Project Proposal Summary

Project History: The Fruits of Love Foundation is a non-profit project designed to operate in the Lira district of Northern Uganda in hopes of expanding in the future. It was formed in early 2014 and administered by development oriented people to help create better opportunities for children who otherwise would not be able to have access to education and other basic needs such as health care and nutritional needs.

Problem Statement:

Lira is a small district located in the northern part of Uganda with 9 sub counties.  As is the problem in countless countries in Africa and other parts of the world, Uganda has many orphaned children who are old enough to go to school and especially in Lira are incapable of going to school because of financial limitations. The long lasting impacts of 20 years of war, especially during the reign of the Lord's Resistant Army, have left the northern part of the country in great need of aid. In addition to HIV/AIDS, has heavily affected either one or both of the parents of most children, further limiting their access to finances which would be put towards their educational development and wellbeing. The high rate of illiteracy and social problems such as forced early in life marriages and other discriminatory attitudes imposed on orphans and vulnerable children, especially girls, by their care takers (that is their relatives and others who hire them cheaply) has worsened their situations. Majority of these children have never been to school, some are at the mercy of their employers who would take advantage of their young age, while others many are working as mason helpers, carpenters, chimney-sweepers, and blacksmiths as young as five-six years of age. Others in the slums where garbage and damp-sites provide for their stomach rotten or stale. Many are not even able to count the little money they get for their work, while wondering why nature has condemned their families into such abject poverty.

According to the International Labour Organization's Convention, The United Nations Organization's Convention and the Constitution of Uganda, child labour is the most serious violation of children's right in the world today. The worst affected groups are there Orphans and the vulnerable children who have to work long hours where they are cheaply hired as hawkers, porters, house helpers and factory workers in order to help their care takers and to meet their basic needs. The most economically active Orphans are in the five to fourteen age brackets.  Especially serious is the fact that many children are in dangerous occupations and exposed to serious health and safety hazards as they are physically immature. All these exposures can have negative impacts on their physical and interest intellectual development since most of them do not get educational opportunities.

A number of these children are victims of sexual exploitation as they are often taken far away from their families either by deceit or by force. These children suffer physical and psychological trauma from which they never recover. This can only be solved gradually if its root cause which is lack of Educational Opportunity is addressed. Although the current living conditions of children depict a disturbing of hardships, they also give us a message of hope and love.  FLF is formed to help in curbing the gaps if implemented to provide access to practical vocational training to the Orphans and other vulnerable humankind.
This can be summed up in:  FLF Vision: To take vulnerable orphaned children including street kids out of their poverty and provide them with hope that only Jesus can give. We want them to be able to learn the basic practical skills necessary to fly the nest and live on their own as children of God.  

The formation of Fruits of Love is based on the following philosophy: 

“The education of marginalized children requires a holistic approach including the psychological, physical, and spiritual development of the youth in addition to their attendance in schools. In the same context, the ability to appropriately and sustainably respond to their future livelihood challenges and demands are a key determinant of education, and thus fighting under development and unemployment is a key strategy for the promotion of the holistic education of vulnerable children”. Thus FLF envisions the building of a better future in which children and orphans can enjoy the rights and freedoms that they deserve as children of God. 

Fruits of Love Mission: The mission of the Fruits of Love Foundation (FLF) is to demonstrate the love of Christ to orphans and vulnerable children by providing them with the opportunity to receive a quality practical and skill building education besides this, FLF will provide employment opportunity to qualified students in the field of capacity building and training other students. That is FLF will encourage skill building and dissemination to the needy community. Through reaching out to those children in vulnerable situations, we strive to improve their standard of living in collaboration with donors and cooperators within and outside the country. FLF cherishes the following as core values: Compassion, Love, and Care irrespective of sex or status in the community among vulnerable children who do not have any source of funding their educational needs as a key step in addressing and eradicating poverty.

Project Goal: The overall goal of the project is: To contribute to the national goal of reducing Illiteracy, Unemployment and Vulnerability among (Orphans and Vulnerable) Street Children/Youth who should be able to change their living conditions and end poverty through access to skill building and practical education opportunities.

Coverage and Target (Scope of Operation): Lira shall be the initial district of project operation; the project shall cover all the sub counties beginning with Ogur, Aromo and Agweng. The beneficiaries are fundamentally characterized by having limited access to and utilization of practical education services. For example: they are located in isolated, far and hard to reach places, such as remote villages so distant from core education facilities.  They are living with relatives in these villages, are child laborers, are members of child headed families, or are homeless (street children) who move from place to place, by far denying them or limiting their access to and utilization of education services despite their intellectuality. Children out of school for one reason or another such as those involved in gardening, fishing and taking care of their disadvantage relatives shall also be our target group. These children by far have limited their time to seek education services especially girls squarely zeroing their access to and utilization of schools. Negligence and lack of responsiveness to educate characterizes the families living with orphans and vulnerable children, where they are less involved in paying school fees of another person's child-family-chains seeking assistance. The intended beneficiaries include the Most at Risk Population (MARPs) Orphans and Vulnerable including Street Children. The Project wishes to have the first lot of ten children in senior one or technical institution by 2023.

Sustainability Plan. Since Fruits of Love is based on demonstrating the Love of Christ to children, the Bible teaches clearly that if two are going to walk together, there must be an underlying agreement (Amos 3:3). If people are going to come into a covenant relationship that is genuine and meaningful there must be a strong foundation for that relationship to be built upon. Membership is a public declaration of that covenant relationship based on shared vision, beliefs, practices and trust. The Chief Finance Officer in the donor country in collaboration with other partners willing to support the program will conduct a monthly, yearly, and annual fund raising for the children that will be put in a common pull that will be held in the country of incorporation. Specifically, sustainability of this project will be realized along the amount of raised funds every year. However, fruits of love wish to establish a technical institution where some students who are able to pay for some fees which in other words shall be used to meet other administrative costs.

Food for thought: The Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this. “To look after orphans, vulnerable children and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” James 1:27. The precious children need somewhere to live and someone to take care of them. Fruits of Love will provide the basic practical and skill building opportunity for the neediest children.