JOURNEY OF HOPE

Journey of hope background

Due to the overwhelming numbers of children and families migration from Karamoja, DP since 2015, made a decision to shift their focus from dealing with symptoms of this problem, to prevention right from the grassroots and communities.

In 20215, a new brand; “JOURNEY OF HOPE (JOH)” was created by Dwelling Places (DP) as a holistic rights-based program, sustainably empowering street-connected children, their families and communities to be responsible for positive transformation in the individual life story of every child. It is an integrated solution based on the philosophy that positions child-focused interventions at the center of an equitable, inclusive and resilient development agenda across the world.

This gave birth to the #SchoolNotStreets campaigns, a new initiative to prevent children’s out-migration from their homes onto the streets of urban area within Uganda. We have over the years tried to ensure that the children we resettle do not come back to the streets, our sustainable resettlement strategy being education. Out of the 200 children enrolled in school to prevent out-migration, at least 84.8% have continued to remain in school. It is possible to keep children off the streets by giving them education.

The JOH involves an 18 day walk from Kampala to Karamoja every odd year to advocate for the prevention of child-trafficking and unsafe migration from Uganda.

Previous Achievements

● Raised funds to enroll and keep 200 children in school for 7 years. Since then, 37 children have so far completed P7, with the best child getting 13 Aggregates, 22 got good Division 2, 13 got division 3 and only 1 child has failed; an indication of the children’s potential to perform much better if given the right pre-conditions.

● Completed the construction, furnishing and official handover of one classroom block (with 3 classrooms and a fully stocked library); all constructed and furnished with proceeds from the Journey of Hope awareness campaigns;

● The school witnessed a tremendous increase in school enrolment from 35 children in 2015 to 398 pupils in 2019. This is coupled with the fact that their development fee was increased from UGX 2,000 which only 35 parents could afford in 2015, to UGX 5,000 which over 80 parents had already paid by March 2018!

● Through the #SchoolsNotStreets campaigns, the district by 2018 had registered a tremendous reduction in the number of children migrating from Lomaratoit Village for street begging and related exploitation. Before 2015, this village was the most vulnerable to child trafficking and unsafe migration in the whole district.

● Of the 200 community children enrolled in Lomaratoit Primary school in 2015, at least 145 continued to consistently attend school until 2019. The other 55 dropped out for various reasons including very long distances to school, family moving to different locations, and change of schools, among others.

●  Increased awareness about the dangers and effects of child trafficking and sexual exploitation of children, resulting in an increased commitment and vigilance to prevent it through interceptions and community sensitization drives.

Journey of hope 2022

Dwelling Places conducted its fourth JOURNEY OF HOPE mass awareness campaign with a #SchoolsNotStreets hashtag that was climaxed with an 18-days walk from Kampala to Napak District from the 4th to 21st July, 2022 to create mass awareness on Child Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of the Karamojong children being mercilessly exploited on the streets; in street begging, sexual exploitation, and hazardous forms of labor, among other things.

The Journey of Hope 2022 activity was flagged off at the Parliament of Uganda on the 4th July, 2022. In attendance was Hon. Nyirabashitsi Sarah Mateke, Minister of State for Youth & Children Affairs (Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development), Napak DLG, Okori Dennis – the RDC Napak, Zaina Nakubulwa – the Supervisor Children Affairs at KCCA, Probation officer Napak - Molly, NDLG, Children, the Media and the Netherlands Ambassador H.E Dr. Karin Boven who was the chief walker.

Enroute, the walkers had a speaking engagement in town centers, at schools and on Radio stations to creating awareness on Child Trafficking and Unsafe Migration.

As a result of the awareness campaign, the walkers received food donations from Haba Na Haba of over 9.2 metric tons of food as food relief and Beddings for the Dwelling Places beneficiaries and to give to those affected by hunger in the region.

The relief food was delivered to the office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) by the Country Director Dwelling Places for distribution.

The final day celebrations took place today at the District headquarters in Napak. In attendance were Napak District leader (L c 5, Napak, The RDC, The Senior Probation officer, among others)