Stories of hope- Supporting the elderly-Oct 2021

TFCM endeavours to support the elderly within the communities that we serve. The individuals most often in need of this support are elderly widows. A significant proportion of these individuals will be grandmothers as they are often left to care for young grandchildren who have lost one or even both of their parents. TFCM set up a “Befriend a Granny” scheme for just this reason.

The photos below show one of TFCM’s recent “Granny gatherings” in Kawempe. The aim of these meetings is to give them a chance to socialise and feel connected to their community. This helps reduce the fear of isolation, and gives them something to look forward to. They are transported to and from the gathering, and have chance to eat a hearty meal, collect some essential food items supplied by TFCM and to have contact with our Ugandan team. This enables us to regularly monitor their welfare, but primarily gives them chance to be cared for themselves. The latest gathering shown here, involved 25 widowed individuals.

As well as the gatherings, some of the elderly individuals pictured below who are befriended by UK sponsors under our scheme, have food items distributed to their homes to help support them through the covid pandemic. The impact of TFCM’s support on these individuals is never underestimated- it really does make such a difference.