Uganda is not in a good place.
While COVID-19 hasn’t touched many people in the African country, its physical distancing measures have shaken the nation to its core, said Port Coquitlam’s Carli Travers who runs a safe haven called Abetavu, in her husband’s homeland.
The lockdowns have meant no schooling and limited travelling, which — for families selling their crops at local markets — has posed major economic challenges and, in some cases, loss of income.
“We understand why they were put in place but some of [the restrictions] are having more harm than good,” Travers said.
To make matters worse, the country is also in political turmoil with the longtime incumbent facing a serious challenger, in the new year election. Police brutality also is rampant, she said.
Travers, a BC Christian Academy and Douglas College graduate, said the global pandemic has made those who were already poor fall deeper into despair. “It’s tragic to see how things have gotten so bad, so quickly,” she said. “It’s painful to see the pictures of people who were making ends meet, now are not able to.”
Since the spring, the names of many families in the communities that Abetavu serves have been brought to her and her husband’s attention to find financial relief in Canada.
And last month, rather than hosting their annual dessert night at the Riverside Community Church in Port Coquitlam, Travers and Robert Birungi set up a fundraising program to have at least 100 of these families sponsored by Christmas. About 500 families are in need; however, the 100 families selected are in extreme poverty, she said.
The couple is asking for $240 to help a Ugandan family for a year — or $20 a month — to pay for their necessities: food, shelter, education, medical supplies, counselling, etc. through its registered charity, Classrooms For Africa. Tax receipts are issued and a photo of the sponsored family can be provided.
Travers said the campaign aims to lift up the whole community, not just Abetavu.
As for that site, which provides schooling for orphaned and vulnerable children and adults as well as a number of outreach programs, it is shut down, too, and Travers and Birungi’s adopted Ugandan children remain with caregivers there. They communicate with their parents in Canada daily via phone, video or social media. “They have a great support system,” Travers said. “We miss them and it’s hard. We are really hopeful to see them in person soon.”
• Visit linktr.ee/abetavu for the Canada Helps donation page.
