Center of Refuge in Uganda New hope for child victims of war
Child Voice International
Child Voice International programs recognize that someone must speak for the voiceless and devastated children who often are unable even to whisper the horror of becoming young victims of brutality and inhumanity.
But more than speak, they act on the conviction that children beaten down by war can be restored in safe communities with loving care, spiritual and emotional counseling, and effective education and vocational training.
A Center of Refuge
Child Voice International is creating a sustainable and replicable long-term village of refuge and care for these child victims.
The village will include a boarding school, non-traditional educational programs, a vocational center, and spiritual and emotional counseling for the former child soldiers and other children who have been affected by this war who need long-term care and cannot return to their families because of the effects of the war.
Driven by their desire to bring healing and reconciliation to their region, the local village elders, government leaders, and the Northern Uganda Diocese of the Anglican Church have entrusted more than 100 acres of land near the village of Lukodi to Child Voice for the construction of a long term residential facility for children affected by war.
Ironically, this village, located north of Gulu, was the site of one of the worst LRA massacres in May of 2004.
Emergency Assistance to Child Mothers
One of the tragic outcomes of this 20-year conflict has been the emergence of a population of child mothers. Many of these girls were abducted, often raped and made to serve as longtime “wives” of rebel commanders.
Others living in the camps have also become mothers as a result of rape and abuse. These girls and their infants have desperate need for food, counseling, medical care, education, income generating projects and early childhood development programs.
Responding to the crisis, Child Voice is providing aid more than 300 of these girls and their children immediately.
As soon as possible, these child mothers will move to Lukodi and become the first residents of the Child Voice Uganda village.
