Solar Lights: Reduce Risk of Rape – Uganda

August 2017:

One Million Lights received excellent feedback from RHF after their first distribution.  They are looking for 100 more lights to help their women feel safer.
Here is one  family’s story:

We wish to tell you about, Mrs. Robinah Nabirye Mukyala a 67yr single Granny who has a full time18870495_462230477447040_1313286114_o parent role of raising and providing for 6 grandchildren who were left to her when her 2 sons died of HIV/AIDS.  Robinah who received a solar light from the ones you sent, confessed that her 7yr old grand daughter – Annette, who had been revising/reading/doing her home work on fire places, and had been suffering from a serious eyes problem, completely healed once she started using solar light while doing her school homework, she believes that the smoke from the fire place was the one causing the problem. She is so grateful to One Million Lights for counting her worthy to receive that light.

Please consider donating today to bring safe and clean light to these families!


 

Rape Hurts Foundation (RHF)
25 Wairaka Jinja Iganga High P.O.Box 19 Jinja Uganda I www.rape-hurts.foundation I [email protected] I +256 392 177 793

Why Solar lights for the Villages in Kabukye and Butansi;-

Greetings from Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, a beautiful country with a difficult past, a challenging rhinah-mukyala-81yrspresent, and a promising future, it is home to over 3.5 million Orphans, well over half the 38.5M national population is under the age of 18, and nearly 73% of Ugandans live in extreme poverty.
Kabukye and Butansi villages, in Kamuli Eastern Uganda, are some of the poorest villages in the country. The people are primarily subsistence peasants, hunters & fruit gatherers who live primitive and peasantry lives. Illiteracy levels are high, 82% of the population of Kabukye can’t read or write and superstitious beliefs are commonplace. The area is also continually ravaged by jiggers (the chigoe flea, a parasite that attacks the feet), extreme poverty and disease. And all too often, well-intentioned and desperate parents send their kids away in hope of education and opportunity, and those children are turned into slaves. There, every 5 women/girls have been either raped or sexually abused. There is no access to safe clean water, humans share open wells and swamp water with animals. Schools and hospitals are in a distance.

A few years ago, the Lord called me and asked me to start mission work in Nakasedhere as part of my rosemary-nanangwe-69yrsRape Hurts Foundation (RHF). This is a Ministry I founded in 2008 as a way to rebuild lives of Women/Girls and Children who have been raped or sexually abused. I started a school for orphans and children from extremely poor families, if any in Nakasedhere village — a village where very few could afford evens the subsidized school fees. I believe education will help children have a bright future,
restore hope in their lives, help them access economic opportunities, and give them the tools to transform their community.

Kamul Community Christian School currently provides quality education to more than 200 Children 3yrs – 12yrs, including a hot meal for students and staff every day. It also serves as a hub for community development work including Healthcare, Micro-Credit, Leadership Development, Orphan care & Health. Though we are facing a lot of challenges, we strongly believe that we should take it piece by piece.

I am a rape victim and survivor, born and raised in the poor villages of Kamuli, I know what women and girls go through day in day out, hundreds of thousands of rape cases never make it out to the press and the victims never even get justice. In my village, women and girls suffer all forms of rape; there is even ritual rape, cultural rape, marriage rape, forced marriage and child marriages. Because of primitiveness and backwardness no one has come out to speak about this unforgiving suffering women go through.

mzee-yoweri-isabirye-76yrsHaving been raped while coming from a water well to fetch water from the swamp at night at 11yrs, this
haunted me for years and after graduating from Makerere University Kampala, I came out and spoke about it and this gave me peace of mind and I decided to become a voice for the voiceless.
Some forms of Rape are preventable, rapist always take advantage of the darks, so if women have lights  the risk of being raped can be reduced or prevented. Also solar lights have additional advantages of reducing the use of kerosene and its health related issues can be reduced. Children can work on their homework and the adults can also spend more hours working; improving productivity which translates into increased household incomes. We appeal to you all for support so that we can get some solar lights donated and delivered to us.

logoThanks
Hellen Tanyinga W. L
Executive Director