Recent Snapshot Updates

Stakeholders' Feedback & Reflection Meeting in Napak

Greetings from Dwelling Places!

Dwelling Places has conducted an Annual District Stakeholders’ Feedback & Reflection meeting to assess the outcomes of the Community Action Project. The meeting also discussed the way forward as the project comes to an end. In delivering his opening remarks, the Country Director of Dwelling Places, David Ben Ochom stated that the intention of the project was to have a sustainable approach to ending child trafficking. The CAO thanked the Country Director of Dwelling Places and the team for coming up with strong implementation schemes to end child trafficking. In attendance were children, parents, police, and probation officers among others.

National Dialogue on Child Trafficking in Uganda

Terre des Hommes, Dwelling Places in collaboration with the Uganda Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN) and the Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons -Uganda (CATIPU) have organized a national dialogue on trafficking in persons.
The focus of the dialogue was on child trafficking with a specific interest in discussing the different actions taken at the local/district and national levels. There were also discussions about the existing gaps and how all duty bearers can collaborate to jointly address the problem both at the source (Napak District/ Karamoja Region) and the destination (Major towns/ cities like Kampala).
This event has held at Kampala Serena Hotel on the 22nd of September 2022. Norbert Mao, the Ugandan Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs who was the Guest of Honor at the event stressed the urgency for child trafficking to end and pledged to support the efforts to address the issue through his current office.

Kampala-Entebbe Challenge Walk

On the 24th of September 2022, Dwelling Places joined its partner Rahab Uganda in a walk to create awareness of Human Trafficking. The main event was held in Entebbe Municipality, Wakiso District.

Celebrating World Day Against Trafficking in Persons in Uganda

Greetings from Dwelling Places
This year’s World Day Against Trafficking in Persons took place on 30th July, 2022 at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda under the theme “Harnessing Tech to Prevent & #ENDTRAFFICKINGINPERSONS Starts With Me”
The event was flagged of at the Mayor's Garden in Entebbe from where participants marched to Kitoro Entebbe.

Speaking on the theme, Agnes Igoye,the Deputy Coordinator for the Office for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons(TIP) stressed the connection between trafficking and exploitation.The chief guest, Hon. Musa Ecweru, Minister of State for Works added, "Trafficking is not only happening with children; adults too are being trafficked out of the country and something has to be done about it.”

In attendance were the chief guest, Hon. Musa Ecweru, Minister of State for Works representing the Ministry of Works, Representatives of Heads of Diplomatic Missions including the Ambassador of the USA to Uganda, Mr. David Skorski, Honourable Members of Parliament, representatives from the executive and judiciary, Col.Geoffrey Kambere, the Commissioner for Immigrations, Chair of National Taskforce for the Prevention of TIP, National Coordinator for the Office for the Prevention of TIP, Commissioner of Police Twinomujuni Julius, Deputy Coordinator for the Office for the Prevention of TIP, Asst. Commissioner Agnes Igoye, Development Partners including UNODC, IOM, Hope for Justice, GIZ, TDH, the Director General of UCAA, Members of the Coalition against Trafficking in Persons represented by the Board Chair, Dr. Annette Kirabira, Member of the Press and selected children.

A SUCCESS STORY OF HOPE

In July this year, Dwelling Places organised its fourth JOURNEY OF HOPE mass awareness campaign on Child Trafficking and the Unsafe Migration of Karamojong children who are being mercilessly exploited and subjected to street begging, sexual exploitation, and other hazardous forms of labour.
The Campaign involved an 18-day walk from Kampala to Napak District(Karamoja) from the 4th to the 21st of July 2022. It ran under the theme: “Reversing the flow of child trafficking and unsafe migration” and trended on social media with #SchoolsNotStreets.
Through this Campaign, Dwelling Places successfully engaged with many people in the different districts that were traversed. This included schools, transport operators, village leaders and other community members who were then admonished to be vigilant of child traffickers who ply their communities. Participants in the walk were led by Country Director David Ben Ochom throughout the 18-day journey.

