Nestled near the source of the River Nile in a city called Jinja, Uganda, stories of loss and hardship occur on a daily basis.
John‘s mother is deceased and his father is unable to care for him. Sarah’s mother passed away after giving birth, and her father was unable to care for her. Caroline was given up at 3 months old, with her family unable to care for her. A 14-year-old mom is kicked out of her family and village. She is pregnant against her will and shamed.
These individuals are victims of a dark enemy: generational poverty. This cycle, which prevents individuals from experiencing a quality life, is perpetuated by many factors in Uganda, some including:
- Lack of education, as school is not free in Uganda.
- The stigma and financial burden of caring for children with special needs.
- The death of a parent, which sometimes creates too much of a burden for the remaining parent to care for the child.
Generational poverty is a complex problem not solved with a single solution. There are many worthy organizations with their feet on the ground in Uganda, working directly with the parents and children suffering because of generational poverty.
The three abandoned children are now all part of the family at Amani Baby Cottage, a home that provides care for orphaned and abandoned children, from newborn to 5 years old.
The pregnant teen? She chose hope, family and love from HEAL Ministries, an organization that serves widowed or abandoned women and children.
Our role is to ensure the staff at Amani and HEAL can continue doing the work they do to combat the lack of education and resources that keeps people trapped in poverty. Diapers are an expense that places a financial burden on the local organizations. Diaper need – the lack of this basic necessity – creates a serious roadblock to defeating generational poverty.
That’s where you fit in. Your support of Jake’s Diapers is a vital piece of the puzzle so that we can send much-needed diapers – a basic health supply – to people doing good in the world. This allows these groups to focus on working directly with individuals stuck in poverty because of abandonment, social stigmas and loss.
Hear from them how much it helps:
“Having (cloth diapers from Jake’s) has helped us tremendously,” said Emily of the Amani Baby Cottage. “We are a baby’s home, so we can go through diapers like no tomorrow! Disposable diapers can become so expensive as we need so many. This became the most logical thing to use. And we are so blessed to have Jake’s Diapers as a partner!”
“Disposable diapers are expensive in Uganda and we do not have the funding to purchase them,” said Betty of HEAL Ministries. “The diapers you provide are amazing and help us save so much money; money that is going instead to empower the women and children we are serving to thrive.”
Remember the pregnant teen? She’s now a 16-year-old who skips joyfully through HEAL’s gates each morning with her 2-year-old child to drop her off in childcare because she has to hurry off to High School.
About Our Global Efforts: Through a trusted network of community-based partners Jake’s Diapers provides predominantly reusable options to solving hygiene needs worldwide. We have a growing list of diaper drops in countries outside the United States.
Make your impact today! We need regular donors to fuel an ongoing supply of diapers to the diaper drop partners in Uganda who help these parents and children overcome generational poverty.