Over the past 4 months sustainable kids clothing brand, Cooee Kids, have been supporting Chance for Childhood through their summer collection, raising £206 in total!
This kind donation from Cooee Kids will go towards our work in Uganda, where Chance for Childhood have been working since 2008 to support marginalised children and young people affected by conflict, children in conflict with the law, and children and young people in refugee settlements.
Support from Cooee Kids will enable us to help more children like Najja
With little education, no job and no support from her parents, teenage Najja was forced to beg on the streets to survive. With only the tiny income she would get from begging, Najja could barely afford to buy the food she needed to live, let alone anything else.
Alone and vulnerable, Najja was left at the mercy of abusive men who would exploit and take advantage of her. Yet in Pajule, northern Uganda, where Najja lives, her situation is sadly not unique. Many young people struggle to find employment and get by. Without your support, Najja was at risk of joining her peers in having to commit petty crimes to survive. However, theft of essentials such as food and sanitary pads is punished harshly and can have life changing, devastating impacts on young people’s lives.
Thankfully, Najja enrolled on one of the programmes run by Chance for Childhood’ local partner, Passion for Community, and was able to get counselling to overcome the trauma she faced in her past.
Najja also took part in a three-month agribusiness training course run by Passion for Community. She learned how to grow vegetables, how to make money selling them and was given a small plot of land.
Today, aged 21, Najja grows vegetables on her land and sells them at the local market! With a regular income, she is able to provide for herself and, with a helping hand, has lifted herself out of poverty.
Throughout COVID-19 we have been working closely with Passion for Community and our other local partner, AWYAD (African Women and Youth Action for Development). We’ve provided 2 months’ worth of food to 60 rural, marginalised families and are supporting refugees in the Palabek and Kyaka II refugee settlements by distributing soap, hand sanitiser and handwashing facilities – reaching over 1,000 refugees, children and community members.
Thank you to everyone in the Cooee Kids team and all the Cooee Kids customers for your support helping marginalised children during a time when they need us most.