JOURNEY OF HOPE started in 2015 to spread the message of HOPE to the Karamojong people and to document and celebrate every step achieved in the JOURNEY towards attaining the future hoped for. The last three Journey of Hope Campaigns have successfully kept at least 358 survivors in school, some of whom have even progressed to secondary education.
On the final day of celebrations in Napak District, Karamoja, the Country Director of Dwelling Places – David Ben Ochom made a passionate appeal, stating, “We want to call upon all leaders of communities to work together with us to see that this plight comes to an end.” This final day celebration took place at the District headquarters in Napak. In attendance was the Napak District leader (L c 5, Napak, The RDC, The Senior Probation officer, and Media, among others).

Pack-A-Bag

We have kickstarted our Pack-A-Bag Campaign to raise funds to provide school supplies for all 400 children in Dwelling Places care. Just £10 can provide a child in Uganda with everything they need to begin the school year, including stationery, toiletries and snacks.
We kindly ask that you support us in this endeavour to keep our dear children in school and off the streets. Click here to find out how you too can make a difference in a child's life today!

JOURNEY OF HOPE

Greetings from Dwelling Places!
We thank God for another month and the opportunity to serve Him in protecting vulnerable children over the years.

This year, Dwelling Places is excited to organise our JOURNEY OF HOPE walk from Kampala to Karamoja (Napak District). The aim is to create awareness about child trafficking and the plight of children in Karamojong who are being trafficked and mercilessly exploited on the streets. These children are subjected to sexual exploitation, hazardous forms of labour and many of them have had to resort to street begging to survive. This year's Child Trafficking Awareness Campaign and Journey of Hope walk will last 18 days and run under the theme: Reversing the flow of Child Trafficking and Unsafe Migration. With the proceeds of the Journey of Hope Campaign, we aim to construct a Comprehensive Transit and Skilling Centre in Napak District to keep these and many more children off the streets.

Annual General Meeting (2021)

In compliance with our corporate statutory requirements, Dwelling Places organised its 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) to give accountability to our donors, sponsors, partners, friends, well-wishers and the general public. This was vital for our stakeholders to clearly understand the great work, support and contribution they have made towards the achievement of Dwelling Places' objectives and mission. The Board of Directors, Auditors, CSO partners, donors, sponsors, friends, and well-wishers were in attendance. This year’s AGM was held at the Head office located in Mutundwe, Kampala.

The Board of Dwelling Places UK also held its Board Meeting on Tuesday 14th of June and we are immensely grateful to God and to all of our wonderful sponsors and donors for all that we have achieved so far in the year.

THE REIGNITE TOUR AND A WIN OVER CHILD TRAFFICKING!

A win over Child Trafficking (CT) and Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE)

Greetings from “all of us” at Dwelling Places!

Matthew 19:14 says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
In reference to this Bible verse, Dwelling Places has put in place several ways to protect vulnerable children in society. In a bid to fight child trafficking and sexual exploitation in Napak, Karamoja, several meetings were held between leaders of Lokopo Sub County Council and Dwelling Places that resulted in a Bill being passed on the Prevention of Child Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation. Lokopo becomes the first Sub County Council to take legislative action in response to the plight of CT & CSE in the Napak district. The Bill that was passed on 1st April 2022 was moved by Hon. Lemukol Lucy, representative of PWDs in the council and seconded by Hon. Lowenyang Mary, the Women’s Councilor for Kalaale parish. The by-law aims at tackling CT & CSE in their Sub County.

David Ben Ochom, the Country Director at Dwelling Places said that this is only the genesis of having Sub County Councils in the region brought on board to see that child trafficking and sexual exploitation are put to an end.

Matany Sub County Council became the second Sub County Council to pass the Prevention of child trafficking and sexual exploitation Bill in 2021. The Council decided to take their legislative mandate to endorse the Bill into a bylaw in order to tackle the plight of CT&CSE in their Sub County.

