Omwana Uganda Foundation
The Dutch foundation Omwana Uganda was founded in March 2012 after two of our board members (Nienke Voppen and Neele Högermann) came back from a year of volunteering in Uganda. During their time in Uganda, they worked in a orphanage for former street children and orphans.
While being provided a roof over their heads, the circumstances these children live in are not quite optimal. There is no monthly income, making it a challenge every month to gather enough money for food, education, housing and medical costs.
According to International Children’s Rights, every child had a right to be provided with education, sufficient nutrition, health care, clean drinking water and a safe place to live and play. Many street children in Uganda do not have access to any of these basic needs, due to losing their parents to HIV/AIDS or other circumstances. Instead they are forced to live in under harsh conditions, trying to survive, but with little hope for a better future.
Our foundation Omwana Uganda helps these children. Together with our local representatives and partners in Kampala, we are providing children in their basic needs, as well as giving them the means for a better future. Besides street children, we focus on orphans and vulnerable kids in general to prevent these children from living in the streets.
The way we achieve this is by arranging schooling and by providing food, clean drinking water and shelter. Our long-term goal is to help our local partners (e.g., a local woman housing 10+ children) become self-sufficient, for instance by providing them with the means to grow their own produce.
Our name
Our foundation’s name originates from Luganda, one of the most prevalent local languages in Uganda. Omwana means ‘child’, which means our foundation is called ‘Child of Uganda’.
The board
The board of Omwana Uganda Foundation consists of the following members:
Nienke Voppen, chairman
Hans Berghuis, treasurer
Heleen Langen, secretary
Josette van der Houven, member
Imke Berghuis, volunteer
Laurens Feenstra, advisor