Stories of hope- covid-19 emergency food distributions

May 2020 - Aug 2020: 'From desperation to delight’

As the UK went into national lockdown in March 2020 due to the coronovirus pandemic, the fallout of a national lockdown in Uganda and its consequences could not be fully perceived. The reality was that a national lockdown did occur, and combined with one of the worst locust plagues for decades, the fight for survival for the people in Uganda was a real and difficult. Combine this with families living on little or no savings, already living in slums and in poverty, and the realities of life hit them hard. Imagine being a child in this situation. You may have lost one or both of your parents, schools are now shut, a disease is spreading around the world and you have no access to any healthcare, money, food or support. But there was some hope…

TFCM’s sponsored children and their extended families started to receive emergency food distributions. Funds allocated for schooling were diverted as we became aware of the desperation that these families were facing. Thanks to generosity of our supporters we launched an appeal and soon raised sufficient funds to be able to make a difference. We organised emergency food distributions to all TFCM sponsored families, and other families within the community that we serve. In the process we were feeding up to 85 families per month across Kawempe and Kalagi for a period of 3-4 months. Families received essential food packages consisting of maize flour, sugar, rice, beans, and soap.

Of course the pandemic continues, but thankfully some restrictions on people movements have been eased. This has meant that for some families, their incomes have improved slightly. The reality is though, that these families are already very poor, and the little income they earn doesn’t go very far; but this has enabled some families to be more self sufficient again. Now that our appeal donations have been depleted, we are so grateful that the situation has slightly improved. We continue to use any general funds gifted to TFCM to support the most needy and marginalised families with further food packages. Yet are aware that the nation of Uganda and in particular the slum areas is very fragile and the situation could change again very rapidly. What we are certain about however, is that the appeal and the response from our supporters turned a situation from desperation into delight for so many families who are truly thankful for what has been accomplished.