We work to stop the abuse and trafficking of the Karamojong babies by raising awareness of their plight through media campaigns both in Uganda and the rest of the world.

This charity's main aim is to eliminate the need for mothers to send their toddlers and babies into the streets of the Ugandan capital Kampala, to beg.  These mothers live in the most deprived conditions in the slums of Katwe, Kisenyi and Nakivubo.  They have all come to the city to try and make a living.

The charity hopes to provide the Karamojong mothers with a skill in order for them to be able to earn a living and stop using their babies as moneymaking machines.  

Due to the government disarmament program in the Karamojong region, the Karamojong people’s way of life was disrupted. They no longer have their cattle, which were their lively hood, and so they had to find other means of living. Most of those affected are from the Bukora region hence a huge influx down south. It is mostly women who have come down to the city because it is easier for them to beg or manage the children begging. Most of the Karamojong are illiterate so they claim that they cannot get jobs and also because of the language barrier, it is difficult for them to communicate.

http://eyeingafrica.aminus3.com/image/2009-02-04.html,    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6378969.stm

Some of the babies have been borrowed/hired from their biological parents in Karamoja. They are brought to Kampala and a fraction of the money earned is then sent back to Karamoja. There has been loss of lives on the streets. Approximately 14 children have been run over and killed in the last 3 years whilst trying to escape from the government officials trying to round them up. Adults have been rounded up and taken back to karamoja. However, they have managed to go back to Kampala.  The Karamojong people have a dependency culture. For the last 30 years, World food programme has been distributing food to these people and there fore they are not empowered to either grow their own or earn a living in any other way. Over the years, Karamoja has been plunged into insecurity, hunger, human rights abuses and extreme poverty.

It remains the most backward region in Uganda, with 80% illiteracy rate and 82% of the population living below the poverty line. Despite the provision of free primary education by the Government, over 50% of school age children in Karamoja are not in schools.
Many parents do not send their children to school because they want them to help in cattle-keeping and family chores. Malnutrition, malaria and diarrhoea continue to spread in the region with no corresponding response from the health sector to curb the maladies.
Where as the disarmament process has brought relative peace in the region, there is need to consolidated it and harmonise it with development. It should be recalled that some warriors have gone hiding with their guns and they occasionally attack the already disarmed communities for cattle and food, causing loss of lives and destruction of property. A combination of all these hardships has forced many women and children to leave their homes and sought refugee on the streets of Kampala and other towns in Eastern Uganda.

In the meantime, we have worked with the Karamojong community in the slums of Kisenyi and Katwe in Kampala and the Karamojong elders in Moroto and Matanyi in Northern Karamoja.

Kaana is a UK registered company incorporated under the United Kingdom Companies act 1985. Company number 6978348.