Action for Churches Together (ACT) Alliance has responded to Church of Uganda’s appeal for buying food for Karamoja worth USD 100,000.
The donation which came through Church of Uganda’s Directorate of Household and Community Transformation will see people in Kotido and Kaabong receive posho, beans, fish, salt among other items.
The Archbishop of Church of Uganda, The Most Rev Dr Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu commended the generosity of ACT Alliance and called on more people and organizations of good will to respond to the same call.
“What ACT Alliance has done is very commendable. We are our brothers’ keepers. Jesus Christ taught us to feed the hungry and reach out to the needy. That’s exactly what we are doing for our brothers and sisters in Karamoja and other areas affected by disasters.” Archbishop Kaziimba said.
He added, “We are praying that the Almighty God continues to cause people and organizations of good will to support the various appeals we put up to support communities in need.”
Rev. Andrew Agaba, the Director of Household and Community Transformation (HCT) pledged accountability and transparency of the funds received to ensure proper service delivery to the target beneficiaries.
“As the Directorate managing this project, we have put in place accountability measures begining with beneficiary mapping, distribution lists and post distribution assessment to ensure our people receives what is meant for them.”
He said, procurement of the food relief items is currently on going and will in a few days be delivered to Karamoja.
Ms. Josephine Ninsiima, the Program Assistant and emergency focal person in the Directorate of Household and Community Transformation who championed the search for the grant applauded ACT Alliance for releasing funds on time and in good amount.
“Church of Uganda made an on-ground assessment of Karamoja subregion about the hunger crisis. We then made an appeal to ACT Alliance for Rapid Response Funds and they responded on time and gave us the money to support our people in Karamoja. I am overjoyed by their kind gesture.” Josephine said.
She further justified the selection of the areas that will receive the food relief.
“Kotido and Kaabong are at the extreme end of Karamoja. They are normally left out in many response programs. The other areas of Karamoja are already being supported by another appeal by Church of Uganda under the leadership of Bishop Emeritus Johnson Gakumba.” Josephine justified.
Josephine further said, the funds will go along way to support 2000 households in the districts of Kotido and Kaboong targeting elderly and child-headed families, malnourished children, pregnant women and lactating mothers, people with special needs including those living with HIV and Tuberculosis and women.
The inception meeting with the district officials and community leaders is already ongoing to identify and register the right households to benefit from this relief.
“So far in Kotido, we shall be targeting 3 sub-counties of Nampupum, Lokwakiar and Loleta. In Kaboong District, we shall distribute to 5 sub-counties; IK, Kaboong East and West, Loyoro and Lodiko.” Josephine explained.
She said, each household will receive 25kgs of posho, 8kgs of beans, 1kg salt and 3 kgs of silver fish only for households with malnourished children.
The District leadership for the two districts appreciated Church of Uganda’s efforts for taking an extra mile to lobby for funds from their partners.
They strongly emphasised that the Church leaders have a big role to play in transformation of Karamoja region by preaching the message of mindset change.
During the inception meeting, Kaboong District RDC referred to the previous interventions by the Church as sowing seed for Karamoja which left the region transformed. He said it’s time to revamp such programs.
This donation will supplement the current distribution of food in the region and other areas like Mbale and Teso subregion by Church of Uganda.
The Church has also initiated a relief response appeal for Kasese following the recent floods that left a number of people dead.
