Arise!
Shine!

A brief history

It started 11 years ago when one of Maama's sons died and left with us five children. Maama could not manage to take care of the children alone. Lydia grew up attached to Maama so much so she could not tolerate seeing her struggle with the children alone. So she decided to come in and help her mother with the children.
Then, over the years, we took more children under our care. Some of them were abandoned, others lost their parents and had no one who cared for them.
When the number of children increased, we were inspired to make it an orphanage which finally has been officially registred as 'Arise Childcare Initiative Limited' on the 8th of December, 2017.
On the 19th of September 2018 we've also been registered as NGO and got the official permission by the Government to run the orphanage.
With the help of Maama we look after these children through seeking help so that they can have a better future.
Till today, we still continue to fight for the next meal but God has blessed us with many friends who support us.

Here's a quick look at how we've lived in recent years:

This is Maamas old house with the back-yard. There is also a smaller yard in the front of the house.
The boys were sleeping in the main building while the girls slept in Lydias room in the outbuilding.

Where we live

Since early 2020 we are living in the Wakiso county in the Kasanje district which is a few miles away from Kampala. The village is called Bubebere

Our new home

By God's generous, faithful and kind help, we were able to buy an acre of land in August 2018 and could start with the building of a new home.
The first part of the new house was completed in the beginnig of 2020, so that we were able to move with some of the children at the end of January 2020.
A well has been dug and the necessary pump and water tank have been installed for the water supply.
A pit latrine and toilets have also been build.
The second block with 6 rooms has been completed just one year later in the beginning of 2021.

Our school

Our school

We teach the children from pre-school up to and including primary school. Meanwhile we have 10 classrooms available for this. The children are taught by several teachers who we were able to hire and who also live with us.
We are happy to see that our work is bearing good fruit and is acknowledged by the neighborhood as many children from the wider area are attending our school, so that a total of 120 students in eight different grades are currently attending the school.

A testimony of God's goodness!
Progress
Barrack, Gift, John, Jesse and Grace (fLTR) 2018 and 2022

Teachers
our teachers (2020)

GraduatesNursery2022
our graduates of the nursery class 2022

GraduatesPrimary2022
our graduates of the Primary Leaving Examinations 2022

Hubert-Schwarz-Junior-School
We are very grateful for the support of the Hubert & Renate Schwarz Foundation, which is significantly involved in the development of the school.

Who we are

Maama is 80 years old.
Mom’s house has never been empty without children or people living in it.
Mom has been helping out many people, she has been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ all her life.
She has been planting churches in rural areas and she is the one who started the church we have now, this church started in her house as a group fellowship and later she offer her own piece of land to build a church.
Many people have come to Christ because of her, many children have got a future because of her, many pastors have been mentored through her.
Mom has raised many children including the orphans, abandoned and needy children, the widows and the helpless. And she is still taking care of many children and many people today because 30 children are staying in her house today. (That is Arise childcare initiative)
The children call her 'Jaaja Mummy' meaning 'Grandmother'. All the people around the village and at church call her 'Mummy'.