Peter’s Story

Peter’s mother was living on the streets when he was born. A war refugee from northern Uganda (where Peter’s father had been killed), she became too sick to care for Peter when he was three, but he found a way to survive. Eleven boys, all under the age of ten, banded together, and subsisted mainly from garbage dumps. “I would fight the birds for food. They were so strong!” Uganda’s large scavenger birds, some over four feet tall, are more than a match for a three year old. Empty potato sacks served as bedding, sometimes placed in an alleyway or behind a mud-brick hut, anywhere the boys could stay together for protection. By the time Peter was six (about the time his mother passed away), the boys had learned that the stronger ones could sometimes earn money carrying large sacks for people in town. Pooling their money, they could stay the night in a cement room or buy fresh food. These were good nights, with full bellies and a safe place. They lived this way for several years, until counselors from a charity provided assistance. The program paid for their school fees and each day supplied a bucket of clean water for bathing and one meal of cornmeal and beans. “I could not believe such a thing could happen!” But the program didn’t last long, and, without a home, the children continued to fight on the streets, endured police brutality, rarely attended school, and suffered chronic illness. Fortunately, one of the counselors started a foster home, taking in Peter and others. Now 17, Peter is talented and joyful, calling the other foster children his sisters and brothers, calling the counselor his Uncle, and feeling part of a family. He will finish high school in four years and has dreams of attending college and then helping others in his community and throughout Uganda. Peter sometimes sees some of the kids who weren’t so lucky. Some turn to crime in order to survive. Many are injured from enduring hard labor while so young. Some have had their own children and started the cycle again.

Winston Churchill famously called Uganda “The Pearl of Africa”. Home to the mountain gorilla’s impenetrable green forests, vast brown savannas teeming with wildlife, the rich and enduring source of the Nile River, and uncommonly friendly and welcoming people throughout, Uganda would be a gem on any continent.

This wonderful land and people have suffered from disease, poverty, and war. In a country the size of Oregon, 2.2 million children are orphaned and another 8 million are vulnerable (living in a child-headed household or not attending school, for example). An estimated 65% of children face conditions such as these. Like Peter, many band with other children for protection and survival and find themselves subject to severe abuse, disease, and malnutrition. Unlike Peter, most will not be fortunate enough to find a home, become part of a family, and follow their dreams. Particularly in northern Uganda, there are simply too many orphaned children and too few adult-run homes.

The spirits of Uganda’s children remain strong and their hearts yearn for opportunities for a brighter future. Such simple things: a home, a family, a loving adult, money for food and a chance to go to school, are all that are needed.

Iona’s Home is seeking compassionate people to help us reach out and lift up these children, to see them become healthy, educated and empowered. You can make a difference. Please join us as we create loving, stable foster homes and families, where orphaned and vulnerable children can find the chance to reach their dreams, changing not only their future, but Uganda’s as well.