About us
ALLEVIATE child Initiative is an organisation that supports children living in the greater Luweero area of Uganda. It was founded in 2016 when one of the directors (Emmanuel) whilst on his way through one of the Kampala slums stumbled upon a disabled girl. Penny (7 years) had a large head and could not move; appeared reliant on the mercy and help of other. She appeared left unattended and it was obvious she needed help. Penny was sat next to her faeces and with flies all over her, crying and seemed like no one was near to help. Emmanuel says, ‘he hoped over and proceeded to his destination.’ But whilst at church this picture remained on the loop in his head and troubled him a lot. He shared it with one of the church leaders but unfortunately, it was time for him to fly back to the UK.
After a while he felt the conviction which he believes was from the Holyspirit asking ‘Are you also going to look away?’ It is at this point he thinks God was asking him to help Penny. He communicated this with the leader in Uganda who retraced the whereabouts of the girl; mobilised resources and got her a wheelchair and paid an Occupational therapist’s services.
Unfortunately Penny’s family relocated but by the time they did, Penny was able to feed herself, mobilise to sit in her wheelchair; lost excess weight brought on for lack of exercise. It is from here that we were referred to the area we are based.
Who we are
At ALLEVIATE, we’re a team of passionate individuals committed to making a difference in the lives of disabled children and their families . Our mission is to ”Promote and Provide Compassionate and Realistic medical/health care Services; Holistically Empower and Support the welfare of Disabled Children in Uganda.”
“We do offer services that brings value and dignity; improving the children’s quality of life”
The story so far
Since 2019, we have been in contact with over 300 children and their families, children suffering from a range of disabilities, some treatable and preventable conditions. Some of the children have been described as having been born disabled while others live with what you can call circumstantial disability brought on by what we think poverty and ignorance, neglect (where an illness ends in disability); failure to seek medical support whilst pregnant and ill, untreated illness/disease in children…
There have been cases however, whereby some children’s condition worsen due lack of adequate
treatment needed on the onset of the illness. The vast majority of the cases found are of children living with Cerebral palsy (CP), downs syndrome and hydrocephalus among many.
Cerebral Palsy is a common motor disability in childhood often accompanied by sensory and cognitive dysfunctions and specialised medical needs. Hydrocephalus, an abnormal build-up of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles of the brain. Children with Downs syndrome live with an extra chromosome. This extra chromosome leads to a range of issues that affect them both mentally and physically. These children will normally present with health problems and some will be with some form of a learning disability. In severe cases some of the children we support are with what would be called Profound Multiple disabilities (PMLD) especially those of cerebral palsy where they’d be reliant on the help and support given by others.
www.alleviateug.org 