provide scholastic materials to children, who might be forced to go into child labour, is only through the quarry bags at the moment. Through the sale of quarry bags, Mama Joey has raised $700 whi which we have used to start on the vegetable garden and at the moment, the work is in progress. We have seedlings of Onions, Cabbages, Green pepper beetroots water melon lettuce, spinach and amaranths. The aim of the above garden is to improve on the nutrition status of the children since we observed that 6 out 10 of the children we have at the center are stunted. We have established 20 home gardens for the children to be able to have Vegetables in their backyard. St Catherine Vocational (Child advocacy and community outreach) is benefiting 514 Children with scholastic materials and counseling, as well as giving them opportunity to explore their talents in music sports and drama, On 14th Aug 2010 we opened up a resource center for the children to access reading materials, playing toys and also adults to access newspapers books relevant to development, agriculture self help, nutrition, HIV and Aids, malaria prevention, relationships etc. You can read the attachment for the resource center. God Bless Anne Tinka |
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