Uganda Soccer Field Project

African Hearts exists to transform the lives of vulnerable children to become fully developed individuals honoring God and contributing positively to society.

 

A grassroots charity, African Hearts was established in 2001 to help address the growing numbers of children and youth living on the streets of Kampala; forced there by the death of parents, family abandonment, and/or violence or hardship at home. Street life leaves children exposed to exploitation, abuse, and extreme poverty.

 

In Uganda, more than half of the population is under the age of 18.  It is estimated that there are over 10,000 children living on the street. They are among the world’s most vulnerable children. It is commonly held that life for street children is dirty, violent and short. Hungry, abused, and alone, they quickly become addicted to drugs in order to deal with their suffering, and/or become conscripted into gangs who make them criminals for as little as a dollar a day.

 

African Hearts currently runs two residential homes for boys in Ssenge (approximately 30 kms out of Kampala), which offer care to former street children. Children who reside in these homes are provided with shelter, food, love, education, and the other necessities of life, as well as programs to re-integrate them into society. 

 

In addition, we recently opened up a transitional home for the girls (The Humming Bird house). Which is a rescue home for girls pulled out of prostitution. The house focuses on rehabilitation of the girls through sharing of the gospel, counseling and training in skills to enable them work with their hands with dignity. There is ongoing assessment and counseling of individual girls to help them explore individual plans and trades for the future. The goal is to reintegrate them in society with dignity and a changed mindset towards life.

 

One of the principles of African hearts Community Organization, is the recognition that not all children are the same, with different talents and abilities. This is carried to the African hearts junior school where to the best of our ability, each child is given a chance to thrive in the areas of their strength. In addition to formal education, sport has also become a world commodity. We have done this through vocational training with music, dance, and drama and are expanding this scope to include sports in the various disciplines. 

 

The goal of the project is to nurture the talent of children to potentially become professionals. We have seen so much potential in children especially those who have been rescued from the slums. Musa Musoke, who was rescued off the streets in 2004 represented Uganda in the national under 17 coca cola tournaments in south Africa in 2011 and has played for other top clubs in our country. Another is Yusuf Adam, rescued in 2009 and now currently playing for Proline academy. In addition, there are many children who have earned scholarships and bursaries because of their talent discovered with our limited resources. The sports complex will give us opportunity to reach out and build more talent in our youth programs. 

 

The principle objective of this project is to empower African Hearts Community Organization to run a sports facility and foster talent where children can be restored and become strong citizens and community members through sport. 

 

Other objectives include:

1.         Build and promote talent for vulnerable children giving them a better chance at life.

2.         To promote good health as a means of therapy.

3.         Host Royal Brass Band performances to tourists, other members of the community, and rent facility out to the community generating income for the organization.

4.         To give a chance to children that are not academically inclined, but can thrive in sports.