Children are at risk in Wandago slum, Uganda

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Children from Wandago have been telling us about the challenges they face in their area. Read about what needs to change, and how you can help. 

Wandago is a slum community outside Jinja, next to the Kakira sugarcane plantation. After being asked by residents for support in changing their community, Children on the Edge Africa have conducted a needs assessment in the area.

This consisted of interviewing 69 households, running workshops and activities with local children, and interviewing other community members and leaders. The children used mapping, interviews and tours to identify dangerous and safe areas within their community, and discussed the problems they face in their day to day lives.

Well know for its production of crude alcohol (Waragi), Wandago has been host to a number of hand built, back garden breweries, where residents buy molasses from the plantation and distil it. Trucks arrive daily to ship the alcohol to wider areas of Uganda and across the borders.

These breweries pose a number of risks for young children, who suffer severe burns from hot drums, which are also prone to explosion; killing or maiming those nearby. Children breathe in the fumes, and two have reportedly died after falling into the cooling pits.

Older children are more at risk from the work itself, often found fetching firewood, carrying jerry cans and loading and unloading the trucks. This work has decreased recently, as Kakira has turned its focus to the production of ethanol, leaving a limited supply of molasses for local brewers. This has left many households without an income, in an area that is already struggling for what they need to survive. The majority of households reported being vulnerable to problems of low income (or no income), food security, nutrition, health, sanitation and shelter.

Children also listed drug addiction and abusive treatment from inebriated adults as a problem, as well as beatings, neglect and hunger. Children here are also very vulnerable to child labour, with few going to school, and many households relying on their work for an income.

​A local police officer from Wandago said “Children don’t go to school as they are employed in the factory or sugar gardens. They work at the local bars from age 10-15, and young children are often caught selling drugs at these bars or by the side of the road”.

When asked what they wanted to see in their communities in the future, children responded that they would like to have more schools and sources of water. They wanted their parents to stop forcing them to do certain activities and want to remove the sugar cane field from near the schools as abductions of children have taken place here.

Our Grants Officer, Sarah Ndlovu said “Identifying the most vulnerable families at this stage and, in the longer term, engaging them with safer and more sustainable livelihoods could help to transform the mindset of the community and begin to create a safer environment for children”.

Children on the Edge Africa are building relationships in Wandago, and will be working with the existing Child Protection Committee here, sharing methods from their ‘Child Protection Team model’, which has seen previous success in similar slum communities. It costs between £20-40 for a small business loan, which can create a positive income source.

Consider making a donation, or better still, sign up as one of our regular donors to provide consistent support.

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