November 2021

Providing shelter and counselling

FG Story 5a

The Wakisa Ministries team in Uganda is passionate about serving traumatised young girls who have fallen pregnant, often as a result of sexual abuse, and then been left abandoned by their families. Through their transformational Pregnancy Crisis Centre, they provide young girls with physical, emotional, social and spiritual support empowering them to build a better future for them and their children.

Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Wakisa Ministries maintained its activities and supported 106 young pregnant girls by providing shelter, access to counselling, maternal health care, immunisations and Gospel teaching. Alongside this, the girls took part in vocational skills training, for example, learning agriculture, computer studies, infant care, cookery and tailoring skills, giving them the tools to be able to earn a living when they leave the centre.

Building Hope

Sarah* never knew her mother or father. She was taken in by her extended family at birth. Sadly, the shame and resentment they felt towards her mother was directed at Sarah and she grew up facing verbal abuse and mistreatment until, at age 13, she ran away to live on the streets of Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

In Kampala, Sarah joined a group of other young people living on the streets and began a relationship with one of the boys. Sarah was eventually taken in by a family who hired her to be a house helper. One day as she was taking the family’s children to school on a motorbike taxi she received a bad burn from the exhaust pipe, so the family took her to hospital. Here they found that she was pregnant as well as being HIV positive. The family was outraged and kicked Sarah out.

Sarah was crushed by their rejection and succumbed to a crippling anxiety attack. She was taken to a psychiatrist who referred Sarah to Wakisa Ministries. Sarah arrived at the Wakisa Centre during lockdown and, after the two-week isolation period, was able to join the other girls.

While at the centre, Sarah worked together with Wakisa’s counsellors and psychiatrist to address her depression and anxiety. She also joined in with vocational tailoring training and learned to make many items, impressing her teachers with her progress and aptitude.

FG Story 5c
FG Story 5b

Building a future

After her baby was born, Sarah was taken in by a new foster family who bought her a sewing machine. She has now started a business making and selling children’s clothing, using the income to provide for herself and her baby.

Thanks to her time at Wakisa, Sarah now also has the skills to deal with her mental health challenges and provide for her new family. She knows that she is loved and has hope for a better future.

*Name changed for security reasons.

Today you can give more young pregnant girls, who have been rejected, the chance to receive the same loving care and support that has enabled Sarah to rebuild her life by purchasing the gift of Shelter and Counselling.

Freedom Gifts logo