UGANDA: Success Stories of Re-integration Process of Children from Catholic Care Institutions in Uganda
By ARU-CCCU CMO-Caroline Nansukusa
Catholic Care for Children Uganda (CCCU) in partnership with GHR Foundation and the mother organization of the Association of the Religious in Uganda (ARU) has supported two Catholic Care Institutions (CCIs) as a pilot to generate evidence to scale out to other CCIs under this project. This project was undertaken with an intent to reduce the number of children in the CCIs by supporting resettlement of at least 75% of the children. As by April 12, 2021, 60% of the children were resettled with packages to help them start a better life either with their parents, relatives or as independent youth.
However, this does not mean that the children from the pilot Institutions (St. Mugagga Boy’s and Kinyarugonjo Children’s Home) who have been taken to their different placements are now fine and can stand on their own. There is need for post resettlement follow-ups and extra hard and soft life-skills trainings are needed such as Financial Literacy for the independent boys so as to manage their businesses well. This is only possible if they have enough and extra support from willing ‘good Samaritans’ to support their re-integration and independent living.
There are a few cases to show support or engagement; Jude Kakuuma (male, aged 23), was raised in St. Mugagga Boys Home all his child and early adulthood until March 21, 2021 when he was disengaged and supported for independent living. The CCI supported Jude to take a three-year course in Carpentry and Joinery. However, his passion rested elsewhere. So, he did not practice carpentry and Joinery. He opted for catering. Thus, the CCI linked him to a restaurant in Jinja City where the visitation team found him. He did not study catering but he was learning on job. “My dream is to run restaurant business,” he said.
Jude’s journey towards independent living:
According to the CCI Staff of St. Mugagga, after completion of his carpentry course, Jude started looking at himself as someone who had outgrown the CCI and started to demand for an independent living. To this effect, he started looking for job opportunities. While still in the CCI, he used to go to the neighboring police barracks for casual work from which he derived basic savings. Meanwhile, he increasingly expressed passion in catering. In early 2020, he was linked to a job in a restaurant but this was disrupted by Covid-19 pandemic lock down. However, when the lockdown was eased, he reported back to duty.
The visitation team found that he was doing very well at work. “He blends well with the employer and fellow workers especially women, because most of his friends are female. It would seem that, since he lived in the CCI for a long time, he missed female counterparts in his life and he could be compensating;” one colleague observed.
At work, Jude performs the following roles: cooking, serving clients, and at times he is at the front desk while in other cases, he is tasked to purchase food items in the market. He is paid UGX 5,000 (US $2) daily. Because he works in a restaurant, Jude gets his lunch and sometimes supper at the workplace (depending on the time his day ends). As such in the process he saves a most of his daily earning.
Jude’s life outside St. Mugagga Boy’s Home
On March 21, 2021, Jude started a new life outside the CCI. He was supported with 6 months’ rent with the assumption that after 6 months, Jude will be in position to meet his rent bills. He lives in Walukuba near Jinja Town. His residence is a walkable distance to the workplace. The CCI was instrumental in searching for him a house (two–roomed) with a living room and a bedroom. The monthly rent is UGX 80,000. The CCI paid UGX 240,000 upfront for the first 3 months. In a casual interaction with Jude, he expressed that he is steadily adapting to life outside St. Mugagga.
Social life and friends
According to Jude’s Employer at Enkabi Restaurant, he is gentle and reserved; friendly only to those he is close to. He relates well with customers and his work colleagues. On Sundays he goes for prayers at Rubaga Cathedral (close to St. Mugagga Boys’ Home) and after service, he visits his friends at Police Barracks, also located near the Cathedral. He made these friends while he was still at the CCI. These were also his OGs at St. Gonzaga Primary School.
At his residence, he has a neighbor who he refers to as his friend. The two blend well. This friend could be a resource in supporting to him become independent.
Whereas Jude is steadily adapting without the daily care that St. Mugagga offered, he experiences some challenges. These include struggling to count money. He can now recognize a 50,000, 20,000 and 10,000 notes but his current problem is summing up monies. This is partly attributed to dependency of children in the CCI and on the CCI staff for basic activities like shopping, budgeting, saving, etc.
He needs a bank account but part of the problem is that he lacks a National identity Card; he needs a mobile phone line with a sim card registered in his name. Incidentally, this also requires a National ID.
Jude also needs to learn emotional management. He is high tempered. For instance, if disturbed by children he becomes physically aggressive. He is also easily put off by being asked many questions
His flat has a broken window. He thus had a problem with mosquitoes. He had no a mosquito net. He needed a repair of the window but had no idea of how to go about this.
Recommendations made by the Visitation Team
For a successful independent living in the ‘normal world’ Jude still needs support in financial literacy. This will help him learn to count money and manage finances. This is very important for his everyday life but it even makes more sense given that he dreams of starting a restaurant business in future. Jude needs to start on the process of applying for a national I.D. The visitation team agreed with the CCI team (Social worker and Administrator) that the CCI will support him get information needed by National Identification & Registration Authority (NIRA) Office in order to issue him the National ID.
In addition, he will be guided to the NIRA office in Jinja. He needs support in the area of developing personal development plans i.e., opening a bank account. The CCI team would help him in this regard to open up an account in Centenary Bank. He also ought to be supported to open up a Mobile Money account. Jude needs peer to peer support especially from close friends so that he can easily cope with life challenges. CCI should keep monitoring Jude’s independent living progress. The CCI team is engaging Jude’s boss to help him learn how to count money.
