February Newsletter 2026

The Holiday Lunch Club continues to support the children most at risk in Kyemula providing a nutritious meal and an opportunity to make sure the children are ok. Oh, yes and importantly, they have some fun too!

Whilst the internet shut down in Uganda for the General Election was not as prolonged as we feared it might be, the election has significantly interrupted life for everyone.  LIU did not reopen until after the voting had taken place to allow the students to vote in their home villages and schools remained closed in case there were any protests or violence. Fortunately, Mbale and Kyemula remained peaceful, and life is gradually resuming its usual pattern.

We are delighted that Bristol Breakfast Rotary Club have continued their support for 3H with a grant of £2,000 to support the Health Clinic over the coming two years. This is a big help and will make such a difference to the children’s wellbeing.

I usually try to keep our newsletters relatively brief and focussed on activities relating to our sponsored children and students, but something has happened recently which I wanted to share with everyone in more detail.  Sylvia’s story is just one example of how a small intervention can make a huge difference – I know it’s a long read but I hope you will all feel it worth while

Sylvia’s Story       In early November one of our former sponsored LIU students, Z, who is working with the Inclusive and Equitable Health Services Project (IEHS) run by German doctors in Eastern Uganda, was telling us about a situation which she found very upsetting. Her role within the Project is around PR so she had been asked to document this story, but she wanted to do more than just record what had happened up to that point. Once she told us about the situation the 3H trustees agreed that we wanted to help too - although this is outside our usual activities it fits within our charitable objects.

One of the girls attending a school training programme to empower girls run by IEHS had been raped.  She was 14, in P5, and both her parents died from AIDS in 2016. She had been living with ‘guardians’ who were unkind to her, and through that vulnerability she was taken advantage of by a boy in the village. He had offered to help her fetch water from the well, and she told him her family often denied her food, so he said there was food at his home but when they got there, he raped her.  She had only previously had one period and hadn’t realised she was pregnant until she spoke to a trainer on the programme.  At this point she was 22 weeks. Her grandfather initially wanted to marry her to the boy so he would still get the bride price, but it turned out that the boy had got at least one other girl pregnant at more or less the same time.  The girl, Sylvia, ran away because she did not want to be sold to this family because they looked down on her and she would not have had a good life with them.  Rape of underage girls is a crime in Uganda, but the police will not press charges if an agreement can be reached, in this case the guardian ‘grandfather’ accepted 500,000ugx (£104) from the boy’s family but still threw Sylvia out of the family home.  He did not give her any of the money – which it seems he squandered on alcohol.

Z was able to help Sylvia receive antenatal support and check ups and to negotiate with other members of the extended family who were able to take her in.  Sylvia had only the clothes she was wearing and the ‘grandfather’ and ‘aunty’ who had offered her somewhere to stay had no resources to help. By the end of November 3H had provided baby clothes, some clothes and necessities for Sylvia and also some basic food stuffs as the family had been living on just cassava flour.

With regular support and encouragement from Z, Sylvia was able to attend further ante-natal clinics and it seemed her pregnancy was going well – and the due date was 15^th January.  Knowing that the internet was likely to be shut down because of the General Election we hoped the baby might arrive early, but it was the night of January 12^th when Z had a call from the hospital.  Sylvia had gone into labour and managed to travel to the health clinic but after waiting five hours the doctors had decided she needed a caesarean section and were demanding 250,000ugx (£52) This is not the approved process, they should have sent her, after initial assessment, by ambulance to another facility which would have operated.  After Z spoke to the doctor, he reassessed the situation and finally performed the operation at 5am.

The baby is doing well but aftercare at the clinic has been poor, the staff were not checking up on Sylvia, when Z visited, she was bleeding heavily and needed attention. Sylvia is gradually recovering now – we have sent more money, for sheets to replace those damaged at the clinic, and food – there is no food provided at the clinic, just a kitchen for patients to cook their own – if they have any.

Z has reported the clinic to the District Health Officer as we are sure other young mothers are getting equally poor treatment there. We are all glad that mother and baby, named Aggie Karen, are now doing well and so pleased that one of our sponsored students reacted to a potentially tragic situation in such a positive and practical way, going far beyond her paid role to potentially save two lives – but we are so sad that stories like this are an everyday part of life in Uganda.