Call for volunteers: doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals:
An opportunity to volunteer at a two-day medical camp in Masindi, Western Uganda, providing free medical care to local people, working alongside local medical teams and experiencing Ugandan culture and medical practice.
Click for details
SHINES CHILDREN (UGANDA) UK SUPPORTERS
Supporting local people in Masindi District, Uganda
WHAT WE DO
Shines Children (Uganda) UK Supporters, known as "Shines UK", is a UK charity supporting the work of Shines Children's Foundation in Masindi District, Uganda. Managed by our friend and colleague Denis Kiirya, Shines Children's Foundation works hand-in-hand with local people ensuring that every penny donated is put to good use.
We raise funds for projects related to education, health, wellbeing and the alleviation of poverty in rural communities, including building and operating a primary school in Miirya, providing educational opportunities in an area where there was previously no accessible school.
Thanks to the funds Shines UK raises, children and their carers can access clean water and healthcare, financial literacy and small business training, family planning and sexual health education, and ultimately enhanced employment opportunities. We aim to support the communities we work with in breaking the cycle of poverty and lack of opportunity.
Charity Commission number: 1187260
Company number: 11824307
Registered office: 32 Church Lane Bedford MK44 1HR
OUR PROJECTS
Shines UK supports many projects in Masindi District, Uganda, improving the lives of local people and promoting sustainable change.
Our largest project is a primary and nursery school in the village of Miirya, which educates over 200 children and provides a nutritious breakfast and lunch to every one of them every day. Once the school day is done, the building becomes the focus of the community, hosting Village Savings and Loan Associations, community meetings and skills training events.
Shines UK also helps to provide access to clean water for hundreds of people in the communities we support, by maintaining the local borehole machinery, and we support hygiene initiatives such as access to soap and toothcare equipment.
We provide access to basic healthcare for vulnerable children and their carers. Malaria is endemic in Masindi District and children frequently require treatment for this pernicious disease. We also provide mosquito nets to protect children from becoming infected.
Shines UK supports the provision of training in financial literacy, sexual health, family planning and consent, health and nutrition, and farming skills, and works with local families to encourage them to allow girls to finish their education before marrying and having children of their own.
During the pandemic, when schools were closed, we provided opportunities for local girls to learn other skills - and back in the UK we were thrilled to receive a package of face masks sewn by the girls in our communities, who learned basic needle and tailoring skills at the same time as receiving health, sex and consent education from our local team.
COMMUNITY "MODEL FARM"
Our local colleagues support the community in running a model farm, that teaches skills to community members and produces food for breakfast and lunch at Shines School.
EDUCATING CHILDREN FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE
Perhaps the most important opportunity in any deprived community, once the basic needs of food and water are met, is the education of the next generation. Education offers the promise of better paid work, and a better chance for the generation that comes after.
Shines UK offers the opportunity to sponsor a child's education. For just £150 a year you can cover the entire cost of schooling, uniform, and two nutritious meals each day, for one child who would otherwise be unable to attend school.
Contact us on info@shinesuk.org for more information.
