SOS Children’s Villages Uganda, one of Uganda’s largest and oldest childcare organizations on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 hosted Uganda’s top CEOs, stakeholders and business owners to a breakfast at Serena Hotel.
The meeting was organized for Chief Executives of different corporate organizations in and around Kampala, to support a fundraising campaign dubbed “Every child deserves a chance. Be that chance.” The campaign, which was officially launched on September 6, 2016, is aimed at raising money to help the childcare organization increase the number of the children in their care from 8,000 to 11,000 in the next three years. The drive is targeting to collect Ugx 6 billion in donations in the next three years.
The CEO Breakfast, which was officiated by the Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, was attended by over 20 CEOs who included Mr. Selestino Babungi, the Executive Director UMEME, Mr. Mathias Katamba, Managing Director Housing Finance Bank, Mr. Joram Kiarie, Managing Director KCB, Mr. John Murungi Lintari, CEO Sanlam Insurance and Mr. Gunter Engletis, Head of Office at the Austrian Development Agency, among others.
Addressing the guests, Ms. Olive Lumonya the National Director Children’s Villages Uganda said the campaign seeks to raise at least Ugx 600,000 for each child per year to meet all their needs from education to health care to basic home needs for the next three years.
“SOS has so far supported over 60,000 children in our 25 years of existence in Uganda. Most of these are from orphanages and childrens’ homes,” she said adding that they need more support and funds to be able to provide and take care of more children. During her remarks, Ms. Lumonya notified guests that SOS Uganda was in the process of taking in 3 more children; two being twins from Kisoro and an abandoned child from Kakiri who is currently being hosted at the convent. She appealed to the CEOs to hold SOS Uganda’s hand and get involved in providing any support they could to make a difference in these innocent childrens’ lives.
The Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Kadaga noted that the situation of children in Uganda is still appalling saying, “During the recent election campaigns, for most of the villages around our country, it was very evident that there are more children than parents in Uganda.”
Hon. Kadaga commended the childcare organization for providing safe and loving homes for abandoned children. She pledged to convince the Parliamentary Commission to identify ways of intervening in the situation saying, “Every child has a right to a name, a family, an identity and an address. We will endeavor to support SOS Uganda to continue making this possible.” The Speaker also requested the CEOs present to get involved and give a helping hand.
The donation platforms for this campaign are Mobile Money, bank deposits, online transfers and direct donations in kind. Mr. Muhereza Kyamutetera, the Managing Director Corporate Image Ltd., the communications firm that is running the fundraising campaign on behalf of SOS Uganda, took the guests through the various donation mechanics, which will also have an SOS Challenge. During the practical session, some of the guests present had a successful go at making donations via Mobile Money.
The donation Mobile Money numbers are 0705 505505 or 0776 505509. To donate online, one has to visit the website www.sos-childrensvillagesuganda.org for details.