Reignite: The UK Tour!

We are also pleased to announce the planned tour of our founder Rita Nkemba to the UK this year as part of efforts to connect with our dear sponsors. The visit, initially slated for May/June has now been postponed and we will endeavour to keep you updated about possible new dates in the coming months.

Rita's visit will be focused on reigniting the passion of our dear sponsors for the children of Dwelling Places. At Dwelling Places, we recognise that our wonderful sponsors are central to our work and this tour is envisaged to show them the incredible achievements that have been made through their partnership.
During the tour, Rita will partake in meetings and events across Glasgow, Inverness and Northern Ireland.

We ask that you continue to join us in prayer and with your support, as we work towards sponsorship in keeping every child off the streets. For more information, kindly visit our website: www.dwellingplaces.org or our social media platforms: @DwellingPlaces on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Any support from you will highly be appreciated. Thank you!!!

Miracles Are Real!

Greetings from Dwelling Places!

We would like to thank God for yet another year to serve Him. God has given us life and His faithfulness deserves every acclamation. God’s loving kindness towards us is unmatched and all we can say is “thank you Lord”.

We thank God for your lives our dear friends, partners, sponsors and well-wishers; we are so grateful that we get to serve with the help that you render to us. May the Lord bless you!

In today’s edition of our Snapshot, we would like to talk about how unfeigned miracles are. Let’s get in to it. Are you excited? We hope you are!

A famous simile goes; as quiet as a mouse is what the streets of Uganda looked like without children going to school. The beautiful stories shared at the end of a school day could not be heard because children were now on the streets looking for food to make it through the lock down. Families were breaking and the rate of teenage pregnancies was simmering.

In Uganda, a total of 354,736 teenage pregnancies were registered in 2020 and 196,499 in the first six months of 2021 (uganda.unfpa.org). Our young future generation is now on the streets with no sense of direction because it did not feel like they were securing a future at home. There is a common proverb; “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”; children have given up and given in to what the world has to offer as quick ways of earning income. This includes; child labor, sexual abuse and exploitation and child trafficking for selfish adult economic gains. In 2021, Dwelling Places rescued 144 children off the streets of Kampala and while interacting with these children, it was mentioned that the children realized the importance of school during the lock down. We often take for granted the things that deserve our gratitude the most and this statement was deemed true after interacting with these children.

There is a popular aphorism; “no situation lasts forever”. It has been almost two years before the reopening of schools and this period that seemed like a never ending one came to an end.

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Following Uganda President’s directive on 31st December, 2021, schools in Uganda were reopened officially by early January and the smiles on the children’s faces were unmatched not putting aside the fact that we need to continue praying for the parents who are still unable to take back their children to school due to the impact of the COVID19 pandemic.

We as Dwelling Places, as part of our mandate, we have ensured that our children have reported to school and they were overjoyed by the opportunity that builds their future. One of our beneficiaries in senior six mentioned, “I wish we could be at school the whole year, study and complete our final exams. It has been a long time at home and we need to catch up with school.”

Some beneficiaries receiving requirements for school and stock taking of items that are part of the children’s school requirements.

Our staff member, the education coordinator; Mrs. Ruth Opio also added, “I am so happy that the children are going back to school because they will now be engaged and able to achieve their dreams. Many of them had lost hope and the reopening of schools is a good sign from God”.

We thank the Lord that we have been able to witness our angels going back to school and we couldn’t have done this without you. We want to encourage you to keep believing God for all that may not be working in your life. He alone knows the plans that He has for you and they are good plans (Jeremiah 29:11); “MIRACLES ARE REAL” and we hope you are inspired by our story.

We would also like to encourage you to support us in the work we are doing to see these children secure a bright future. For more information visit our website; www.dwellingplaces.org or our social media platforms; @DwellingPlaces on facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Any support from you will highly be appreciated. Thank you!!!