Our mission statement
The Fountain of Peace Children’s Foundation is committed to changing the lives of children in Uganda by providing homes and shelter in a caring Christian environment.
How your money helps
RESCUE
Rescuing vulnerable babies
PROVIDE
Providing relief, care and protection
BUILD
Building loving family homes
Meet our founder
Meet Peace – she’s the founder of this wonderful charity and the inspiration behind our work.
When she was just eight years old, Peace would look longingly at the children in her village as they walked to school in their fresh uniforms with their neat backpacks on. She wanted more than anything to join them but, having been born into a struggling family with 14 children, education was one of the many luxuries they simply couldn’t afford.
Peace spent much of her childhood being passed between family members where she was treated more like a slave than a little girl. She slept next to the family goat in a small outhouse, ate leftover food and dodged daily beatings from those who were supposed to protect her.
There appeared to be no way out and Peace became hardened to fending for herself, until she was thrown a lifeline by the local church. Her plight had not gone unnoticed and Peace was registered into the Compassion child sponsorship programme, that was attached to the local Baptist church. Here she not only received the education that she so longed for, but also the opportunity to rise above her circumstances and believe in herself and a God who loved her.
From that moment, Peace promised God that, if she were able to escape from poverty, she would dedicate her life to caring for the poorest of the poor. Having completed a bachelor’s degree, Peace gave up the comfort of her life in the UK and travelled back to Uganda to fulfil her promise. Today, the Fountain of Peace Children’s Foundation is a beacon of hope for children across the region of Kyenjojo in Uganda – the region that remains ravaged by the poverty that Peace experienced as a little girl.
Meet Akello
Akello* is one of our most mischievous children.
The Bethel Babies’ Home is the bungalow on the Fountain of Peace site that cares for babies up to the age of three. Like all of our children, Akello’s story is one of struggle and survival. The little boy’s mother died during childbirth, so he was placed into the care of his aging grandmother who made a meagre living selling locally brewed beer. Maternal mortality is still very common in Uganda, with 492 women dying during childbirth every month, and many of our children have lost their mothers in this way.
If this weren’t tragic enough, there is also the local misconception that a child is to blame for the death of their mum. So, rather than embracing her new grandchild, Akello’s grandma shut the newborn away in a spare room with nothing but the local brew to drink.
It was the local authorities who found the child and asked us to help. Akello was severely malnourished and dangerously ill when we found him, but we were determined to do everything we could for this little boy. Our team of nannies watched over him night and day, feeding him highly nutritious milk formula and monitoring his every movement.
With their dedication and love he made a remarkable recovery and is now thriving. He’s now an inquisitive, energetic little boy and, when it’s dinnertime, you can be sure that Akello is the first one at the table.
[Source for maternal mortality figure: http://www.cehurd.org/2014/06/global-trends-in-maternal-mortality-how-does-uganda-fare/ ]
*We want to protect our children, so we’ve used a different name and image.
Meet Louise
Louise* was one of the first children we welcomed into the Bethel Babies’ Home.
Over the last few years, we’ve had the privilege of watching this little girl grow and develop into a bright, happy child. She’s recently moved from our Bethel Babies’ Home into a family bungalow with four other children. Here, under the care of our housemother, this little family will grow and develop together.
Like so many of our children, Louise’s mother died in childbirth and her father showed no interest in caring for his daughter. To further complicate the situation, Louise was born with severely deformed legs. In many poorer communities in Uganda people don’t fully understand or have the means to cope with a disabled child, so Louise was simply left on her mother’s grave to die.
When local authorities discovered her, they immediately called us. Every child, whatever their circumstances, is precious so we took Louise into our care and sought out the right medical support. We’ve been to and from to the hospital so many times with little Louise, but all the hours she’s spent in surgery have been worth it. As she chases her friends around the playground outside her home, we have our work cut out keeping up with her.
*We want to protect our children, so we’ve used a different name and image.