Introducing our connection with Wakisa Ministries, Uganda

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Wakisa Ministries is situated about 5 km from the Kampala CBD in the suburb of Namirembe. It is not supported by any government funding, just by donations. The current centre is owned by the ministry and was formerly a residence and a commercially leased property.

It was started by Mrs Vivian Kityo, a nurse who wanted to see abandoned pregnant teenage girls able to deliver their babies in a safe & healthy environment. Wakisa was formed around 10 years ago, but Mrs Kityo was doing this work with another organization for 15 years before this.

Mrs Vivian Kityo

Mrs Kityo is the director and is supported by a Board of Directors and a Board of Trustees. The ministry is audited annually.

In Uganda, it is culturally unacceptable for an unmarried pregnant girl to live under the same roof as her father – it attracts too much shame on the family. So usually the girl is sent away, many times to fend for herself. While begging on the streets or seeking to survive by obtaining employment, they are further abused. The lucky ones find their way to Wakisa. Wakisa generally takes girls up to 18 years of age but the youngest ones may only be 12 – many have been raped, sometimes by a family member. Wakisa does not select girls by race, tribe, religion or anything else but rather believes that, if they have room, God brings the ones He wants them to care for.

The Girls with New Wraps

Girls could come to Wakisa very early in their pregnancy or quite late. In either case, they are cared for holistically ie physically, emotionally & spiritually. They receive prenatal care at the local hospital and a doctor comes and examines the girls on a regular basis. While at the centre, which can care for around 20 girls at a time, they have a Bible study every morning, are taught vocational skills, do chores and learn how to get along with a whole community of people who may be different from them.

Other than Mrs Kityo, the ministry employs an administration assistant, a sponsorship coordinator and a driver. A professional counselor comes once a week to help the girls who have been traumatised by rape or abandonment. Volunteers from local churches and other organisations often come and share the gospel with the girls and many make commitments to walk in the way of Jesus.

While the girls are at the centre, staff work to reconcile them to their parents or a member of the extended family. However, unless they can get back into school, the future is very restricted. At the moment, school sponsorship has been arranged for about 20 girls ranging from late primary through to university and the equivalent of TAFE courses (hospitality & hair dressing).

The other arm of the ministry is the conducting of trauma training seminars for nurses, doctors and clergy. This is desperately needed, especially in the north where war has raged for the past 20 years. Just recently, there has been much trouble in neighboring Congo and so courses have been run for local Christians in the Kisoro area in the southwest of the country so that they can minister to the people in a nearby refugee transit camp.

A satellite centre has also been set up in Kisoro and a local woman (Mary) has been employed to spread the word of Wakisa through the local schools. The Kisoro area is very poor and many, many girls drop out of school, either because they are needed to work at home, because they have become pregnant or simply because there is not enough money to educate the girls as well as the boys, who always get preferential treatment.