The Road to Hope: A Better Life for Orphaned Child Caregivers
In the US, five-year-olds master tying their shoelaces in neat bows and go to kindergarten to learn to read. In the village of Kakumiro, Uganda, five-year-old George Bazaire was caring for his father in their one-room mud hut. George’s father had tuberculosis and needed morphine to control the pain.
After his father died, George went to live with his mother. However, she was unable to manage his basic needs and education. With the help of volunteers and staff from the Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU) and their US partners, Center for Hospice Care/Hospice Foundation, George became the first child to be supported by the Road to Hope fund.
This fund provides ongoing support for child caregivers who have lost one or both parents. Some, like George, have family members to take them in but need assistance to assure their educational and other needs are met. Others have no one left to care for – or care for them. With no one to support them, they often are forced to drop out of school and look for casual jobs such as welling ground nuts on the streets in urban areas or begging for money in order to survive.
These are the scenarios encountered by PCAU on a daily basis. With a population of 35 million people and little infrastructure outside urban areas, even basic healthcare is extremely limited. Without the assistance of the Road to Hope fund, these child caregivers could very easily find themselves on a much different road.
For less than a cup of Starbucks coffee a day, the Road to Hope program funds a child like George. Just $250 a year covers school fees, food, uniforms and school supplies for a primary school student.
To learn more about the Road to Hope fund or make an online donation, visit www.roadtohopefund.org.
George and Roberta