The Hope For Life Katanga - 31:10 Challenge

Hope For Life Katanga (https://www.hopeforlifekatanga.com/katanga) enables families in Uganda to realise their potential towards living a self-sufficient life. It is unacceptable that people today are living in conditions of poverty. They encounter people everyday who are striving to better their situation but are unable to realise their full potential without access to some basic community services; education, training, micro-credit and healthcare. 

As part of 2023's strategic review additional fundraising needs were identified:

School Sponsorship

We are raising additional funds to increase sponsorship for 22 secondary school students in 2024. There continues to be significant financial pressures for families following the pandemic and increased sponsorship will help ensure their child’s education is not a burden. 

Vocational Training

We hope to provide vocational training for 10 more in 2024. Additional donations would support giving all 10 woman the opportunity to gain a skill and earn an income.

Deworming Medication

Treating parasitic worms is important for children to absorb nutrients required for good health and reduce skin irritation. We would like to be able to provide treatment for 88 students twice a year.

Addiction Counselling

Drug and substance abuse has seen an uprise among families we work with following losing work and spending savings during covid. Professional group therapy for addiction is such a vital way of supporting individuals and their families. This treatment is important for those with addiction but vital for the children in their care.

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To support their new fundraising needs, we wanted to arrange a fundraising event in 2024. Hence the January 31:10 challenge has been born! 

The idea in it’s simplest form is to do 310,000 steps in January (10,000 a day) alongside at least one wellbeing goal. The additional goal can be to run a certain amount of km, hike a certain amount of mountains, swim a kilometre, give up alcohol etc etc.

For some people 10,000 steps a day is standard for others, they will have to make a conscious effort to complete it. But the idea is that anyone and everyone can participate.

We currently have 7 teams signed up of 40 individuals. Bringing our overall goal to 

12,400,000 steps. Individuals also have their own personal goals they will be completing in the month. 

Every penny raised goes directly to Hope For Life. Any amount donated will make such a difference. When donating if it's specific to an individual - please input the individual or team's name!

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For those wanting to hear someone who has directly benefitted from Hope For Life's support. Please read below:

Josephine is a 22yrs old, raised by a single mother in Buyikwe after the passing of her father when she was nine. She comes from a humble family background where the family livelihood is derived from subsistence farming. Her mother farms on a small piece of land for her daily food, selling the surplus to cater for family needs, including school fees and medication for Josephine. Josephine has had sickle cell disease since childhood, and so struggles with occasional pain and is vulnerable to infections. Due to the low family income, her mother managed to pay for her school fees up to lower secondary level. Josephine dropped out of school after completing senior four.  

In 2021, Josephine joined HFLK, seeking assistance to further her education. She was given an opportunity to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse as she joined Jinja Midwifery and Nursing school. She has been studying nursing for the past two years and completed her training in June 2023, obtaining a certificate. 

Joining the nursing course has already impacted on the family since Josephine is practically in the hospital most of the time, enabling her to be seen quickly for her sickle cell, reducing the costs they would incur if it had worsened. Josephine has learnt to manage her condition and with this knowledge, she intends to support other sickle cell victims, especially children who receive less attention from their families. She plans to sensitise communities about the disease and teach others how to care for the victims; reducing stigmatism, while giving hope. 

Beginning of July, Josephine started to volunteer in a sickle cell clinic at Jinja Hospital. She is very thankful for the opportunity to bring hope to many people battling the same condition. 

We continue to create an empowering platform for young women to enable them to achieve their dreams and attain financial independence. Josephine is among the many young ladies that now believe the sky is the limit.