OOCM Mission

OOCM Mission Description

OOCM has one main arm which is a ministry to orphans and vulnerable children and the people who care for them. We are a local ministry based in Butale Village, Kamuli District, Uganda, East Africa.

Orphans

A large number of children in Uganda are orphans, children whose parents have been the victims of war, disease (including the current AIDS epidemic), extreme poverty and poor medical care or have in desperation, abandoned them. According to New Vision, Uganda's leading daily, "at least 12.3% of children in Uganda are orphans. 420,000 of these have lost only a mother and 1,330,000 a father. However, 420,000 of these are total orphans, having lost both parents." Some orphans end up living with relatives (sometimes unwanted) or families willing to take them in. Others end up living on the streets exposed and vulnerable to severe abuse and lacking even the most basic needs including adequate food. OOCM's orphans project provides housing when needed and endeavors to meet, along with other vulnerable children, their educational, nutritional, medical, legal and basic needs.

Vulnerable Children and Families/Caretakers

In addition to the orphan care project OOCM has a project in which addresses the issues of children in crisis and helps support them and their parent(s) in an effort to restore a functional and safe home environment for the children. This is done through feeding schemes, offering creche and aftercare facilities, supporting families with monthly food parcels and offering counseling and support to the parents and care givers. The parents are further supported by offering skills based training and assistance  with income generation projects.

Child Education

Although by law basic education is "free" the schools in Uganda are poorly supplied usually lacking even some of the most basic educational supplies and tools. To compensate for that lack each school charges "fees" which are required to attend school. Those fees can vary from school to school. OOCM endeavors, as much as possible, to assist as many orphans and disadvantaged children to pursue an education. This is accomplished through direct financial assistance and by the distribution of required school supplies to individual children. At OOCM, we consider this a high priority in the improvement of disadvantaged communities.

The Destitute and Homeless

In addition to our main arm of ministry, OOCM also reaches out to the destitute and homeless, some who are overcoming various forms of addictions, as part of a restorative project whereby they are given accommodation and put through a program aimed at helping them fit back into society. As part of the restoration process, those undergoing treatment at the center, support the children's project by delivering food and donations, maintaining the grounds and buildings and providing security services. By reaching out in this way they are being given a way to play a functional role in society once again and as such both projects become mutually beneficial to each other.

Our Broader Mission

OOCM has, since 2010 , developed an organization that has a heart for marginalized communities and in a unique way managed to develop a relationship between two such communities so that they have become beneficial to each other. Our broader mission is to engage in empowering and uplifting marginalized communities by addressing the physical, social, intellectual and spiritual needs of the individual through strategic interventions in partnership with the community at large.

Presently, OOCM's mission is focused in Butale Village, in Kamuli District, Uganda, East Africa.


Last Updated:   07/22/2013






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